Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
  • E21B43/34—Arrangements for separating materials produced by the well
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/02—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/34—Chemical or biological purification of waste gases
  • B01D53/46—Removing components of defined structure
  • B01D53/62—Carbon oxides
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B21/00—Methods or apparatus for flushing boreholes, e.g. by use of exhaust air from motor
  • E21B21/06—Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole
  • E21B21/063—Arrangements for treating drilling fluids outside the borehole by separating components

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a system and method for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a
• hydrocarbon well stream In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank.
• Such hydrocarbon well stream separation tank may be used in or form part of the systems and/or methods disclosed herein.
• Hydrocarbon well streams produced from subterranean earth formations often contain natural gas and/or crude oils, and an aqueous phase containing water.
• the natural gas is usually contaminated with non-hydrocarbon
• hydrocarbon well streams produced in certain areas of the world may contain mercury in
• the mercury is not only present in the produced water and/or the crude oils, but it may also be present the in natural gas.
• US Patent 4,982,050 discloses a method and system wherein raw natural gas is treated prior to its
• a separate Hg remover is provided to remove the bulk of the mercury contamination present in the natural by contacting the natural gas in a treating bed, before the gas is contacted with equipment that is easily damaged by mercury or produce vapours for release - - in the environment that may otherwise contain mercury.
• the effluent gas from the mercury remover is carried through carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide removal units .
• Patent application publication US 2010/0032344 discloses a process for decreasing the level of elemental mercury contained in a crude oil at the well site. Crude oil from a crude oil well is passed to a separator for separation into a gaseous hydrocarbon stream containing hydrocarbons, mercury and water, and into a liquid hydrocarbon stream. Both the gaseous hydrocarbon stream and liquid hydrocarbon stream are removed from the separator. A mercury-containing gas feed, including in part at least a portion of gaseous hydrocarbon stream removed from the separator, is charged to a mercury removal unit that is arranged as a separate unit.
• hydrocarbon fluid production platform for instance in the form of a floating production storage and offloading structure and/or a floating liquefied natural gas
• the present invention provides a method of producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream, comprising the steps of:
• hydrocarbon well stream from a subterranean earth formation, said hydrocarbon well stream comprising at least a vaporous hydrocarbon phase and a liquid phase;
• hydrocarbon stream comprising a hydrocarbon molecules containing vapour from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase without the mercury that has accumulated in the filter;
• the present invention provides a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank comprising:
• vaporous hydrocarbon phase must pass through the filter before being discharged from the lower compartment through the discharge outlet.
• the present invention provides a system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream, comprising:
• Figure 1 schematically shows a system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream embodying the invention
• Figure 2 schematically shows an embodiment of a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank that can be used in the system of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 schematically shows another embodiment of a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank that can be used in the system of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 4 schematically shows an embodiment of a hydrocarbon processing means that can be used in the system of Figure 1.
• the present disclosure describes methods and systems for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a
• hydrocarbon well stream separation tank comprising a lower compartment for phase separating a hydrocarbon well stream, and an upper compartment for filtering mercury from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase separated from the hydrocarbon well stream before discharging it from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank in the form of a filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream.
• the hydrocarbon - - product stream may be obtained by subjecting at least part of the filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream to further processing of any type or combination of process types .
• a filter is intended to cover any type of device that can physically or chemically retain mercury and/or mercury containing compounds while letting other molecules through.
• such filter may suitably be a sorption filter.
• Such filter may be embodied in various forms. In one preferred example it takes the form of a porous material, for instance in bulk form or in the form of granules, through which the vaporous hydrocarbon phase can pass while mercury and/or mercury containing
• subterranean formation refers to earth formations that can be located offshore or onshore.
• Figure 1 schematically illustrates a method and system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream 90 from a hydrocarbon well stream 10.
• the hydrocarbon well stream is provided through an upstream production conduit 10 from a hydrocarbon
• the hydrocarbon well stream comprises a vaporous hydrocarbon phase, which may contain "raw" natural gas, and a liquid phase.
• the liquid phase may comprise a liquid aqueous phase containing water and a liquid hydrocarbon phase.
• a non-hydrocarbon solid phase, such as sand, may also be contained in the hydrocarbon well stream.
• the aqueous phase may contain mercury and/or other minerals and other constituents dissolved therein that originate from the subterranean earth formation, as well as an additive.
• a common additive is a hydrate inhibitor.
• the vaporous hydrocarbon phase may contain one or more of the group consisting of methane, ethane, propane, butanes, and pentanes. In addition, it may contain non- hydrocarbon molecules, including acid molecules such as carbon-dioxide CO2 and sulphur compounds such as H2S, and mercury .
• the system further comprises a well stream separation tank 100 fluidly connected, via a main inlet 110, to the upstream
• the well stream separation tank 10 to receive the hydrocarbon well stream and to separate the hydrocarbon well stream into at least one intermediate product stream 40 comprising molecules from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase, and an intermediate waste stream 50 comprising the aqueous phase.
• 100 may be embodied in the form of a three phase
• hydrocarbon well stream 10 may be separated into more streams than described above.
• Such more streams may include, in addition to the streams described above, a liquid hydrocarbon phase - -
• the three phase separator may comprise an aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid aqueous phase from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100, and a hydrocarbon phase discharge outlet 120 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid hydrocarbon phase from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100
• the hydrocarbon phase discharge outlet 120 is arranged gravitationally higher than the aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 to allow for separation of these two liquid phases based on density differences. Solids may be discharged together with the liquid aqueous phase, or via an optional solids phase discharge outlet (not shown) .
• a hydrocarbon condensate stabilisation unit 600 may be provided to receive the liquid hydrocarbon phase 20 and remove relatively volatile constituents 35 from it so that the remaining stabilised liquid 30 can be stored safely under atmospheric pressure and temperature.
• Intermediate waste stream 50 comprising the aqueous phase may similarly be purified.
• a hydrate inhibitor regeneration unit 200 may be provided, which at its upstream side is connected to the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 to receive the intermediate waste stream 50.
• a regenerated hydrate inhibitor stream 65 which comprises a higher concentration of the hydrate inhibitor additive than the aqueous phase of the
• intermediate waste stream 50 is discharged from the hydrate inhibitor regeneration unit 200. At least part - - of the residue portion of the intermediate waste stream 50, generally a water stream comprising a lower
• concentration of the hydrate inhibitor additive than the aqueous phase of the intermediate waste stream 50 is discharged as the waste stream portion 60 into a waste stream conduit .
• the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 is further provided with a vaporous hydrocarbon stream discharge outlet, hereinafter referred to as vapor discharge outlet 140, for discharging intermediate product stream 40 comprising vapor with molecules from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• vapor discharge outlet 140 a vaporous hydrocarbon stream discharge outlet, hereinafter referred to as vapor discharge outlet 140, for discharging intermediate product stream 40 comprising vapor with molecules from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• the vaporous hydrocarbon phase comprises at least hydrocarbon molecules
• Hydrocarbon processing means 400 are arranged to receive the intermediate product stream 40 and to further process the intermediate product stream 40 to produce the hydrocarbon product stream 90 from the intermediate product stream 40. In addition to the hydrocarbon product stream 90, the hydrocarbon processing means 400 may produce one or more by-product streams 95. Further details and example embodiments will be discussed later herein, with reference to Figure 4.
• an amount of mercury is selectively removed from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase separated out from the
• FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically show advantageous embodiments hydrocarbon well stream separation tanks - - wherein the functions of phase separation of the
• hydrocarbon well stream 10 into at least a liquid phase 103 and at least a vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107, and of mercury removal from the separated vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 can be combined in one tank, such that both functions can be carried out in the plot space that normally is allocated for the phase separation step alone .
• the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 comprises a lower compartment 102 for separating the liquid phase 103 from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 of the
• the hydrocarbon well stream 10 that has been allowed into the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 via main inlet 110.
• the main inlet 110 may be associated with usual internals including an inlet distributor 112.
• the lower compartment is essentially a gas/liquid phase separator, optionally in the form of a three-phase separator .
• At least one liquid discharge outlet is provided in a lower part of the lower compartment to discharge a least part of the liquid phase 103 from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• this liquid discharge outlet is shown in the form of the aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid aqueous phase from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 further comprises an upper compartment 104, located gravitationally above the lower compartment 102.
• An internal passage 106 fluidly connects the lower
• the internal passage 106 is located gravitationally higher - - than the liquid discharge outlet. It functions as a vapour phase discharge outlet of the lower compartment 102, and it may optionally be associated with internals that are more common in gas/liquid phase separators such as a mist mat or similar means to prevent cross-over of liquid droplets.
• a filter 108 is disposed in the upper compartment 104.
• the filter is preferably a selective filter, capable of filtering mercury from the vaporous
• hydrocarbon phase 107 for instance by virtue of chemical and/or physical differences of mercury and/or mercury compounds compared to hydrocarbon molecules, in
• a vapor discharge outlet 140 is provided in the upper compartment 104 for discharging a filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream 109 from the upper compartment 104 to outside of the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• the filter 108 is arranged such that the internal passage 106 is fluidly separated from the vapor discharge outlet 140 such that the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 must pass through the filter 108 before being discharged from the lower compartment 104 through the vapor discharge outlet 140.
• the filter 108 is suitably a sorption filter. It may comprise a sorbent material, preferably a solid sorbent material that is capable of sorbing mercury from the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107.
• sorbent materials are known for stand-alone mercury removal units, including activated carbon, activated zeolite, alumina, silica, or chemically modified versions of such materials using a chemical promoter, including for example sulfur, iodine, chlorine, nitric acid, metal sulfide such as copper sulfide and zinc sulfide, and - - mixed sulfide, to enhance the sorption selectivity for mercury sorption.
• a non-regenerative sorbent may be selected for this purpose. This allows operation of the hydrocarbon well fluid separator tank 100 during a number of years during which mercury accumulates in the sorbent filter, after which the filter is replaced during a scheduled
• the internal passage 106 is shorter and it does not extend through the filter 108.
• the vapor discharge outlet 140 can be above the filter 108, suitably in an overhead area of the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• 100 is constructed in the form of an upright, for example vertically, extending pressurizable tank having a
• the upper compartment 104 and the lower compartment 102 may optionally be separated by a separator plate 114 disposed inside the side wall section generally transverse to the upright central axis. It does not have to be a flat plate: for instance it may - - be upwardly or downwardly protruding frusto-conically shaped around the central axis (not shown) .
• the internal passage 106 may be as simple as merely an opening in the separator plate 114. Preferably, the internal passage 106 does not impart a significant pressure loss in the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107. Passage through the filter 108 may cause a pressure drop.
• any pressure drop may call for a re-compression need, for more efficient hydrocarbon processing in the hydrocarbon processing means 400.
• the pressure in the upper compartment 104 upstream of the filter is less than 1 bar, preferably less than 0.5 bar, lower than the pressure in the lower compartment 102.
• processing means 400 may consist of any number of units of various types, as necessary to further process the intermediate product stream 40 into the desired
• the intermediate product stream 40 formed out of the filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream 109, may contain varying amounts of hydrocarbons from the group consisting of methane, ethane, propane, and butanes. Possibly it may further contain lesser amounts of pentanes and aromatic hydrocarbons.
• the composition varies depending upon the type and location of the gas. It is preferably comprised substantially of methane.
• the gaseous hydrocarbon stream 10 comprises at least 50 mol% methane, more preferably at least 80 mol% methane. - -
• the intermediate product stream 40 may further contain non-hydrocarbons such as H 2 O, 2 , CO 2 , Hg, H 2 S and other sulphur compounds, and the like.
• non-hydrocarbons such as H 2 O, 2 , CO 2 , Hg, H 2 S and other sulphur compounds, and the like.
• hydrocarbon processing means may comprise units or systems for reduction and/or removal of undesired
• the hydrocarbon product stream 90 may be a liquefied natural gas stream while a natural gas liquids stream (e.g. a liquefied petroleum gas stream for the majority consisting of propane and/or butane) may be one of the one or more by-product streams 95.
• a natural gas liquids stream e.g. a liquefied petroleum gas stream for the majority consisting of propane and/or butane
• liquefaction system 440 is typically arranged to extract heat from at least part of the intermediate product stream 40, thereby producing the hydrocarbon product stream 90 in liquefied form, such as in the form of a liquefied hydrocarbon stream.
• the further processing in the hydrocarbon processing means 400 may include one or more of the group consisting of: residual mercury removal 430; dehydration
• acid component removal 410 including CO2 removal and/or H2S removal and/or respective recovery
• the acid component removal unit advantageously comprises an amine solvent unit arranged to contact at least part of the intermediate stream 40 with an amine solvent .
• the intermediate product stream 40 is formed out of the filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream 109, it contains a lower concentration of mercury than the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 from the hydrocarbon well stream 10. Thus, less mercury is adsorbed in the amine and building up in the amine regeneration unit or being vented to atmosphere when using a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 as described herein than when using a conventional inlet separator or conventional three-phase separator. This allows handling of gas from hydrocarbon reservoirs that have higher than average mercury content.
• the hydrocarbon well stream 10 is produced from the hydrocarbon reservoir 520 from the subterranean earth formation 530.
• the hydrocarbon well stream 10 comprises at least a vaporous hydrocarbon phase and a liquid phase.
• the produced hydrocarbon well steam 10 is fed into the lower compartment 102 of the well stream separator tank - -
• the liquid 103 is discharged from the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 via the liquid discharge outlet 150 in the bottom of the hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100.
• the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 is passed to the upper compartment 104 via the internal passage 106. From the internal passage 106 it is next passed through the filter 108 that is disposed the upper compartment 104.
• the resulting filtered vaporous hydrocarbon stream 109 which comprises the vaporous hydrocarbon phase without the mercury that has accumulated in the filter, is discharged from the upper compartment 104 via the vapor discharge outlet 140 to form the intermediate product stream 40.
• the majority of the mercury in the vaporous hydrocarbon phase 107 is filtered out in the filter 108.
• the intermediate product stream 40 is further processed to produce the hydrocarbon product stream 90 from the intermediate product stream 40.
• the intermediate product stream 40 may first be deriched from one or more acid components, for instance by contacting the
• a well known example of a liquefied hydrocarbon stream is a liquefied natural gas stream, which typically contains mostly methane, such as at least 80 mol%
• the further processing may comprise removing heat from at least a methane-containing portion of the intermediate product stream 40 to form a hydrocarbon product stream in the form of a liquefied - - methane-containing stream such as a liquefied natural gas stream.
• a variety of suitable installations and line ups are available in the art for extracting heat from a vaporous hydrocarbon containing feed stream, particularly a natural gas stream, as well as other treatment steps such as those briefly described above for the removal of unwanted contaminants and components from the feed stream, which are often performed in conjunction with producing a liquefied hydrocarbon stream.
• hydrocarbon well stream separation tank 100 the optional hydrate inhibitor regeneration unit 200, and the
• the hydrocarbon processing means 400 are all located in and/or on an offshore structure.
• the offshore structure may be a floating offshore structure 500 that floats on a body of water 510 such as the sea.
• the floating offshore structure 500 may be weathervaningly connected to an anchored turret (not shown) , whereby the upstream
• the hydrocarbon reservoir 520 in the embodiment of Figure 1 is a
• a floating gas processing structure such as a floating natural gas liquefaction plant.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Separation By Low-Temperature Treatments (AREA)
• Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
• Gas Separation By Absorption (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=46724399

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2012
  • 2012-08-17 AU AU2012296868A patent/AU2012296868B2/en active Active
  • 2012-08-17 EP EP12750583.2A patent/EP2744978A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-08-17 WO PCT/EP2012/066064 patent/WO2013024147A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-08-17 KR KR1020147006526A patent/KR101953939B1/ko active IP Right Grant
  • 2012-08-17 CN CN201280040164.6A patent/CN103748317B/zh active Active
  • 2012-08-17 BR BR112014002410-3A patent/BR112014002410B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2012-08-17 AP AP2014007385A patent/AP2014007385A0/xx unknown

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events