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OIL AND WATER SEPARATION

Looking for faster and more efficient separation of produced water from crude oil as well as increased production? Vessel Internal Electrostatic Coalescers (VIEC) have proved to be the solution for a range of major oil companies worldwide.

T E X T: K ATJ A A L A J A P H OTO S : W Ä R T S I L Ä , S H U T T E R S T O C K

AT ITS BEST

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THERE ARE SEPARATORS

AT EVERY OIL AND GAS

PRODUCTION FACILITY.

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR QATAR PETROLEUM

he main purpose of any oil and gas production facility is to sep-

arate the oil, water and gas produced into their original phases.

This is achieved by a stepwise reduction in pressure down to

atmospheric pressure, flashing off the gas and then dehydrat-

ing the crude oil to meet its export specification of less than

0.5% water in oil.

Conventional gravity-based production separators allow the

water to settle at the bottom of the vessel while the oil flows on

top of the water phase. A dedicated electrostatic coalescer vessel is normally

installed downstream of the production separators to remove the last water

fractions.

On the other hand, gravity-based separators only remove the free water and

have a limited effect on water emulsified into the oil phase. Emulsion layers

in the separators are difficult to monitor and hence difficult to control, which

causes carryover of excess water into the oil outlet. Also, traditional electrostatic

coalescer vessels are equipped with uninsulated high voltage electrodes which

cannot be exposed to gas and the more than 10-15% water remaining in the oil.

A game changer was introduced by the development of an electrostatic device

with insulated electrodes, making it possible to handle 100% water as well as

any gas present. This allows such devices to be installed into upstream produc-

tion separators.

“We have successfully delivered and installed Vessel Internal Electrostatic

Coalescers (VIEC) into more than 30 test and production separators treating

crude oils ranging from API 12–50, with an equal split between retrofits and new-

builds and covering most of the major national and international oil companies,”

says Trond Bynes, Director of Separation Technology at Wärtsilä.

CHALLENGES BEYOND EASY OIL ‘Beyond easy oil’ refers to the fact that most of the oil that is easy to extract has

already been produced. Existing fields are maturing and experiencing more

water coming out of the reservoirs with less oil, exceeding the design basis

for the production equipment in use. Reservoir pressures are dropping, which

leads to the installation of pumps and once again causes problems with stable

emulsions in the separation process. Future oilfield developments will be more

challenging as 50% of the world’s remaining oil reserves can be characterized

as either heavy or extra-heavy oil.

Traditionally, heavy oils are separated by using huge separator vessels and

allowing extra long periods for the water to settle, as well as adding large quan-

tities of chemicals and heating the crude oil to temperatures of up to 150°C. Sig-

nificant additional operational costs are inevitable.

“Improving the efficiency of the separation process by means of VIEC technol-

ogy can reduce fluid temperatures below 100°C, allow the optimisation of sepa-

rator vessel size and reduce the use of chemicals,” says Bynes. “This not only has

a positive effect on CAPEX (capital expenditure) and OPEX (operational expend-

iture), but also on levels of CO2 emissions.”

FASTER AND BETTER SEPARATIONCoalescence of dispersed water in an oil-continuous phase can be greatly

enhanced by subjecting the emulsion to high-voltage electric fields. This phe-

nomenon is called electrostatic coalescence. When an emulsion consisting

Qatar Petroleum were experiencing issues with separation at their Dukhan Field, especially during periods of low winter tem-peratures when increased fluid viscosity re-sulted in dense emulsions. Surface tension forces and particles attaching themselves to the water-oil interface made these emul-sions appear to be extremely stable.

“We carried out an oil study which involved characterizations of the crude oil and a separation study involving screening of both the chemicals currently being used and alternatives,” says Trond Bynes. “This revealed that the current choice of chemi-cal should be changed and that a significant improvement in separation performance could be achieved by installing a VIEC system.”

Qatar Petroleum decided to install a VIEC System with the key objective of reducing basic sediment and water (BS&W) levels in the production separator from approxi-mately 5% to below 2%.

The VIEC system was installed and com-missioned by Wärtsilä in January 2012. The whole project was executed in less than a week.

Performance tests were carried out by a third-party laboratory hired by Qatar Pe-troleum to verify and confirm the system’s enhanced performance following installa-tion of the VIEC solution. Testing took place over a two-week period.

According to Bynes, the results reported by the third-party laboratory were excel-lent. The BS&W levels measured were less than 0.2% throughout the test period, well below the target level of 2%. Salt content in the crude oil was also reduced by up to 90%.

In a VIEC system the electrodes usually form a cross-section wall. Water

quickly settles to the bottom.

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of a polar liquid dispersed in a non-conductive liquid is

subjected to electric fields, several physical phenomena

cause the droplets to merge. In a VIEC system, two primary

effects can be identified. Firstly, an electrical dipole attrac-

tion causes droplets to coalesce. Secondly, the electric fields

distort and weaken the film, i.e. the surfactant components

surrounding the water droplets.

Separation efficiency can usually be influenced by

increasing gravity forces, density difference and the diam-

eter of the water droplets or by reducing viscosity. Drop-

let growth caused by the electric fields therefore leads to a

substantial growth in the settling velocity of the dispersed

droplets and enhances separation efficiency. As the sur-

factant components prevent coalescence, proper chemical

treatment such as a demulsifier is also needed.

“A VIEC system typically consists of 150–200 electrodes

- depending on the size of the separator - forming a cross-

sectional wall within the separator which allows the fluid

to pass the electrodes and be exposed to the electrical

field,” says Bynes. “Following electrostatic treatment, water

quickly settles to the bottom of the separator and is piped

to the water treatment system, while the crude oil flows

across to the oil section.”

Originally developed by ABB Corporate Research Center

in Norway in 1998-2001, VIEC technology is covered by

worldwide patents.

INSTALLATION TAKES LESS THAN A WEEKProduction separators are the heart of any oil and gas pro-

duction facility, offshore or onshore, all the way from the

tough conditions in the North Sea to the hot deserts of the

Middle East. Any shutdown of these separators will almost

immediately hit oil companies’ revenue streams.

Installing VIEC technology has to be planned carefully.

The equipment must be a correct fit at the first attempt

and the installation process must be performed quickly to

reduce downtime.

The whole installation also has to be performed through

a manhole just 18-24 inches wide. As well as being designed

to pass through the manhole, the component parts have to

be bolted together inside the separator unit.

“To secure safe and on-time installation, Wärtsilä per-

forms a full-scale test installation prior to equipment deliv-

ery,” says Bynes. “While installing a VIEC system inside a

separator takes just a few days, additional time is required

for depressurizing and cleaning prior to installation, and

pressurizing and recommissioning after the installation is

complete.”

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To deliver the correct VIEC solution for each customer, Wärtsilä analyzes and characterizes the crude oil that it will be handling. “Crude oils are very complicated liquids and are all very different by nature,” says Trond Bynes.

Customers send a 20–100 litre sample of crude to the Wärtsilä laboratory in Norway. Wärtsilä has already analyzed more than 80 different crude oils from all of the world’s primary crude-oil producing zones. In addition to a library of real crude-oil samples, this has allowed Wärtsilä to build up a unique database of knowledge.

Characterization of the crude oil includes determining its dielectric properties, viscosity, density, surface/interface characterization, asphaltene stability and emulsion stability, as well as inorganic/organic solid quantification and residual water quantification.

Following the characterization process, a range of separation tests is performed to verify the effect of a VIEC in combination with different chemicals. Separation testing focuses on retention time in the electrical field, chemical screening, turbulence, shear, recir-culation patterns, flow entrainment of small droplets and other dynamic effects.

“As well as verifying the use of electrostatic technology to treat the crude oil, this test-ing also provides data for oilfield owners and operators which allows them to optimize and remove bottlenecks from the overall separa-tion process. This can result in smaller separa-tor vessels, reduced processing temperatures and reduced dosing with chemicals.”

CRUDE OIL GOES TO THE LABORATORY