GNPOC
Development Department
Facilities Section
PCS: Centroid Technical Services Co. LTD
Modification of CO2 Plant(Phase 1)
Prepared by:
Khalid Ali Alkhedir.
Introduction
Neem FPF has a design capacity of 96000 BFPD
Neem FPF has a Processing facility to bring water
cut less than 10% design condition
Neem FPF crude production is processed and
dispatched to Diffra FPF and then to CPF- Heglig.
Problem Definition
NFPF flare system has a normal flare of 20-25 MMSCFD and maximum
capacity of 36 MMSCFD
Recently seven wells were tied-in to Neem production facilities in
ABUGABRA-7
AG-7 wells have a light oil and a lot of associated gas
With flow of these wells to NFPF the flare gas quantities increased from
normal flare of 20-25MMSCFD to 50 MMSCFD and as results:
1. The inlet pressure of FPF raised up beyond normal operating pressure
[Link] header overheated to red hot condition.
Problem Definition
Only 7 completed wells at AG-7 produce around 20 MMSCFD while all
the other wells of Neem field produce 30 MMSCFD .
With future plan to drill new wells targeting AG-7 the flare system of
Neem will not be able to handle the current and expected associated
gas production
Current situation
The gas now separated at Wellheads through rented separators from
CNLC then flared in an open pit
This situation is unsafe condition for production personnel and impact
the environment as well
Proposed solution
To divert the liquid from AG-7 Trunk lines to the existing idle CO2 plant
at NFPF
The plant will be utilized to separate the gas from liquid
The oil will be directed to the inlet manifold and the gas will be flared
through the existing vent stack after modification
Modification of existing Vent Stack
The existing Vent stack will be changed to hot flaring and this includes
but not limited:
1- Flare stack.
2- Flare ignition system.
3- Air blower.
4- Flame arrestor.
5- Slug catcher to be installed upstream the exiting CO2 plant to mitigate
the effect oh two phase flow.
Flare Stack
What is flare stack?
Flare stack is a gas combustion device used in industrial
plants such as oil and gas production.
Flare stack is used for burning excess gases which can
not be recycled or recovered as the situation with AG-7 .
Typical components of flare stack
1- KOD to remove any water or oil from relieved gases
2- Water seal drum to prevent any flashback of the flame
from the top of flare stack
3-Altenative gas recovery system to use during partial plant
startups and shutdowns as well as other times when required
4-Pilot flame tip with ignition system that burns all the time so
that it is available to ignite relieved gases when needed.
5- The flare stack including a flashback prevention at the
upper part of the stack
6- Steam injection system for efficient mixing of air with
relieved gas which promotes smokeless burning.
Typical components of flare stack
There are other systems could be used to prevent smoke formation
than steam injection such as Compressed air system and Low-
pressure forced air system for smokeless flame.
At CO2 plant flare stack the system will be used is Low-pressure
forced air system which has a high initial cost due to the requirement
for dual stack and air blowers but also has a low operation cost .
Flare Stack System
The released gases and liquids are routed through large piping system
called Inlet headers
At upstream of the flare there is a knock out drum KOD ( Vapor-liquid
separator) to remove any large amounts of liquid that may accompany
the relieved gases.
The relieved gases will be directed to Flare Stack
The separated liquid will be directed to NFPF inlet manifold
Flare Stack System
Project timeline
Feb-16 •End-user raised the Issue to development department
March-16 •Scope of work generated by PMC
April-16 •Invitation to Bid
May-16 •The EPCC Project awarded to NSF
Dec-16 •Phase-1 commissioning of the project
Project progress
The EPCC Project has been awarded to NSF .
Engineering and Procurement phase done by NSF and PMC team
received the arrived materials at site according to the GNPOC
procedures of material receiving to inspect the quantity and the quality
of the materials.
Now the project is under construction by NSF team and consultancy of
CTS
The flare Stack has been commissioned on 15th of December .
Slug catcher installation will be in Phase 2 of the project after the
arrival of slug catcher.
Project Challenges
1\ LCV(1155) on CO2 crude outlet:
- In the existing one there is a-122 sec- response delay issue in both
actions of valve (open\close) which cause the crude to escape before the
valve is full closed therefor the level of KOD(LIT-1155) will decrease from
LOW to (LOW-LOW) causing the trip of the transfer pump .
* Solution:
- LCV has been replaced with a new one
- LIT 1155 at the KOD has been calibrated to insure its validity.
- Increasing the gap between LOW and (LOW-LOW) inside the KOD.
Project Challenges
2\ESDV(1145) at the Inlet of the CO2 plant:
- This valve is connected with (LIT-1153/PIT-1152) at the KOD and will be
activated incase of (High-High) level or (High-High) pressure inside the
KOD
- Incase of shutdown the backpressure will explode the trunk line of the
wells in time period of 20 Min because AG wells is natural flow and has
no any safety guard .
* Solution:
- AG OGMs will be partially opened to CO2 plant and full opened to NFPF
and incase of shut down the flow will be completely diverted to NFPF inlet
manifold.
Commissioning of flare stack
The commissioning system Methodology is divided into:
1- Turn-over of subsystem.
The Flare Stack will be assembled and erected by contractor
As per vendor design drawing
2-Evidence of subsystem.
The flare Stack will be tested individually by the vendor
3- Test of the system.
The Flare Stack will be Tested with the plant system by the vendor
Benefits of the project
The capacity of the new flare stack (28 MMSCFD) will allow NFPF to
handle the gas of AG-7 and any future expected gases without
increasing of operating pressure or overheating the flare headers.
To get rid of Gas separators and fire pits at well heads and have safe
operation condition and healthy environment.
Probability of Increasing the productivity of the wells due to the
separation of the gas and decreasing of landing pressure before
entering NFPF inlet manifold.
MY ROLE IN THE PROJECT
I received the project materials at site to ensure its conformance to
GNPOC requirements by using MTC , Data sheets and packing list reports
I was involved in following up with construction , assembly and erection
of the flare stack as per designed drawing
I established a Welders Log Excel sheets to monitor the performance of
the welders throughout the project.
I performed visual inspection and PT inspection for all welded joints
I was involved in following up with the Hydro-test for all fabricated lines.
I was involved of all the pre-commissioning activities ( Checking the
system , Box-up and tracing the plant by P&ID drawings).
Thank
you
Thank