Life performance of oil and gas platforms: Site integration and thermodynamic evaluation

Abstract

Oil and gas platforms are energy-intensive systems, which operate under changing boundary conditions over time. In this paper, the life performance of an offshore platform is analysed by comparing three representative stages of an oil field (early-life, plateau and end-life productions). The energy requirements are assessed by a process integration study, and the system inefficiencies are pinpointed by performing an exergy accounting. The heating and cooling requirements vary significantly over time, and most inefficiencies take place in processes where chemical exergy is consumed ( 50-55 %), thermal exergy is transferred ( 15-20 %), or mechanical exergy is varied ( 10-15 %). These findings are valid for all production periods: this suggests that more attention should be paid on a proper integration of the processing and utility plants, by, for instance, recovering heat from the turbine exhausts and from the exported gas. Multi-objective optimisations are conducted for evaluating the integration of steam and organic Rankine cycles, considering thermodynamic, economic and environmental performance indicators. They indicate that the profitability of a given improvement measure mainly depends on (i) the field properties, (ii) the platform operating strategy, and (iii) the production stage of the oil field. The implementation of steam networks appears promising, as it results in a better performance of the offshore platform and in larger economic profits.

Exergy analysis of offshore primary petroleum processing plant with CO2 capture

“…They found that the greatest exergy destruction take place in the gas treatment module. Nguyen et al [8] performed a study to assess the life efficiency of systems in an offshore platform using pinch-and exergybased methods. In this paper, they calculated the distribution of system and component exergy destruction at three life stages of the production.…”

Mathematical Model for Optimization of Heat Exchange Systems of a Refinery

“…Russia is the largest exporter of oil and gas, increasing the efficiency of the refinery is an urgent task requiring a thorough scientific approach to their study [1,2]. An oil refinery is a complex heat and power facility in which there are processes of heat generation and its use in production.…”

Deep Water Cooled ORC for Offshore Floating Oil Platform Applications

“…De Oliveira & Van Hombeeck [5] studied exergetic efficiency and losses of a Brazilian offshore platform. Nguyen et al [6] pinpointed exergy losses of an offshore platform for three stages of an oil field, while an exergy accounting was performed for six cases corresponding to different reservoir fluid compositions by Nguyen et al [7]. Voldsund et al [8] identified exergy losses of four platforms located in the North Sea.…”

“…Voldsund et al [9] applied exergy analysis on a real production day of an offshore platform. Most of the studies [4,[6][7][8] stressed the importance of good use of the waste heat contained in the exhaust gases.…”

“…A considerable number of studies [4][5][6][7][8][9] developed researches on efficiency evaluation for offshore oil extraction and its related processes. Nguyen et al [4] suggested a component-by-component exergy efficiency formulation for offshore oil and gas processing.…”