Alaska Kuparuk North Slope Oil Separator Upgrade: Case Study

摘要

Located on the Arctic Coastal Plain, 40 miles west of PrudhoernBay, ConocoPhillips Kuparuk facility on Alaska’s NorthrnSlope is the second largest oilfield in North America. AtrnCPF1, ConocoPhillips brought on a new field with heavy oilrnand high solids content which necessitated upgrading the 1 strnStage production separator. The original separator levelrninstrumentation, used for the past 23 years, utilised traditionalrndisplacers and differential pressure cells for both oil andrninterface measurements.rnIn an environment where extreme winter temperatures ofrnminus 60 deg F (-120 deg F with wind chill) are the norm thenrnhigh reliability and maintenance free operation comes veryrnhigh in the specification of instruments. This case studyrnshows, with operator feedback and ‘real time’ ‘on line’ screenrnshots and trending data, how various novel and traditionalrnlevel measurement technologies performed under thesernconditions of extreme temperature and dealing with difficult tornseparate oil with a high solids concentration. The technologiesrnunder review included the Tracerco Profiler, Guided WavernRadar, internal displacers and external differential pressurerncells.Located on the Arctic Coastal Plain, 40 miles west of PrudhoernBay, ConocoPhillips Kuparuk facility on Alaska’s NorthrnSlope is the second largest oilfield in North America. AtrnCPF1, ConocoPhillips brought on a new field with heavy oilrnand high solids content which necessitated upgrading the 1 strnStage production separator. The original separator levelrninstrumentation, used for the past 23 years, utilised traditionalrndisplacers and differential pressure cells for both oil andrninterface measurements.rnIn an environment where extreme winter temperatures ofrnminus 60 deg F (-120 deg F with wind chill) are the norm thenrnhigh reliability and maintenance free operation comes veryrnhigh in the specification of instruments. This case studyrnshows, with operator feedback and ‘real time’ ‘on line’ screenrnshots and trending data, how various novel and traditionalrnlevel measurement technologies performed under thesernconditions of extreme temperature and dealing with difficult tornseparate oil with a high solids concentration. The technologiesrnunder review included the Tracerco Profiler, Guided WavernRadar, internal displacers and external differential pressurerncells.“The new technology Tracerco profiler has beenrnextremely helpful in identifying emulsion build-up, allowing usrnto attack it quickly with chemicals. We have also been able tornimprove the interface control tuning on the water outletrnvalves. We have not seen much foaming, but that may bernbecause we are treating with a lot of antifoam. The sandrnmonitoring capability was an unexpected benefit. Operationsrnknew all along it could see sand, but we didn’t expect to use itrnlike we have been. We anticipated sandjetting the vessel aboutrnonce per week as we have for the past 23 years, but with thernnew heavy oil field producing an order of magnitude morernthan that, knowing when to sand jet (almost daily now) hasrnbeen a huge advantage.”