Innovative Scheme for Crude Oil Stabilization Using Condensate

Abstract

For a new sour field development, the scheme for crude oil stabilization is designed using condensate as stripping agent in the crude oil stabilizer in place of conventional scheme using sweet fuel gas. The article discusses the scheme and its advantages compared to other industry practice of 'Reboiled Stripper' for Crude Oil Stabilization.The design is based on splitting of gas condensate produced during gas compression in to heavy cut and lights in a condensate splitter operating as a distillation column. The lights are recycled back in to the gas compression for gas injection while heavy condensate is vaporized and used as stripping agent in crude oil stabilizer.The benefits are higher oil volumes with some improvement in oil API achieved through ability to mix higher fraction of the condensate produced in to oil, while maintaining Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) Specifications for oil export.The scheme eliminates light condensates drying and pumping for injection in to reservoir as it mixes it with gas for injection and a common gas drying and compression system can be used for injection in to reservoirs. Also instead of boiling crude at higher temperatures in the reboiler of crude oil stabilizer which is the case for the 'Reboiled Stripper Scheme', clean condensate vapors are used for stripping H2S and light hydrocarbons in crude stabilizer with operations at near 100°C.This will reduce the system fouling while providing higher plant availability by eliminating reboiler from the Crude oil Stabilizer. The estimated Capital Cost is lower in comparison to other schemes.Thus the design gives a simplified scheme for simultaneous processing of condensate with crude oil stabilization, producing oil in quantity and specification similar to the 'Reboiler Option' while providing additional bebefit of lower CAPEX with higher plant availability.