Floating Production Technology

Fluid Recovery Gas Lift, Gas Injection, Water Injection

Specialist Diploma in Marine & Offshore Technology

FPSO Layout

Falcon FPSO - Layout

Primary Production System

Gas Lift Principle

Gas Lift Operating Principle

An artificial-lift method in which gas is injected into the production tubing to reduce the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid column. The resulting reduction in bottomhole pressure allows the reservoir liquids to enter the wellbore at a higher flow rate. The injection gas is typically conveyed down the tubing-casing annulus and enters the production train through a series of gas-lift valves. The gas-lift valve position, operating pressures and gas injection rate are determined by specific well conditions.

Gas Lift Principle

Gas-Lift is used when large supply of natural gas is available. Natural gas is introduced into the well in the annular space between the tubing and casing.

Gas Lift Principle

Gas lift valves close as the gas enters the lowest valve. As the gas enters the production zone, it is dispersed within the oil phase, which makes it lighter reducing static head.

Gas Injection Gas Flooding

A reservoir maintenance or secondary recovery method that uses injected gas to supplement the pressure in an oil reservoir or field.

In most cases, a field will incorporate a planned distribution of gas-injection wells to maintain reservoir pressure and effect an efficient sweep of recoverable liquids.

Gas Injection or Gas Flooding

Gas is injected into the gas cap above the oil layer. It essentially builds up pressure to push the oil up once the natural pressure decreases.

Water Injection Water Flooding

A method of secondary recovery in which water is injected into the reservoir formation to displace residual oil.

The water from injection wells physically sweeps the displaced oil to adjacent production wells.

Water Injection Water Flooding

Potential problems associated with waterflood techniques include inefficient recovery due to variable permeability, or similar conditions affecting fluid transport within the reservoir, and early water breakthrough that may cause production and surface processing problems.

Tertiary Recovery - Water Injection

Specification of Water Injection

Flowrate Temperature Pressure Pressure Oxygen concentration : O2 concentration : : : : 80,000 BWPD 10 to 30C 205 bara at FPSO 201 bara at well 0.10 mg/l (without O2 Scavenger) 0.01 mg/l (with O2 Scavenger)

Solids content

95% removal of 5microns

Water Injection Two Sources

What are the two sources? Sea water (plentiful, all around) Produced water (good to inject them back into reservoir, otherwise they have to be disposed off)

Seawater Injection Greater Plutonio

Seawater Treatment for Water Injection

Coarse and fine filters Electro-Chlorination Sulphate removal reduce scale production in wells and separation equipment. Vacuum de-aeration High Pressure Injection pumps Sterilization

Seawater Injection
Sea-water Lift Pumps

A large amount of seawater is used for cooling various processes and in providing seawater for injection.
The seawater lift pumps may be located within the ship taking suction from sea-chests or be large electric submersible pumps located in caissons. These pumps are usually high-volume, low-head pumps.

Seawater for water injection and cooling medium cooling is normally supplied by three (3) units of 50% seawater lift pumps located in seawater lift caissons or sea chests.

Seawater Lift Pumps

Water Injection Process

Filtration Filtration of the seawater will be carried out in two stages.

Seawater Filters

Water Injection Process

Filtration
The first stage will be through a coarse filter package. This will remove particulate matter down to 300 microns. The coarse filter package will be located on the discharge of the seawater lift pumps. All the seawater required for process indirect cooling and for injection will pass through the course filter package.

Water Injection System

Coarse Filtration
The coarse filters are usually automatic back-washable basket filters. During the bloom period, these filters may require more frequent backwashing to deal with the high levels of plankton.

Water Injection System

Filtration
The second stage of filtration after the seawater has passed through the cooling medium/seawater plate cooler will be through a fine filter package. This package normally comprises of single or dual media back washable filters which will remove 95% of all solids down to and including 5 microns.

Water Injection System

Fine Filtration
The package normally contains a number, approximately 6 filter pods, which provide the correct flux rate to be able to remove virtually all particulate matter.
The filters are backwashed using an air scour system to lift and break up the bed in order to remove the solids contained on the media. Fine filters take up quite a bit of space and are heavy. For these reasons, careful analysis of the reservoir rock porosity is necessary to ascertain what level of filtration is required. (There is a big space and weight bonus if fine filters are not required.)

Electro-Chlorination
This occurs immediately after filtration has taken place This process will kill off marine organisms remaining in the seawater so as to reduce marine fouling in piping or equipment.

Sulphate Reduction
Intent : reduce the sulphate ion concentration in the sea water Method: dose the low sulphate water with chemicals Effect : prevent corrosion, scaling and reservoir souring when injected Performance specification: Sulphate content 20 mg/litre Max particle size 10 micron

Sulphate Reduction Package

Water Injection Process

Deaeration
Vacuum deaeration is the most common method used to remove dissolved oxygen from the seawater. The warm filtered seawater will then be routed to the deaerator where the oxygen content of the seawater will be reduced to 0.1 mg/litre by vacuum stripping. Injection of an oxygen scavenger into the base of the deaerator will reduce the oxygen content down to 0.01 mg/litre or less.

Vacuum Deaeration Tower

Water Injection System

Deaeration continued
A vacuum package made up of a combination of vacuum pumps and ejectors which creates a vacuum at each stage within the tower. Each stage is separated from the next by a water seal. This means that as the water travels down the tower it will pass through two or three different levels of vacuum (2 or 3 stage vacuum tower) depending on the number of stages of the design.

Water Injection System

Deareator Tower

Water Injection Process

The treated seawater from the deaerator will then be pumped up to the required injection pressure by a two-stage process: booster pump (to 10 bara) injection pump (to 200 bara)

Booster pump

Injection pump

Water Injection System

Booster Pumps
Two 50% booster pumps will take water from the deaerator tower and boost the pressure up to around 10 bara.

Booster pumps provided the necessary net positive suction head (NPSH) for the high-pressure injection pumps.

Water Injection System

Injection Pumps
The booster pumps will then feed straight into the suction side of two 50% injection pumps which will further boost the pressure up to its final injection pressure normally around 200 bara.

Water Injection System

Injection Pumps
- continued

The filtered and oxygen-free seawater is then finally pumped up to the required injection pressure by multi-stage injection pumps.

These high-pressure pumps are normally one of the biggest power users. Their power requirement is of the order of several megawatts.

Water Injection manifold

Water Injection System

Sterilisation
Sterilisation of the injection water will be carried out using a UV sterilisation package or by use of chlorinating chemicals, downstream of the injection pumps.

Water Injection System

Principal Items of Water Injection Equipment Seawater Lift Pumps Seawater Coarse Filters Seawater Fine Filters 3 50% 3 50% 6 20%

Deaerator Tower
Booster Pumps Injection Pumps

1 100%
2 50% 2 50%

Sterilisation Package

1 100%

Produced Water System

The other type of water for injection is Produced water.

Produced water from the HP Separator and LP Separator is normally treated in a produced water treatment package.
This package normally consists of a bank of hydrocyclones and a degassing vessel.

Produced Water System

Produced Water System

Produced water from the electrostatic coalescer can either be pumped up to the pressure of the HP Separator, commingled with the HP Separator water and prepared for re-injection or sent to the ships slop oil system and treated as part of the ships oily water system.

Produced Water System

Treatment for Re-Injection

Hydrocyclones / Centrifuges The level of oil in the produced water is reduced by hydrocyclones where the g-forces are increased by hundreds
Degassers The level of gas in the produced water may be reduced by vacuum stripping in a degasser

Hyrdocyclones Working Principle

Liquid/Liquid Hydrocyclones Based on the physics of enhanced gravity separation and free vortex action a cylindrical inlet, a tapered tube with the liquids entering tangentially via inlets These forces & differential pressures, set up across the hydrocyclone, allow: the heavy phase to exit at the underflow the lighter phase reverses flow and exits the overflow at the opposite end

Produced Water
Disposal of Unwanted Water
As oily water (water for disposal overboard): The treated produced water will contain a maximum 40 ppm free oil and will have been degassed down to atmospheric pressure before disposal to the sea via a produced water disposal caisson or appropriate sea chest.

Oil Content Criteria

Less than 15 ppm Will not produce an oil sheen on the water Between 15 to 100 ppm Produce a sheen (but not a slick) which would be absorbed by the sea or evaporate within 3 to 4 hours. 15 ppm can be smelled but not seen 100 ppm may be seen as a sheen with slight discolouration More than 100 ppm Produce an oil slick which would eventually reach shore

Produced Water
Specification for Produced Water for discharge into sea:

Handling capacity : 70,000 BWPD Discharge temperature range : 50 to 80C Oil content : 40 ppm (free oil)