Mass Balance Exercise

Individual Exercise on Block Flow Diagrams,

Flowsheets and Mass Balances
Ruben Chatterjee
11/4/2016

Table of Contents
Objective ......................................................................................................................................... 2
Data ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Question & Answers ....................................................................................................................... 2
Reference & Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 10

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Objective
To design a system to take secondary recovery product from an established well that has had its
life extended by water injection from an adjacent well.

Data
a. Percentage range of liquid oil in produced material :- percentage of liquid oil decreasing from
50% to 40%

(10%).

b. Percentage range of gas in produced material :- decreasing from 7% to 5% (2%).

c. Percentage range of water in produced material :- increasing from 40% to 50% (10%).
d. Percentage range of solids in produced material :- increasing from 3% to 5% (2%).
e. Temperature drop 200oC to 100oC.
f. Presuure drop across seperation :- decrease from 45 barg to 20 barg.
g. Density of oil increasing from 850 kg/m3 to 900 kg/m3.
h. Density of water 1100 kg/m3 to 1000 kg/m3.

Question & Answers

Ques 1. From the data above, create a specification for the produced oil that you will be
processing.
Ans.1.
Let us assume that we are able to procure 1000kg of original well fluid per day and we are
receiving 1000kg of secondary recovered oil per day and that all of this can be processed. Note
that this 1000kg feed includes amounts of liquid oil, gas, water as well as solid particulate
matter.
The following tables (Table 1 and Table 2) describes the composition and physical properties of
the original well fluid and the secondary recovery fluid received through water injection.

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Table 1 : Composition of original well fluid and secondary recovery fluid.

Original Well Fluid
S No.

Component

Percentage by
mass (%)

Secondary Recovery Fluid

Percentage

Mass (kg)

by mass (%)

Mass (kg)

1.

Liquid Oil

50

500

40

400

2.

Gas

70

50

3.

Water

40

400

50

500

4.

Solids

30

50

Table 2: Phycal Properties of original well fluid and secondary recovery fluid

S. No.

Property

Original Well Fluid

1.

Temperature

200oC

2.

Presuure

45 barg

Secondary Recovery
Fluid
100oC
20 barg

3.

Density of oil

850 kg/m

4.

Density of water

1100 kg/m3

900 kg/m3
1000 kg/m3

Ques 2. Create specifications for the product liquid oil, gas and water streams. State your
source. What separation efficiencies are likely to be attained?
Ans 2.
In general, the industry utilises seperators with net efficiency of 97%-99%. For greater
efficiency, we may carry out the entire proces in two steps, that is, utilising 2 seperators. In the
first step we will separate the gas, liquid and the solid particles. Feed from seperator 1 will be fed
into seperator 2 which will then separate the feed fluid into oil, water and gas.We may assume
that each seperator provides us with 98% recovery of the feed. The following tables ( Table 3
and Table 4) give the seperation efficiencies.

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Table 3: Percentage recovery from Seperator 1

SEPERATOR 1
S.No.

Component

Recovery (%)

1.

Liquid ( Water + Oil )

98

2.

Gas

98

3.

Solid

98

Table 4: Percentage recovery from Seperator 2

SEPERATOR 2
S.No.

Component

Recovery (%)

1.

Oil

98

2.

Gas

98

3.

Water

98

Assuming that 1000kg incoming fluid stream, the composition of the final product streams of oil,
water and gas is given by Table 5.
Table 5:- Composition of final product streams of oil, water and gas from Seperator 2.
Oil Stream Out 1
S. No.

Component

Gas Stream Out 1

Water Stream Out 1

Percentage by

Mass

Percentage by

Mass

Percentage by

Mass

mass (%)

(kg)

mass (%)

(kg)

mass (%)

(kg)

1.

Water

2.5

9.8

0.0

0.0

98.2

480.2

2.

Gas

0.0

0.02

86.2

0.98

0.0

0.0

3.

Solids

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.2

1.0

4.

Oil

97.5

384.16

13.8

0.1568

1.6

7.7

5.

Total

100.0

394.0

100

1.1368

100.0

488.9

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Ques 3. What key environmental factors will you have to consider in your design ?
Ans 3.
One of the key environmental factors affecting the design of the seperators would be the location
where the seperators are constructed. Moisture in the air along with ambient salinity and pH may
result in corrosion which will reduce the service life of the equipment. Other aspects to consider
would be the chemical composition of the feed. Hydrogen sulphide is know to have a cossorive
impact. Well streams containing water as a liquid and gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide
are considered to be corrosive [1].
Ques 4. You are asked to complete a flowsheet to produce 1000 tonne per day of liquid oil.
4(a). What masses of the components will be produced? What is the total amount that will
emerge from the well?
From above we can see that for every 1000kg of feed fluid, 400kg of liquid oil. Since the units
are relative, it can be concluded that for every 1000 tonne (t) of feed fluid, we will recover 400t
of liquid oil. Therefore, in order to rcover 1000t of liquid oil per day, the seperator must receive
2500t of feed fluid per day. Table 6 gives the amount of different components in the secondary
recovery fluid if we were to receive 2500t of feed fluid per day.
Table 6:- Amounts of different components for 2500t of secondary recovered fluid.
Secondary Recovery Fluid
S.No.

Component

Percentage by
mass (%)

Mass (t)

1.

Water

50

1250

2.

Gas

125

3.

Solids

125

4.

Oil

40

1000

Total

100

2500

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4(b). Draw a block flow diagram of your process.

Figure 1 describes the basic layout of the seperation process.
Gas Stream Out 1

Feed Fluid
( Oil + Water +
Gas + Solid)

Seperator 1

Gas Stream Out 2

Liquid Stream Out 1
Feed Fluid
( Oil + Water + Gas )
Seperator 2

Solid Stream Out 1

Water Stream Out 2

Oil Stream Out 2

Figure 1:- Layout of Seperation Process.

4(c). Develop a mass balance around your block flow diagram. Show the masses and mass
fractions of the various components. Assign likely temperatures and pressures to each
stream. Justify them.
The mass balance calculation for the above seperation diagram is geven by the following Table 7

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Table 7 (a):- Total feed fluid to be processed

Secondary Recovery Fluid
S.No.

Component

Percentage by
mass (%)

Mass (t)

1.

Water

50

1250

2.

Gas

125

3.

Solids

125

4.

Oil

40

1000

Total

100

2500

Table 7(b):- Percentage recovery from Seperator 1

SEPERATOR 1
S.No.

Component

Recovery (%)

1.

Liquid ( Water + Oil )

98

2.

Gas

98

3.

Solid

98

Table 7(c):- Recovery composition from Seperator 1

Component

Liquid Stream Out 1

Gas Stream Out 1

Solids Stream Out 1

Percentage

Percentage by

Percentage by

by mass (%)

Mass (t)

mass (%)

Mass (t)

mass (%)

Mass (t)

Water

55.4

1225

0.0

0.0

16.9

25

Gas

0.1

2.5

86.0

122.5

0.0

0.0

Solids

0.1

2.5

0.0

0.0

83.1

122.5

Oil

44.3

980

14.0

20

0.0

0.0

Total

100.0

2210.0

100

142.5

100.0

147.5

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Table 7(d):- Percentage recovery from Seperator 2

SEPERATOR 2
S.No.

Component

Recovery (%)

1.

Oil

98

2.

Gas

98

3.

Water

98

Table 7(e):- Recovery composition from Seperator 2

Oil Stream Out 2
Component

Percentage by
mass (%)

Mass (t)

Gas Stream Out 2

Percentage by
mass (%)

Mass (t)

Water Stream Out 2

Percentage by
mass (%)

Mass (t)

Water

2.5

24.5

0.0

0.0

98.2

1200.5

Gas

0.0

0.05

86.2

2.45

0.0

0.0

Solids

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.2

2.5

Oil

97.5

960.4

13.8

0.392

1.6

19.2

Total

100.0

985.0

100

2.842

100.0

1222.2

Table 8:- Approximate pressure and temperature estimation for each fluid stream
S.No.

Fluid Stream

Pressure (barg)

Temperature ( oC)

1.

Feed Fluid

20

100

2.

Liquid Stream Out 1

80

3.

Gas Stream Out 1

18

50

4.

Solid Stream Out 1

60

5.

Oil Stream Out 2

70

6.

Gas Stream Out 2

40

7.

Water Stream Out 2

60

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Ques 5. What general types of processing equipment will you be using in the flowsheet you
have established? What qualitative changes in temperature and pressure will be needed to
achieve the separations?
Ans 5.
We shall design a multi-stage sperator system so that the secondary recovery fluid containing
soids, gas and a mixture of oil and gas can be processed efficiently. Seperator 1 shall be
designed primarily for seperation of solids and gas from the liquid mixture. Seperator 2 shall be
designed for the seperation of oil and water. We may also decide to include a gas outlet from
seperator 2 for all the other dissolved gases which may also be seperated during oil and water
seperation.
Further, the pressure and temperature of the secondary recovery fluid are 20barg and 100 oC
respectively. In this case it may be considered safe to design our seperators to operate in low to
mid ranges of pressure and temperature upto 50barg and 200oC respectively.
As a measure of precaution, we may also use pressure control valves at outputs of gas stream.
These will act as a fuse in case of sudden pressure drop. Further, pumps and compressors will be
used to provide appropriate flow rate of the fluid to the tank.
Ques 6. Sketch a flowsheet showing principal plant item (include pumps, compressors and
heat exchangers where necessary, but dont worry about detail). Note the range of
pressures and temperatures that the equipment would have to withstand.
Ans 6.
Figure 2 below is a schematic representation of the principal plant equipments

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Operating Pressure Seperator 1 = 30 barg

PC

Operating Temperature Seperator 1 = 100oC

Operating Pressure Seperator 2 = 10 barg

Gas Stream Out 1

Operating Temperature Seperator 1 = 80oC

PC

Feed Fluid
In

Seperator 1

Gas Stream Out 2

Seperator 2

Solid Stream Out 1

STOCK
TANK

Water Stream Out 2

Oil Stream Out 2

Figure 2:- Schematic representation of
principal plant equipments

Reference & Bibliography

[1] American Petroleum Institute, Specification for Oil and Gas Seperators, American
Petroleum Institute, 2009.
[2] Excel document with all calculations.

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