UNIT 7: SURFACE FACILITIES

MOHD FIRDAUS BIN KAMURI DEPARTMENT OF PIPING KKTM KEMAMAN Email: firdaus@kktmkmaman.edu.my Download PowerPoint at www.facebook.com/M. Firdaus B Kamuri www.slideshare.net/MFirdausKamuri

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this subject, student should be able to: 1. Describe the onshore and offshore processes. 2. Identify the different types of upstream facilities. 3. Discuss the processes in different types of facilities.

Oil and gas production process

Onshore

The picture shows a well equipped with a sucker rod pump (donkey pump) often associated with onshore oil production

Oil and gas production process

Offshore Fixed platform Minimal structures that can be constructed quickly and cost effectively often lack redundancy and they are somewhat more susceptible to failure than other structures. There are more than 100 minimal structure designs and most of these were intended to support deck payloads of 400-1000 tons and transmit the functional and environmental loads to the seafloor through driven or drilled and grouted piles. Some of the other structures carry larger deck payloads and/or rely on gravity base structures, rather than piles, to transmit the loads to the seafloor. Although each minimal structure design is unique, these designs can be grouped into structure types defined as Tripods, Braced Caissons, Braced Monopods and Monotowers

Oil and gas production process

Tripods: A typical Tripod is a tubular space frame consisting of three legs and the bracing system that connects the legs. It is secured to the seafloor with three piles.

Figure : Typical Tripod

7.1 Drilling Platform

Definitions Drilling Facilities: Defined to be structures located on a platform containing systems and equipment required for drilling oilwells. Abbreviations DDA: Drilling data acquisition system. BOP: Blow out preventer. MWD: Measurement while drilling. TSV: Tender support vesseL

7.1 Drilling Platform

FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS General The main objectives are to optimise the design and operations of drilling facilities with respect to utilisation, operational efficiency, life cycle cost and acceptable safety levels. The Principle of Removable Drilling Facilities The drilling facilities shall be removable and provide efficient mobilization/demobilization onto production/wellhead platforms in order to obtain a high degree of utilisation. Two classes of drilling facilities has been defined; class I for wells up to appr. 6500m and class II for wells up to appr. 10000m. The intention of defining two classes is to optimise between the two principal requirements of: a) drilling all ranges of wells b) having a standardised design.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Operational Requirements General The drilling facilities shall be designed to be operated and maintained with minimum manning levels. Complexity of the systems and equipment, and the amount of equipment, shall therefore be kept low. Regularity The operation of the drilling facilities shall obtain a regularity of 98% with respect to equipment and maintenance down time. Simultaneous operations The design shall allow for optimum simultaneous drilling and production operations. It shall be possible to perform well intervention operations through the drill floor

7.1 Drilling Platform

Back-up power for drilling In case of platform main power failure back-up power for drilling is required to secure well and equipment. The back-up power source shall supply minimum 500kW. It shall at least be possible to circulate at reduced rate mix and transfer mud lift/rotate drill rating complete cement job Drilling instrumentation A Drilling Data Acquisition system (DDA) shall be supplied to allow for the operator to monitor drilling trends and store historical data. A permanent, common arrangement for signal collection shall be utilized by drilling contractor, MWD, mud logger and other third party to assist in performing efficient and safe drilling operations.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Health, safety and environment The facilities shall be designed to minimise operational risks for fires, blowouts, gas leaks and serious personnel injuries. Drilling Systems The drilling facilities shall include all systems that are required to successfully drill the platform wells. These systems shall include: Derrick (mast) and hoisting equipment Rotary equipment Pipehandling system and storage Drillfloor and substructure w/equipment Bulk system Mud mixing and storage system High pressure mud system Mud treatment system Cementing system Kill & Choke manifold system BOP, diverter and drilling riser system Drilling data acquisition system Functional requirements to the above systems are described in the NORSOK Standard System and Service Data Sheets. Space requirements for a cuttings disposal (e.g. injection) system shall be considered.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Utility Systems The following utility systems shall support the drilling facilities: Back up power supply Plant and bulk air Contaminated drains (mud) HVAC Hydraulic power Hot water, high pressure washdown system

7.1 Drilling Platform

Layout Requirements General All work areas in connection with drilling activities shall be arranged so as to ensure totally adequate safety for personnel and operations, working environment and pollution control, in accordance with technical safety, environmental care, working environment and project safety goals. The layout of the drilling facilities shall take due consideration to areas that may be critical to dropped objects, especially in connection with materials handling. The layout shall ensure that maintenance and service can be carried out in an ergonomically efficient way.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Materials handling The layout and design of the drilling facilities shall place emphasis on achieving an efficient and safe method of transporting and handling of materials from one place to another. This is especially relevant for drilling tubular handling, but is equally important for chemicals and equipment transport to/from workshops etc. Workshops, stores and offices Workshops for welders, electricians, instrument engineers, hydraulic engineers and mechanics with necessary equipment shall be available. There shall be sufficient dry and heated stores for drilling equipment and spare parts. Relevant transportation/handling facilities shall be provided. The drilling offices shall be classified a safe area with optimum access to all areas of the drilling facilities, especially the drill floor.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Completion and intervention equipment Sufficient space shall be provided for equipment and operations for completion and intervention equipment (electric logging/wireline, coil tubing, snubbing, well completion and well testing). All necessary utilities shall be available close to the specific equipment, including temporary communications equipment.

7.1 Drilling Platform

Interfaces Utility interfaces All utilities between the drilling facilities and the platform shall have termination points outside the drilling facilities. Platform systems shall be routed outside the dedicated area for the drilling facilities. The following utilities shall be supplied by the platform facilities to support the drilling facilities: Main electrical power Emergency power Fire and gas control systems Fire water Emergency shutdown system Sea, fresh and potable water Mud base fluids Drains Uninterruptable electrical power supply Instrument air Diesel Telecommunications

Layout

Test Separators and Well test

Test separators are used to separate the well flow from one or more wells for analysis and detailed flow measurement. In this way, the behavior of each well under different pressure flow conditions can be determined. This normally takes place when the well is taken into production and later at regular intervals, typically 1-2 months and will measure the total and component flow rates under different production conditions. The separated components are also analyzed in the laboratory to determine hydrocarbon composition of the Gas oil and Condensate. The test separator can also be used to produce fuel gas for power generation. In place of a test separator one could also use a three phase flow meter to save weight.

Production separators
The main separators are gravity type. As mentioned the production choke reduces will pressure to the HP manifold and First stage separator to about 3-5 MPa (30-50 times atmospheric pressure). Inlet temperature is often in the range of 100-150 degrees C. the well stream is colder due to Subsea wells and risers. The pressure is often reduced in several stages; here three stages are used, to allow controlled separation of volatile components. The purpose is to achieve maximum liquid recovery and stabilized oil and gas, and separate water. A large pressure reduction in a single separator will cause flash vaporization leading to instabilities and safety hazards. The retention period is typically 5 minutes, allowing the gas to bubble out, water to settle at the bottom and oil to be taken out in the middle. In this platform the water cut (percentage water in the well flow) is almost 40% which quite high. In the first stage separator, the water content is typically reduced to less than 5%.

Production separators

Production separators
At the crude entrance there is a baffle slug catcher that will reduce the effect of slugs (Large gas bubbles or liquid plugs). However some turbulence is desirable as this will release gas bubbles faster than a laminar flow. The liquid outlets from the separator will be equipped with vortex breakers to reduce disturbance on the liquid table inside. This is basically a flange trap to break any vortex formation and ensure that only separated liquid is tapped off and not mixed with oil or water drawn in though these vortices. Similarly the gas outlets are equipped with demisters, essentially filters that will remove liquid droplets in the gas.

Production separators
Other types of separators such as vertical separators, cyclones (centrifugal separation) can be use to save weight, space or improve separation.There also has to be a certain minimum pressure difference between each stage to allow satisfactory performance in the pressure and level control loops.

Second stage separator

Second stage separator The second stage separator is quite similar to the first stage HP separator. In addition to output from the first stage, it will also receive production from wells connected to the Low Pressure manifold. The pressure is now around 1 MPa (10 atmospheres) and temperature below 100 degrees C. The water content will be reduced to below 2%. An oil heater could be located between the first and second stage separator to reheat the oil/water/gas mixture. This will make it easier to separate out water when initial water cut is high and temperature is low. The heat exchanger is normally a tube/shell type where oil passes though tubes in a cooling medium placed inside an outer shell.

Third stage separator

Third stage separator The final separator here is a two phase separator, also called a flash-drum. The pressure is now reduced to about atmospheric pressure (100 kPa) so that the last heavy gas components will boil out. In some processes where the initial temperature is low, it might be necessary to heat the liquid (in a heat exchanger) again before the flash drum to achieve good separation of the heavy components. There are level and pressure control loop.

Coalescer
Coalescer After the third stage separator, the oil can go to a coalescer for final removal of water. In this unit the water content can be reduced to below 0.1%. The coalescer is completely filled with liquid: water at the bottom and oil on top. Inside electrodes form an electric field to break surface bonds between conductive water and isolating oil in an oil water emulsion. The coalescer field plates are generally steel, sometimes covered with dielectric material to prevent short circuits. The critical field strength in oil is in the range 0.2 to 2 kV/cm. Field intensity and frequency as well as the coalescer grid layout is different for different manufacturers and oil types

Electrostatic Desalter
Electrostatic Desalter If the separated oil contains unacceptable amounts of salts, it can be removed in an electrostatic desalter (Not used in the Njord example) The salts, which may be Sodium, Calcium or Magnesium chlorides comes from the reservoir water and is also dissolved in the oil. The desalters will be placed after the first or second stage separator depending on Gas Oil Ratio (GOR) and Water cut.

Water treatment

Water treatment
Water treatment Water from the separators and coalescers first goes to a sand cyclone, which removes most of the sand. The sand is further washed before it is discharged. The water then goes to a hydrocyclone, a centrifugal separator that will remove oil drops. The hydrocyclone creates a standing vortex where oil collects in the middle and water is forced to the side. Finally the water is collected in the water de-gassing drum. Dispersed gas will slowly rise to the surface and pull remaining oil droplets to the surface by flotation. The surface oil film is drained, and the produced water can be discharged to sea. Recovered oil in the water treatment system is typically recycled to the third stage separator.

Gas treatment and Compression

The gas train consist of several stages, each taking gas from a suitable pressure level in the production separators gas outlet, and from the previous stage. Incoming gas is first cooled in a heat exchanger. It then passes through the scrubber to remove liquids and goes into the compressor. The anti surge loop and the surge valve allows the gas to recirculate.

Heat exchangers
For the compressor operate in an efficient way, the temperature of the gas should be low. The lower the temperature is the less energy will be used to compress the gas for a given final pressure and temperature. However both gas from separators and compressed gas are relatively hot. This ends up as a temperature increase. Temperature exchangers of various forms are used to cool the gas. Plate heat exchangers consist of a number of plates where the gas and cooling medium pass between alternating plates in opposing directions. Tube and shell exchangers place tubes inside a shell filled with of cooling fluid. The cooling fluid is often pure water with corrosion inhibitors.

Scrubbers and reboilers

The separated gas may contain mist and other liquid droplets. Liquid drops of water and hydrocarbons also form when the gas is cooled in the heat exchanger, and must be removed before it reaches the compressor. If liquid droplets enter the compressor they will erode the fast rotating blades. A scrubber is designed to remove small fractions of liquid from the gas.

Compressor anti surge and performance

Several types of compressors are used for gas compression, each with different characteristics such as operating power, speed, pressure and volume: 1. Reciprocating Compressor . Used for lower capacity gas compression and high reservoir pressure gas injection. 2. Screw compressors. Two counter rotating screws with matching profiles provide positive displacement and a wide operating range. Typical use is natural gas gathering. 3. Axial blade and fin type compressors with up to 15 wheels provide high volumes at relatively low pressure differential (discharge pressure 3-5 times inlet pressure), speeds of 5000-8000 rpm, and inlet flows to 200.000 m3/hour. Applications include air compressors and cooling compression in LNG plants. 4. Centrifugal compressors (for oil and gas)

Satellite platform
Conductor support systems, also known as conductor supported systems or satellite platforms, are installations which are small unmanned platforms consisting of little more than a well bay, and a small process plant. They are designed to operate in conjunction with a static production platform which is connected to the platform by flow lines and/or by Umbilical cable.

7.4 Floaters
The original neutrally buoyant floating structures are ships and barges and these vessels are subjected to substantial heave, pitch and roll motions detrimental to offshore operations in intermediate to harsh environment. Considering the green water on the deck and the undesirable motions. an innovation was introduced to separate the deck from the vessel and keep the major portion of the vessel buoyancy away from the water surface. This gave rise to the innovation of semi-submersible. The three-column Sedco 135 semisubmersible is a good example of not only precluding green water and minimising motions but also providing adequate positive stability through the use of large-diameter legs far enough apart.

Example of Topside Side Elevation

Spar DTU
A spar is a deep-draft floating caisson, which is a hollow cylindrical structure similar to a very large buoy. Its four major systems are hull, moorings, topsides, and risers. The spar relies on a traditional mooring system (that is, anchor-spread mooring) to maintain its position. About 90 percent of the structure is underwater. Historically, spars were used as marker buoys, for gathering oceanographic data, and for oil storage. The spar design is now being used for drilling, production, or both. The distinguishing feature of a spar is its deep-draft hull, which produces very favorable motion characteristics compared to other floating concepts. Low motions and a protected centerwell also provide an excellent configuration for deepwater operations. Water depth capability has been stated by industry as ranging up to 10,000 ft.

Spar DTU

Semi submersible
A semisubmersible or semi-submersible is a marine vessel that is configured with large buoyant pontoon structures below the water surface and long columns through the water surface supporting a platform at a significant height. Such a vessel may be able to transition from a deep to a shallow draft by deballasting (removing water ballast from the hull), and thereby become a surface vessel. The heavy lift vessels use this capability to submerge the majority of their structure, locate beneath another floating vessel, and then deballast to pickup the other vessel as a cargo. With its hull structure submerged at a deep draft, the semisubmersible is less affected by wave loadings than a normal ship. With a small water-plane area however, the semisubmersible is sensitive to load changes, and therefore must be carefully trimmed to maintain stability.

Semi submersible

Semi-submersible Crane vessels (SSCV)

These semi-submersible crane vessels (SSCV's) consist of two lower hulls (pontoons), three columns on each pontoon and an upper hull. During transit an SSCV will be de-ballasted to a draught where only part of the lower hull is submerged. During lifting operations, the vessel will be ballasted down. This way, the lower hull is well submerged. This reduces the effect of waves and swell. High stability is obtained by placing the columns far apart. The high stability allows them to lift extreme high loads.

Offshore Semisubmersible Platform

When oil fields were first developed in offshore locations, drilling semi-submersibles were converted for use as combined drilling and production platforms. These vessels offered very stable and cost effective platforms. As the oil industry has progressed into deeper water and harsh environments, purpose-built production semisubmersible platforms were designed.

Floating Storage Off Loading (FSO)

Floating storage and offloading units (FSO) are used worldwide by the offshore oil industry to receive oil from nearby platforms and store it until it can be offloaded onto oil tankers. A similar system, the floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO), has the ability to process the product while it is onboard. These floating units reduce oil production costs and offer, mobility, large storage capacity, and production versatility. These units are usually moored to the seabed through a spread mooring system. A turret-style mooring system can be used in areas prone to severe weather. This turret system lets the unit rotate to minimize the effects of sea-swell and wind.

7.4.1 Floating Storage Off Loading (FSO)

7.4.2 Floating Production Storage Off Loading (FPSO)

7.5 TENSION LEG PLATFORM (TLP)

A Tension-leg platform or Extended Tension Leg Platform (ETLP) is a vertically moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of oil or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metres (about 1000 ft) and less than 1500 meters (about 4900 ft). The platform is permanently moored by means of tethers or tendons grouped at each of the structure's corners. A group of tethers is called a tension leg. A feature of the design of the tethers is that they have relatively high axial stiffness (low elasticity), such that virtually all vertical motion of the platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on deck (connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers), instead of on the seafloor.

7.5 TENSION LEG PLATFORM (TLP)

Mobile platform
Mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) Offshore drilling typically refers to the discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well. Most commonly, the term is used to describe oil extraction off the coasts of continents, though the term can also apply to drilling in lakes and inland seas

Mobile platform
Mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) The MOPU comprises the hull and topside facilities. The hull includes all facilities and equipment that would normally be supplied with a mobile jack-up unit including jacking systems, legs, foundations, accommodations, helideck and utilities. The topsides facility will include all equipment required for processing hydrocarbon fluids from the reservoir. The topsides facility will contain processing equipment to separate, measure, dehydrate, and sweeten the raw gas. Acid gas and water handling equipment will also be installed on the MOPU

Mobile platform

Sub-sea facilities
Sub Sea Test Tree (SSTT) The purpose of the sub sea test tree (SSTT) is to provide a primary safety system to control tubing pressure and to provide a means to rapidly and safely disconnect from the well should adverse conditions occur. All of the major testing contractors have sub sea test tree safety systems and various configurations exist to suit the requirements of the planned operation. In common, all sub sea test trees consist of two valves for control of tubing pressure. These may be either independent dual ball valves or an independent ball.

Sub-sea facilities

Fig: Subsea Operating System