scholarly journals Cost Optimization and Flexibility Analysis for the Liquefaction of an Associated Natural Gas Stream

2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Eini ◽  
Georgios M. Kontogeorgis ◽  
Davood Rashtchian

Abstract Liquefaction and then transportation to the market is one of the promising options for the utilization of associated natural gas resources which are produced in oil fields. However, the flow of such resources is normally unsteady. Additionally, the associated gas in one oil field may exhaust in a few years and the liquefaction plant should be moved to another oil field with different specifications. In order to tackle such challenges, liquefaction systems not only must be optimally designed and operated but also should be flexible with respect to the gas flow fluctuations. The flexibility analysis of such processes is usually ignored in the optimization studies. In this research, first, the economic performance of two small-scale liquefaction processes (a single mixed-refrigerant process, SMR, and a nitrogen expander process) was optimized and compared. The results showed that the SMR process is economically more attractive (49% lower lifecycle cost compared to the nitrogen expander process). As a post-optimization step, flexibility analysis was performed to investigate the ability of optimal designs in overcoming gas flow fluctuations. For this purpose, five-thousand feed samples with different flowrate and methane content were supposed which formed a feasibility-check region. The results showed that with respect to the design constraints, the optimal SMR process is more flexible and feasibly operates in the entire region. However, the nitrogen expander process cannot feasibly operate for the gas feed with high flowrate and low methane content.

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 612 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Brown ◽  
Chiew Yen Law ◽  
Katherine Fielden ◽  
Ceri-Sian Dee ◽  
Neil Pollock

Five percent of the world’s gas supply is wasted by being flared or vented into the atmosphere, leading to a huge loss of potential revenue, not to mention a significant impact on the environment. This is equivalent to 150 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year and the release of 400 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The industry does this for a variety of valid reasons, including well testing, emergencies, commissioning, maintenance, or simply because an economic solution for capturing and using the gas has not been discovered. Capture of flared gas, therefore, presents an economic and environmentally beneficial opportunity to create new value chains that can benefit not only the industry but also people’s quality of life. This extended abstract draws on a recent DNV GL project to assess existing and future technologies and concepts for capturing small volumes of associated gas that are normally flared from oil fields, both onshore and offshore. The following four technology options that can be used to capture associated gas, convert it, and either utilise the product onsite or transport it to market for consumption are considered. Using more cost-effective ways of transporting natural gas where there is no existing pipeline. Converting gas into products with a higher economic value through chemical processes. Novel concepts—bringing the solution closer to the source of gas flaring. Other solutions. The extended abstract then focuses on cost-effective ways of transporting gas, in particular the use of micro-LNG solutions


Author(s):  
X. C. Nguyen ◽  
Komla Miheaye ◽  
Mun-gyu Kim ◽  
Howard Newman ◽  
Dong-hoon Yoo ◽  
...  

This study describes a FLNG specifically designed to monetize Associated Gas (AG) of producing oil fields located within convenient distance of an existing LNG Plant or Port with LNG storage facility. Limited production capacity combined with short range small capacity shuttles and limited LNG storage capacity, provide a cost effective means for LNG production. This FLNG is designed to service an existing industry and does not require development of stranded gas discoveries.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
M. A. Stratton

The discovery by the partnership of Esso Exploration and Production Australia Inc. and Hematite Petroleum Pty Ltd during the past eight years of the natural gas and crude oil fields off the east Victorian coast has often been compared to that of gold in the State in the 1850's in its impact .on the economic, industrial and social life of the community.To date the amount spent in the State on the discovery and overall development of these fields is approximately $600 million. The value of oil and gas recovered over the period of nearly four years since production commenced in 1969 and distributed and utilised by various means to 31 December 1972, amounts to about $500 million. In addition the value of refined products from Victoria's three refineries and items produced by industrial processes through the use of natural gas and petroleum products as fuels, amount to many more millions of dollars. The total impact on Victoria in one form or another could, if measured in monetary value, he equivalent to about $1200 million-all in the course of about eight years.Other States have also benefited. The building of tankers, barges, tugs and work boats and the modification of refineries in New South Wales and Queensland, have probably cost in the region of $200 million whilst indirectly the success of the Gippsland oil and gas discoveries has spurred other explorers to step up the search in many areas and, as far as natural gas is concerned, with considerable success.The speed and efficiency with which the four gas and oil fields developed to date were brought into production, the necessary treatment plants erected, the pipelines laid and distribution facilities organised; and with which the gas industry changed over to the new fuel and refineries modified their processes to use indigenous crudes have, by world standards, been exceptional. From the time the first gas field-Barracouta, was found in February 1965 until the last oil field in the program -Kingfish came fully on stream late in 1971, less than seven years elapsed.During that time Victorian fuel patterns underwent vast changes. Today over 95% of all gas consumers are using natural gas and about 70% of crude processed by local refineries comes from the Gippsland Basin. The significance of natural gas in particular is demonstrated by a 41% increase in gas sales in Victoria in 1971/72 over the previous twelve months and this trend is expected to accelerate as a result of recent arrangements for the supply of large volumes of this fuel to industrial plants including paper mills, cement works and an alumina smelter.Also of major significance to the State has been the development of the port of Western Port where the loading of tankers and LPG carriers has resulted in it becoming the State's second busiest port. Of less immediate impact but still of great value in the long term, has been the building of better roads and facilities needed to service the installations and the emergence of many valuable skills in the petroleum industry which will make easier the task of future development of new fields and facilities in Victoria and other parts of Australia.


Author(s):  
C. D. (Charlton) Breon ◽  
D. R. (Daniel) Veth

A turbine-compressor train consisting of a General Electric MS5001 Model R single-shaft gas turbine, a Philadelphia Gear speed-increasing gearbox, and a Dresser-Clark centrifugal compressor was uprated for 30% increased gas throughput. This train is one of thirteen units operated by ARCO Alaska, Inc. for high pressure natural gas injection service in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. The uprate included an in-place conversion of the gas turbine from a Model R to a Model P configuration. This paper describes the engineering, planning, and implementation activities that led up to the successful uprate of this train with only a 24 day equipment outage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (3a) ◽  
pp. 65-75
Author(s):  
Thinh Van Nguyen ◽  

The Cuu Long basin is equiped with infrastructures and processing facilities serving for large-scale crude oil drilling and production operations. However, most of resevoirs in this area are now depleted, it means that they have reached their peaks and started to undergo decreasing productivity, which lead to a noticable excess capicity of equipment. In order to benefit from those declined oil fieds and maximize performance of platforms, solutions to connect marginal fields have been suggested and employed. Of which, connecting Ca Ngu Vang wellhead platform to the CPP -3 at Bach Ho oil field; platforms RC-04 and RC-DM at Nam Rong - Doi Moi oil filed to RC-1 platform at Rong oil field; wellhead platforms at Hai Su Den and Hai Su Trang oil fields to H4-TGT platform at Te Giac Trang oil field are typical examples of success. Optimistic achivements gained recently urges us to carry out this work with the aim to improve oil production of small reserves and to make best use of existing petroleum technology and equipment at the basin. Results of the research contribute an important part in the commence of producing small-scale oil deposits economically.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Clemens Langbauer ◽  
Rudolf Konrad Fruhwirth ◽  
Lukas Volker

Summary When the oil price is low, cost optimization is vital, especially in mature oil fields. Reducing lifting costs by increasing the mean time between failure and the overall system efficiency helps to keep wells economical and increase the final recovery factor. A significant portion of artificially lifted wells currently use sucker rod pumping systems. Although its efficiency is in the upper range, there is still room for improvement compared with other artificial-liftsystems. This paper presents the field-tested sucker rod antibuckling system (SRABS), which prevents buckling of the entire sucker rod string, achieved by a redesign of the standing valve, the advantageous use of the dynamic liquid level, and, on a case-by-case basis, application of a tension element. The system allows full buckling prevention and a reduction of the overall stresses in the sucker rod string. The resulting reduction in the number of well interventions combined with the higher system efficiency prolongs economic production in mature oil fields, even in times of low oil prices. The analysis of SRABS, using finite-element simulations, showed a significant increase in system efficiency. The SRABS performance and wear tests under large-scale conditions were performed at Montanuniversität Leoben’s Pump Test Facility and in the oil field. The results of intensive laboratory testing were used to optimize the pump-body geometry and improve the wear resistance by selecting optimal materials for the individual pump components. The ongoing field-test evaluation confirmed the theoretical approach and showed the benefits achieved by using SRABS. SRABS itself can be applied within every sucker rod pumping system; the installation is as convenient as a standard pump, and manufacturing costs are comparable with those of a standard pump. This paper shows improved performance of the SRABS pumping system compared with a standard sucker rod pump. SRABS is one of the first systems that prevents the sucker rod string from buckling without any additional equipment, such as sinker bars. Testing of SRABS has identified significant benefits compared with standard sucker rod pumps.


2012 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-470
Author(s):  
Rafał Smulski

Abstract Exploitation of natural gas fields with edge or underlying water is usually defined per analogy to the oil fields. The existing models do not correspond to reality as they do not describe relevant processes related with a turbulent gas flow near the well. The natural gas exploitation with productivity greater than critical may be advantageous in view of summaric depletion and rate of depletion. Article presents: the analysis of the selected critical rates models, determining the influence of specific parameters on the critical rate values, introducing new modified formula for critical rates, and comparative calculations for various configurations with the numerical model.


Author(s):  
Torsten Strand

A privately owned LNG plant was taken into service at the Tuha Oil Fields in western China during 2004. The plant is the first of its kind and will produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from associated gas from the oil fields. The LNG is delivered to Central China by trucks. The plant was delivered by Tractebel with Linde AG being responsible for the LNG process design. The compression set of the refrigeration cycle consists of a three-stage Ebara compressor driven by a 24 MW Siemens SGT-600 gas turbine operating on the off-gas from the LNG plant. The operation of the gas turbine integrated in this plant is associated with some special challenges: • the ambient conditions out in the desert; • the fuel, that varies from natural gas to a process gas consisting of methane diluted with up to 28% nitrogen; • the refrigeration medium, which is circulated by the gas turbine driven compressor, changes in composition dependent on load; • the starting procedure with the compressor in the refrigeration loop. A combustion test was performed to verify that the DLE combustion system could accept the variations in gas composition. The control system was modified to handle the variable gas qualities in the fuel and in the refrigeration loop. Since the gas turbine/compressor set is an integrated part of the LNG process the commissioning was a long process governed by the LNG plant commissioning. It included some unexpected events. Now all is working well. It has been shown that a standard SGT-600 DLE unit can start and operate reliably and with low emissions on very much diluted natural gases. The paper contains a brief description of the LNG plant, definition of the special requirements on the gas turbine, a description of the combustion verification test on diluted gas, some events during commissioning and finally the engine verification test.


Author(s):  
Matteo Prussi ◽  
Giovanni Riccio ◽  
David Chiaramonti ◽  
Francesco Martelli

Small scale gasification is a promising technology for bioenergy generation. Reciprocating engines are usually combined with downdraft gasifiers, nevertheless this approach is associated with high emissions, in particular CO and NOx and with a limited co-generation potential. MGT technology, rapidly improved during the last years, offers the possibility to reduce the levels of pollutants in the exhaust. Moreover they offer some other advantages in the small size range, such as a higher exhaust gas flow at higher temperatures, while maintaining a similar net electric efficiency. Evaluating the possibility to couple a MGT with a gasifier, the quality of the producer gas is also a relevant issue. In this work an overview of the typical gas quality produced by existing small scale gasifiers is carried out; moreover, a review regarding the syngas combustion in GT is realized, considering GT requirements related to gas composition. Co-firing with natural gas is considered, in order to reduce the modification needed to the engine. An evaluation of the proper range of mixing is then carried out. The performances of a commercial 100 kWel MGT are then simulated by means of an “in-house” developed code named AMOS (Advanced MGT system Operation Simulator). This tool allows to perform a steady-state matching analysis based on the characteristic lines of each component, when using a low calorific gas in a MGT. Producer gas and natural gas mixtures are considered and a parametric study is carried out. Performances were computed considering MGT full-load operation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document