Improving the Energy Efficiency of an Oil Treatment and Stabilization Plant at the Field

Abstract

The energy intensity of the Russian economy is 1.5–2 times higher than the similar indicator of developed countries such as the USA, the countries of the European Union, and China. First of all, this is due to the low percentage of thermal energy returned to the process, which leads to excess consumption of fuel and power, and, consequently, to increased consumer costs of end products and additional greenhouse gas emissions. This problem is relevant for the oil, gas, and gas condensate fields of the Russian Federation, where the commercial product is often used as fuel to provide heat and power to both the field itself and the subsequent oil preparation and stabilization unit. However, this problem can be successfully solved using modern process-integration tools such as pinch analysis. In this study, the structure of the heat-exchange network of the oil preparation and stabilization unit is optimized in order to reduce its energy consumption and impact on the environment. The installation under study consists of a settling tank, an electric dehydrator, an oil-stabilization column, and a light hydrocarbon compression station. It is found that the current energy consumption of the plant for hot utilities is 387 MW, and for cold utilities 214 MW. Moreover, these values can be reduced by 214 MW by changing the topology of the heat-exchange network. This corresponds to a reduction in fuel consumption of 55% and power consumption of 1067 kW. In addition, this approach allows for a reduction in CO₂ emissions by 453 000 t/year.