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Gathering centres
Section A
Reading comprehension
Read the following passage
After the crude has been brought to the surface, the next step is to process into
the form in which, it will be sent on to the refinery. Through the flow lines,
production from the various wellheads in the field is directed to the gathering
centre. Off-shore, for reasons of space and cost, the gathering centre is the
production platform itself. At the gathering centre, the oil is treated to bring it
up to pipeline and refinery specification. Water and dissolved salts can
seriously corrode chokes, valves and pipe walls, and must therefore be
removed from the crude before it is transported. Dehydration and desalination
can be accomplished by electrical precipitation, heating, and washing with
fresh water.
Reservoir crude also has to be treated to separate associated gas. Separation
of the gas may be a single- stage or a multi-stage operation, depending on the
gas/oil ratio. In single-stage separation, only one oil-gas separator is used.
Separators can be vertical, inclined, or horizontal.
Natural gas may also require treatment at the gathering centre, particularly if it
contains water vapour. When a high pressure gas is expanded to a lower
temperature, considerable cooling takes place. If the gas contains water
vapour, this cooling can cause the formation of hydrates, and these may plug
chokes, valves and pipelines. The gas is dehydrated in a large steel vessel
known as a serubber, in which the water is removed by the absorbing action
of glycol. Natural gas frequently contains considerable amounts of the
corrosive and highly toxic acid gas (hydrogen sulphide), and treatment must be
available for this as well as for water vapour.
Trunk lines connect the gathering centre to the refinery or tanker terminal.
Many kilometres of large-diameter pipeline (26 or 32 OD) may be required.
Problems inside the lines must be prevented, or quickly corrected when they
occur.
The devices which test, log, clean and unblock oil pipelines are known as pigs.
Each type of pig is usually referred to by a special name. One type of pig, for
example, is known as a rabbit. In product pipelines, pigs can be used to
separate two or more different oil products which are being sent at the same
time through a single line.
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