SEPARATION SYSTEMS
SEPARATION NEWS What’s Inside Heavyweight Technology...................................................... 2-3 Tradeshows: Upstream, Offshore & India................................. 4 Rental Kits.............................................................................. 5 Power Plant Servo-Valve Damage............................................ 6 Continued Growth in Upstream Process................................... 7 Chemical Manufacturer Replaces Bag Filters........................... 8 Winning and Building Momentum on Finished Fuels................. 9 Progress in Venezuela.......................................................10-11 Making a Splash pt 2..............................................................12 Flexibility to Attain Enhanced Liquid Separation.....................13 Elimating Jet Fuel Haze..........................................................14 LiquiSep Upgrade in North Texas.............................................15 Helping Prevent Water Issues in Gas Pipelines in the Bakken.16 Oil Additives Upgrade.............................................................17 Water & Particulate Removal from Jet Fuel Stream................18 Middle East Achieves Upstream, HRT Breakthrough................19 Upgrades by Field Services.................................................... 20 Innovation & Technology........................................................ 21
REDUCING SEPARATION ANXIETY FOR THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE FILTRATION & PROCESS
volume ONE, spring 2013
www.pentairseparations.com
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
HEAVYWEIGHT TECHNOLOGY FOR GROWING INDUSTRY Oil and gas producers are facing the growing challenge of water management. On average, for every barrel of oil produced globally, there are 3 barrels of water produced. The average in the US is estimated to be as high as 8 barrels. The performance of produced water treatment systems is more critical than ever to maximize profits and production. At the same time, efficient treatment for usage or disposal of produced water inline with regulatory requirements is crucial to protecting the environment and controlling costs. In certain parts of the world, water resources can be scarce and expensive. Alternative water sources, such as economically treated and reclaimed produced water or industrial wastewater, can prove to be cost effective and environmentally smart. As producers implement water treatment programs voluntarily or in compliance with regulations, it can be expected to become a standard of how water is managed over the next several years. We are in the early stages of our market entry and plan to capitalize with our Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology or HRT®. It is a 2-stage system employing high performance particle separation with advanced coalescing technology to remove free and emulsified hydrocarbons (oil) as well as suspended solids from liquid streams. Pentair’s HRT is a potential “heavyweight” technology to handle the bulk of the treatment process to safely dispose of and/or reuse produced water and other oily wastewaters. With low treatment costs, the ability to handle dynamic inlet conditions while producing impressive effluent quality, and the ability to generate profits from sellable hydrocarbons separated, HRT is set to be an undeniable contender in the produced water and oily waste water treatment market. For us, this presents a remarkable opportunity, and plays a big role in our current growth plans and and will play an even bigger role in our longterm strategy.
TECNOLOGÍA PESADO PARA CULTIVAR UNA INDUSTRIA EN CRESCIMEINTO Los productores de petróleo y gas enfrentan el desafío creciente de la gestión del agua. En promedio, por cada barril de petróleo que se produce a nivel mundial, existen 3 barriles de agua producida. El promedio en EE. UU. se calcula en 8 barriles. El rendimiento de los sistemas de tratamiento de agua producida nunca fue tan importante para poder aprovechar al máximo las ganancias y la producción. Al mismo tiempo, un tratamiento eficiente para el uso o la eliminación del agua producida conforme a los requisitos regulatorios es fundamental para proteger el medio ambiente y controlar los gastos. En algunas partes del mundo, los recursos hídricos pueden ser escasos y costosos. Por lo tanto, los recursos alternativos de agua, como agua producida o agua residual tratada y recuperada de manera rentable, pueden ofrecer una solución asequible e inteligente con respecto al medio ambiente. A medida que los productores implementen los programas de tratamiento de agua de manera voluntaria o para cumplir con las regulaciones, se espera que se conviertan en un estándar de gestión del agua en los próximos años. Estamos en las primeras etapas de ingreso al mercado y esperamos capitalizar con la Tecnología de recuperación de hidrocarburos o HRT®. Es un sistema de 2 etapas que utiliza una separación de partículas de alto rendimiento con una tecnología coalescente de avanzada para eliminar hidrocarburos libres (petróleo) y emulsionados y sólidos suspendidos de las corrientes de líquido. HRT de Pentair posiblemente es una tecnología “de gran peso” para manejar el grueso del proceso del tratamiento para desechar de manera segura o reutilizar el agua producida y otras aguas residuales con petróleo. HRT está preparada para ser un contrincante indiscutible en el mercado de tratamiento de agua residual con petróleo y agua producida, ya que ofrece costos bajos de tratamiento, la capacidad de manejar las condiciones dinámicas de ingreso y de producir, a la vez, una calidad impresionante del agua residual y la capacidad de generar ganancias a partir de hidrocarburos separados y comercializables. Para nosotros, es una oportunidad destacada y tiene un gran papel en nuestros planes de crecimiento actuales y será aún más importante en la estrategia a largo plazo.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Tecnologia AVANCADA para uma Indústria em Crescimento Produtores de Petróleo e Gás vem enfrentando o crescente desafio do gerenciamento da água. Em média, para cada barril de petróleo produzido mundialmente são gerados 3 barris de águas produzidas. A média nos Estados Unidos está estimada em mais de 8 barris. O desempenho de sistemas de tratamento de águas produzidas está mais crítico do que nunca, visando à maximização dos lucros e produção. Ao mesmo tempo, tratamentos eficientes tanto para uso quanto para descarte de águas produzidas, alinhados às normas regulatórias são cruciais para proteger o meio ambiente e controlar custos. Em algumas partes do mundo, recursos hídricos são escassos e caros. Fontes alternativas de água tais como águas produzidas ou efluentes industriais tratados e recuperados economicamente, podem oferecer uma relação custo-benefício ambientalmente inteligente. Como produtores implementam programas de tratamento de águas voluntariamente ou para atender às normas regulatórias, pode-se esperar que este seja um padrão de gerenciamento de águas ao longo dos próximos anos. Estamos iniciando nossas atividades nesse mercado e pretendemos usar nossa Tecnologia de Recuperação de Hidrocarbonetos ou HRT para lavancar nossos negócios. Trata-se de um sistema de duas fases que combina um processo de separação de alto desempenho de sólidos suspensos, com avançadas tecnologias de coalescência para remover hidrocarbonetos (óleos) livres e emulsificados de uma corrente líquida. O HRT da Pentair é uma tecnologia avancada para tratar a maioria dos processos de descarte e/ ou reuso seguros de águas produzidas e outras águas oleosas. Com baixo custo de tratamento, capacidade de tratar condições de entrada dinâmicas, produzindo efluentes de altíssima qualidade e, com capacidade de gerar lucros com a venda dos hidrocarbonetos que foram separados, o HRT está destinado a ser um parceiro incontestável no segmento de águas oleosas e águas produzidas. Para nós, esta é uma oportunidade extraordinária e faz ume grande parte dos nossos planos de crescimento, é ainola major em nossa estratégia de longo prazo.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
TRADESHOWS: UPSTREAM, OFFSHORE & INDIA FOCUS ON PRODUCED WATER. FOCUS ON GROWTH. Our team recently exhibited at our first upstream oil field show, to begin to target and meet produced water prospects face-to-face. Our first venture was the Bakken Oil Workers & Oil Field Services Expo in Minot, North Dakota. The North Dakota oil boom is an ongoing period of extraction of oil from the Bakken formation in the state of North Dakota that started in late 2008. As pointed out many times in this issue of Inside Energy, the demands for water treatment at onshore drilling sites as well as offshore production platforms and salt water disposal wells are immense. The next two upstream shows are the South Texas Oil Field Expo in Corpus Christi, September 18-19 and the Oklahoma City Oil Field Expo, October 16-17. Lastly, we will be exhibiting at the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Expo (LAGCOE) October 22-24 with our Valves & Controls group. LAGCOE has a strong offshore presence.
PetroWorld India
The Filtration & Process team in India did a great job putting together an exhibition at PetroWorld in Mumbai, August 22-24. The show provides a unique platform for assembling the region’s key leaders for discussion of technical, strategic and business topics affecting the Indian oil & gas industry. With a focus on topics of interest to both Indian and international markets, it showcased the tremendous scope of the oil & gas sector in India while providing a practical, solutions-oriented program for doing business in this rapidly expanding region of the world. The team and booth were aligned with Energy business messaging and displayed pilot-sized vessels along side full size particle and gas/liquid elements. Great job to all who had a hand in making it a success! 4
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
MAKING WAVES WITH HRT RENTAL KITS FOR PRODUCED WATER OVERCOMING CONVENTIONAL THINKING AND TECHNOLOGY
HRT® is quickly becoming a well-known, attractive alternative to conventional treatment systems and is gaining ground in acceptance across the globe. With this large opportunity, we face a set of unique challenges. • The market, in many places, is mature employing a toolbox of various technologies that may be considered almost ancient. •
The oil and gas industry, over a long period of time, has been conditioned by technology providers to accept the use of multiple technologies to achieve what is considered marginally acceptable results.
•
There is a general consensus among producers, engineering companies, and service companies that a produced water system should have components X, Y, and Z and will not achieve the stated “theoretical” results presented in literature.
vessels in a skidded system unnecessarily and at the same time able to immediately ship an HRT custom-scale produced water system to any client in need.
These are the reasons we can be met with disbelief when presenting the HRT® to clients and potential clients across the globe. It just seems too good to be true. There is an inherent lack of trust and preconceived idea of what a produced water treatment system should look like and how it should perform. This has been an obstacle in the path of developing our business in the market…. That was until the HRT® “Rental Kits” were devised.
A recent kit was sent to Colombia to be run on site for the largest producer in the country, Another kit was sent to Turkmenistan to be piloted and evaluated. These customers jumped at the opportunity to use the systems due to their flexibility and the short lead time required to receive them.
Rental vessels have been a staple of the Separations Systems business for years, but the program was geared towards downstream customers, and not necessarily for upstream oil and gas producers. Refineries, gas processing facilities, and petrochemical plants are stocked full of spare parts i.e., valves, hose, instruments ,etc, and are very comfortable having a loose pressure vessel dropped off to be installed and commissioned in a do-it-yourself manner. This is not the case for our produced water, upstream clients. Working in the field under heavy pressure, produced water customers demand a plug-and-play solution that is ready for action the moment it arrives. We were always capable of designing and building a custom system to address this need, but this can be a time consuming process. We needed to find a way to utilize our rental fleet to meet our customers’ short lead time requirements, but also be sure that the solution was fully-dressed and ready to go. This resulted in the creation of our HRT® flexible rental kits. Seen in the illustrations and photo, a standard kit was developed to go with HRT-PS and HRT-OS vessels allowing them to be quickly combined in various configurations. By stocking kit components and utilizing existing vessels in the rental fleet, we are able to avoid tying up loose 5
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Power Plant Servo-Valve Damage A STEALTH SOLUTION
Unfortunately for power plant operators, the failure of something as small as a single hydraulic servo valve can take an entire power plant off-line, adding to maintenance expense; and even worse, lost production and penalties for broken contracts. Coal, nuclear, and combined cycle power plants running on natural gas utilize large steam turbines to generate the electricity that is subsequently sent to the power grid, and then on to our homes and businesses. For reliable operation and to ensure continued functionality in emergency situations, electrohydraulic controls (EHC systems) are typically used by plants that have steam turbines. The EHC system operates at high pressure and is used to position the large valves that admit and control the steam flow into the turbine. For added process protection, fire resistant hydraulic oil is used on these critical controls – with Phosphate Ester based fluids being the most commonly used type.
filter cart with an acid absorbing media to remove the acid compounds, lowering the TAN number. At the same time, they installed the Pentair Porous Media Stealth ABS system to blanket the hydraulic oil reservoir with a layer of completely dry air to prevent further moisture ingression into the reservoir. The result Within two weeks of installation, the Stealth ABS system had reduced the moisture content of the oil to 100 PPM, well below the target threshold of 500 PPM. The oil’s TAN was reduced to 0.004, far below the target of 0.1. Most importantly, since the installation, the plant has been able to report back that they had not had a single servo valve failure related to oil condition.
Humidity, both ambient and that created by steam generation, is a significant issue for phosphate Ester fluids. The saturation point for in-service phosphate ester can be as high as 5,000 PPM; as a result it readily absorbs any available moisture from the environment. Once absorbed, the water molecules lead to the hydrolysis of the fluid, creating degradation byproducts such as gels and sludge, as well as aiding in the formation of acidic compounds. Case Study A large power plant in South Carolina realized that they had experienced multiple servo valve failures on a steam turbine EHC system and requested that their engineering group determine the root-cause and implement the appropriate counter measures.
Stealth ABS (Active Breather System) is a patented technology that incorporates Pentair’s FluidPro membrane air dryers with prefiltration, a pressure regulator, and an engineered sonic orifice to create a proprietary solution for ambient moisture ingression into oil reservoirs. In order to allow for oil level changes and thermal volume changes, oil reservoirs must have the ability to breathe, allowing air in or out to compensate for these fluctuations. Conventional breather products are passive by nature, trying to intercept contaminants as they are drawn into the reservoir. Originally breathers were intended to simply block very large particles. More recently, desiccants have been used as well – unfortunately, in high moisture environments or reservoirs that change level frequently, the annual maintenance cost for this type of breather can become prohibitive.
To begin with, they returned the failed valves to the manufacturer for evaluation as to the valve failure mode. The response was that the valve spool assemblies had been damaged due to oil quality and that acid etching was occurring. Review of oil analysis confirmed that the oil had a high TAN (Acid Number) and low Resistivity, which led to the subsequent servo valve failures. After additional research, they determined that hydrolysis and acid formation would begin to occur at moisture levels of 500 PPM and would accelerate as moisture levels increased. The plant’s oil analysis showed that they were typically above 1,000 PPM. The easy solution was to replace the oil with new oil. Unfortunately, this type of oil is extremely expensive and the associated cost was $120,000. They also realized the oil would simply begin to become contaminated as soon as they began to use it, returning to out of specification levels within a few months. Instead, they chose a two-step approach: To quickly clean the oil, they would use a 6
As a final note, beginning in 2010, GE Energy incorporated the Stealth ABS technology into the design specifications for new combined hydraulic and lube oil reservoirs.
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
CONTINUED GROWTH IN UPSTREAM PROCESS PROVEN PERFORMANCE IN PRODUCED WATER
A gas producer in Southeastern Wyoming has recently completed their evaluation of our ProcessORŽ particle rental skids for removing particulate contaminants on both produced water and condensate. The plant was having challenges with deposits and corrosion in their separators and piping in their liquids gathering facility. In order to mitigate the corrosion, the producer installed Pentair’s rental equipment for removing contaminants from the liquids prior to further processing. They have elected to purchase both rental skids for the current liquids facility. This was part of a 10-month evaluation of operational costs and performance. The justification for installation of the equipment was based on reduction in corrosion of piping, separators, and instrumentation from the presence of solid contaminants in the liquids.
ProcessOR skidded vessels
The process flow diagram in figure 1 shows the liquid processing equipment at the liquids gathering facility. As indicated in the process flow diagram the liquids are separated into condensate and hydrocarbon in a three phase separator. The water removed from the gas (produced water) is disposed of in injection wells and evaporation ponds nearby. The condensate is fed to a stabilizer unit where it is separated into usable products for transport by pipeline. As a result of the demonstrated performance the producer has also purchased two additional rental skids to be used in an identical liquids gathering facility. This same producer has incorporated Pentair technology into their design for liquids gathering in the construction of a new facility in Vernal Utah.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
ANOTHER WIN FOR VMAX®; BAGS DON’T CUT IT chemical manufacturer achieves better througHput and lower operational costs
A Northeastern chemical manufacturer is currently utilizing 50 um conventional bags at their blending and shipping loading rack. Where the existing fluid quality through the 50 um bags has been found to be acceptable, the unit is challenged by exceptionally high change out rates contributing to increased labor, which means increased costs and increased safety risks. They have also been experiencing reduced throughput.
Compared to conventional bag systems within similar blending applications, VMAX® has resulted in many process improvements:
OPTIMIZATION PROJECT Pentair went onsite to collect vessel measurements for engineering and designing a zero capital cost VMAX® upgrade. Performing the upgrade will allow the manufacturer to eliminate the need of capital investment by utilizing the existing vessel and significantly increasing the available surface area within the vessel.
- Reduced change out frequency and related labor costs due to increased element capacity.
- Enhanced online life, average 3x to 6x compared to conventional bag filtration - Superior contamination separation, mitigating potential bypass challenges associated with conventional bags.
- Increased rail car loading throughput. - Improved process reliability. - Reduced yield loss, equating to increased revenue. - Reduced operator intervention and exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals. VMAX® is designed to maximize efficiency, dirt holding capacity and chemical compatibility, while significantly impacting operating costs. PERFORMANCE VALIDATION In order to validate the enhanced performance associated with Pentair’s VMAX® technology, the following fluid quality evaluation was conducted. After finalizing the fluid quality evaluation, the Northeast Chemical manufacturer has approved to proceed with upgrading all 4 vessels at the blending and shipping unit permanently. PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS COMPARISON BY VOLUME 50 um conventional bag
Technology
Location
Solids Concentration (ppm)
Average Volume Treated (MT)
50 um bag
Inlet
39
358
Outlet
30
Inlet
35
Outlet
24
Inlet
35
Outlet
21
Inlet
38
Outlet
30
Inlet
34
Outlet
24
Inlet
48
Outlet
22
50 um bag 50 um bag VMAX VMAX VMAX
358 n/a
Pentair’s VMAX
1148 1148 1432
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Winning and Building Momentum on Finished Fuels OPTIMIZATION OF ONE FACILITY MAY LEAD TO MANY by Jonathan Gonzales, Regional Account Manager Pentair recently won a Finished Fuels project for a filtration terminal. This aligns Pentair with the customer for future finished fuels projects. This comes after Pentair has worked with the client on providing a recommended best practice document for finished fuels filtration. In the document Pentair provided information on optimized vessel orientation, efficiency rating and analyzing fluid effluent quality. The client has taken this best practice and has been working with ASTM to begin to regulate finished fuels and specification requirements to a national scale. This project is located at a terminal facility in the Texas panhandle. The terminal location takes products from a nearby refinery and distributes the products via truck and rail to various commercial sites, where the products are sold. The technology purchased from Pentair is the ProcessOR速 filtration vessels, which will be used on gasoline, ethanol and diesel products before being transported via truck or rail to commercial stations. The ProcessOR速 vessels make use of the Compax速 coreless element technology, which optimizes particulate removal via optimized media configuration and enhances disposal costs by being able to compact the element, fitting more elements into waste containers versus conventional filter elements. As the client looks to implement their best practice initiative, Pentair is primed to provide them with the optimized filtration for their products and will look to continue to build and develop the relationship.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
PROGRESS IN VENEZUELA Upgrading Amine Filtration at PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. or PDVSA is the state owned oil and natural gas company for Venezuela, which is currently the 5th largest oil exporter in the world. Petropiar is one of three crude oil upgrading facilities that PDVSA operates in Barcelona, Venezuela. Situated adjacent to one another, each crude upgrader is a standalone facility dedicated to the processing of different grades of crude. Since the crude feed stock has a high sulfur content, each facility has a high volume amine unit.
other candidates, they choose to leave them in service and see how they perform when allowed to run until terminal DP (30 PSID). These elements were placed into service on July 26th; on the 29th, the differential pressure had only reached 4.7 PSID, and 13 PSID after 13 days of service. As of this writing, amine samples continue to be taken and the elements appear to be functioning as well or better than expected.
Following a meeting between Pentair’s Energy team last October, all three facilities committed to evaluating our Upgrade SeriesTM filter elements in an effort to improve amine quality and improve operating economics. The Petropiar facility was the first to install Pentair elements in late July, as part of a testing process led by the process engineering team. To witness the tests and to answer any questions that PDVSA may have regarding our products, was Decio Camargo, our technical specialist out of our Brazil office, and David Kolstad from our Conroe office. The testing protocol called for three 30 hour test runs by each filtration candidate. Prior to our week of testing, the existing supplier and two other candidates had already been evaluated. While examining the used elements from the previous test runs, our group was able to demonstrate to the process engineering team that the all polypropylene elements that they had been using were experiencing a chemical attack in service that causes the polypropylene media and support core to soften. This is actually a common phenomenon in amine due to the presence of certain hydrocarbons, such as BTX. Typically, we would recommend a cellulose based media (Nexcel) or borosilicate glass media (Microform) for amine service to protect against chemical attack – which was explained to the engineers and will be an important consideration as they choose the direction they will go in the future.
The final set of test data is expected to be released by PDVSA in early September and we will be allowed to submit a final report to the plant regarding the data collected as well as our findings from media samples that were returned to the STAR Lab in Conroe for in-depth analysis. At this time, things look very promising and we expect to see similar tests later this year at the other two facilities.
At the conclusion of the scheduled week of testing, we had passed all of the plant’s testing criteria and the engineering team seemed very pleased with our performance as well as our insights into methods of optimizing the amine filtration process. It is an indication of their interest that after the final 30 hour trial run, rather than remove our elements from service, as they had done with the
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
PROGRESO EN VENEZUELA Mejoramiento de la filtración de aminas en PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. o PDVSA es la empresa estatal de gas natural y petróleo de Venezuela, que actualmente es el quinto país exportador de petróleo más grande del mundo. Petropiar es una de las tres instalaciones de mejoramiento de petróleo crudo que PDVSA opera en Barcelona, Venezuela. Ubicada una al lado de la otra, cada instalación de mejoramiento de crudo es independiente y se dedica al procesamiento de diferentes grados de crudo. Dado que la reserva de crudo tiene un alto contenido de azufre, cada instalación cuenta con una unidad de amina de volumen alto. Tras una reunión con el equipo de energía de Pentair el pasado mes de octubre, las tres instalaciones se comprometieron a evaluar los elementos de Upgrade SeriesTM en un esfuerzo por mejorar la calidad de la amina y la economía de la operación. La instalación de Petropiar fue la primera en instalar los elementos de Pentair en el pasado mes de julio como parte del proceso de pruebas llevado a cabo por el equipo de ingeniería del proceso. Para corroborar las pruebas y responder todas las preguntas que PDVSA pudiera tener sobre los productos, Decio Filho, especialista técnico de la oficina de Brasil y David Kolstad de la oficina de Conroe estuvieron presentes.
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El protocolo de prueba denominado, para las tres, Prueba de 30 horas fue ejecutado por cada candidato de filtración. Antes de la semana de nuestra prueba, el proveedor existente y dos candidatos más ya habían sido evaluados. Al examinar los elementos usados de las pruebas anteriores, nuestro grupo pudo demostrar al equipo de ingenieros del proceso que todos los elementos de polipropileno que se habían usado habían sufrido un ataque químico durante el servicio que provocó el ablandamiento del medio de polipropileno y el núcleo de soporte. En realidad, este fenómeno es común en las aminas debido a la presencia de determinados hidrocarburos, como el BTX. Por lo general, recomendamos un medio de base celulosa (Nexcel) o un medio de vidrio de borosilicato (Microform) para el servicio de amina para poder brindar protección ante ataques químicos. Esto se explicó a los ingenieros y será un punto muy importante a tener en cuenta en el momento de decidir la dirección que tomarán en el futuro. Al terminar la semana de prueba programada, habíamos aprobado todos los criterios de la planta y el equipo de ingeniería parecía muy conforme con el rendimiento y con el conocimiento de los métodos de optimización del proceso de filtración de aminas. Tras el ensayo final de 30 horas, han dado un indicio de su interés al dejar nuestros elementos en servicio y analizarán cómo funcionan cuando se puedan ejecutar hasta la terminal DP (30 PSID) en vez de sacar los elementos de servicio, tal como lo hicieron con los otros candidatos. Dichos elementos se pusieron en servicio el 26 de julio y el 29 de julio la presión diferencial había alcanzado 4.7 PSID, y 13 PSID después de 13 días de servicio. Al momento de redactarse este informe, se continuaban tomando muestras de amina y parecía que los elementos continuaban funcionando bien o incluso mejor de lo esperado. Se espera que PDVSA emita datos finales de la prueba a principios de setiembre y nosotros podremos enviar un informe final a la planta sobre los datos recolectados así como los resultados de las muestras de los medios que se enviaron al laboratorio de Conroe para un análisis exhaustivo. En este momento, todo parece prometedor y esperamos obtener pruebas similares este año en las otras dos instalaciones.
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
MAKING A SPLASH PART 2 THIS SEQUEL IS SURE TO “WOW!” PRODUCED WATER APPLICATION PROVES EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
This is the second installment on our Produced Water adventure with this particular client. With our modular vessels now on site, there have been challenges to satisfying the oil field owner’s concerns of oil spills. So we have engaged another lethal asset in Pentair’s arsenal of technologies to overcome their concerns. The field trial is underway. Introducing our FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) HRT® Pilot Stand (below). This unit can carry an ASME section 10 stamp if required. This unit allows us to overcome the corrosive nature of the produced water of the field and flow at a very low rate so as to minimize the concerns of the oil field owner. These units are robust and versatile! They can flow from 10gpm to 500gpm. The elements are not in a conventional vessel, so there is no closure to open for change outs of dirty filters. This FRP design incorporates the use of corrosion resistant thermo-plastic wetted parts with a few metallic parts of super duplex stainless steel. The design is optimal for pressures up to 150 PSIG at temperatures less than 40 degrees C (103F), and can operate at up to 65 degrees C ( 150F) if the pressure is limited to 100 psig. As noted above, the HRT® separator system is a multi-stage process in which the first stage (HRT-PS) remove suspended solids to a level of 10 microns at 99.98% efficiency (optional pricing for alternative media and efficiency can be included). The final stage, or HRT-OS, then separates essentially all of the entrained hydrocarbons, providing typical oil-in-water content of 5 – 10 ppm free hydrocarbons at the system outlet. The system skids are provided as modular packages with associated valves, piping and instrumentation.
HRT boot drains the lighter hydrocarbon from the main aqueous process stream
Differential Pressure Gauges
Top housing contains the APEX liquid/liquid element
Bottom 2 housings contain the Compax particle removal elements. They can run individually or at the same time.
By-pass and cut-off valves. Run one filter element or all at once
FRP Pilot Stand (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) as a HRT® (Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology) skid
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
FLEXIBILITY TO ATTAIN ENHANCED LIQUID SEPARATION A Midwest US refiner was realizing stripper tower flooding downstream of its 120 MBPD Fluid Catalytic Cracker Upper Gas Concentration (FCC UGC) Unit which resulted in both production and operational losses estimated at $125K per year. A Pentair competitor, Velcon, was supplying the cartridge elements for the 42” O.D. vessel, which was manufactured by a Cambridge, ON fabricator in 1981. Refinery engineers declared it to be undersized for the most recent operational conditions. Refinery management deemed the “tower flooding” matter to be a key improvement focus, since it was observed that the existing Velcon elements were only separating just trace amounts of water from the light hydrocarbon stream (normally 115 degrees F and 200 psig). Because the vessel could not be taken offline to be measured for an upgrade to our LiquiSep technology, we decided that our short-term optimization measure needed to be a direct element replacement one. With vessel drawing in hand, we visited the plant to measure one of the existing competitor elements, so that we could design a liquid/liquid separator 1981 Vessel Drawing element that would yield the same performance that is experienced with our LiquiSep technology, while still being mechanically interchangeable with the existing elements. Weeks after the elements were installed the unit engineer told us that “the elements are working well and doing a great job removing water from the stream”. He also confirmed that they have yet to experience a tower flood event since the Pentair elements were installed. After 4 more months of satisfactory performance the refiner requested a bid on a designed and engineered LiquiSep vessel to meet their specifications.
INTERVIEW WITH INDUSTRIAL INFO RESOURCE POLAREX PATENT GETS COVERAGE AND EXPOSURE With a recently awarded technology, we took the in a webcast produced Resource (IIR) as part of industrialinfo.com.
patent around our Polarex opportunity to participate by Industrial Information their Multimedia Center on
Our business and the technology was featured in a webcast and press release on their website, sent out via email to their large
database and distributed via MarketWire.com to many U.S. and international media outlets. It remains in their library and will for some time. The title is “Efficient, Robust Separation Technology by Pentair Separation Systems”. 13
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
ELIMINATING JET FUEL HAZE LIQUISEP RENTAL VESSEL PROVES TO BE EFFECTIVE
THE PROBLEM An Eastern Refiner was experiencing Jet Fuel haze on two pipelines due to Stripper Tower steam excursions contaminating the Jet Fuel. When the Jet Fuel, entrained with steam, cooled underground in the tank farm, the steam condensed in the jet to cause hazing issues. The required JP-8 Jet Fuel specifications could not be maintained, preventing the refiner from selling two streams at 3,500 gpm each. Additionally, the recirculating Jet Fuel, which could not be sold, tied up two large product tanks. THE SOLUTION Pentair’s LiquiSep technology is designed to effectively separate virtually 100% of free and emulsified submicron to micron water droplets from Jet Fuel. The refiner required an immediate solution in order to produce a sellable Jet Fuel stream and free up their holding tanks. Pentair’s rental fleet inventory included two 54” skidded Liquisep vessels (pictured to the right) which, if used in parallel, would be able to handle the flux incurred by one of the 3,500 gpm Jet streams. The refiner decided to utilize the Liquisep rental vessels for one of the pipelines, and to continue to send the other pipeline to a holding tank. Due to the diligent efforts of fellow sales and Conroe-based team members, the rental vessels arrived at the customer site within one week of receipt of the purchase order and were put into service once the necessary pipeline modifications were installed. THE RESULTS The rental vessels have been in service for over a month, and the refiner is interested in converting this into a permanent solution, as well as installing another system at their second pipeline. The Liquisep technology will generate drastically increased profits, upwards of several million dollars, by allowing the customer to consistently meet the quality specifications required by their pipeline customers.
APEX element (above) and riser (below) that fits horizontally into a LiquiSep separator
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Liquisep Upgrade in North Texas GAS PROCESSING PLANT IN THE BARNETT SHALE
A gas processing plant in the Barnett Shale of North Texas has recently added the ability to handle natural gas liquids (NGLs) from trucks. The plant has access to a DCP pipeline to transport NGLs to market in Mont Belvieu for fractionation. The plant is being used as a hub to take in liquids from other plants that do not have NGL pipeline access. They had to build a truck unloading rack to accommodate up to 30 truckloads of NGL product a day. They built two racks to handle two trucks at a time. They designed the system to have one filter/coalescer per truck rack for a total of 2 filter/coalescer vessels. The trucks can arrive with varying qualities of NGL that contain contaminants such as water and solids. These vessels were designed to remove the particulate and water prior to a charge tank for pipeline injection. Pentair looked at the current separation elements being used due to issues with element integrity and online life. They were having issues with elements crushing on the outlet. Additionally, they were seeing bypass of the elements because the flat gasket seals would literally blow out. This can be seen in the before picture (bottom left photo and top right photo). Along with the element deficiencies, they were routinely skimming water out of their charge tank which should have been clean with the filter/coalescers upstream. We have upgraded similar systems many times with great results. After speaking with the plant, they decided to move forward with upgrading both vessels to our Apex® technology on the Inlet side and Compax® technology on the Outlet side. The Apex element incorporates O-ring seals as opposed to flat gaskets to rid them of bypass issues. The Compax technology on the Outlet side fixed any issues with crushing by incorporating a very robust core the element slide over with an O –ring seal. The Compax technology also allowed them to get away from cumbersome hold down nuts.
Flat gaskets still in the vessel before upgrade (should be on elements)
Pentair risers and cores installed
The system is performing as designed, with improved life over the outgoing technology. Performance of the upgrade has now encouraged the client to look at a similar coalescer elsewhere in the plant that have been causing similar issues.
Pentair elements installed
Before upgrade 15
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Helping Prevent Water Issues in Gas Pipelines in the Bakken The oil & gas industry has been rapidly developing in the Williston Basin Region, capitalizing on the rich resources in its Bakken Shale. Between 150 and 200 drilling rigs are in operation 24/7 as drilling companies work hard to complete wells on plots before leases expire. This pace is expected to continue for at least the next 25 years. Initial extraction from wells in the Bakken Shale is predominantly oil, and over the course of the first year or two, oil production subsides, and gas flow generally increases. This gives rise to a huge effort to develop the pipeline infrastructure to support increasing gas production. One company that is investing heavily in the region. They are the largest independent owner and operator of natural gas gathering and processing facilities in the Williston Basin. In addition to gathering and processing, the client has an extensive network of natural gas pipelines, connecting North American supply basins with major market and trading hubs. Among the challenges of operating in northern climates, or in any region for that matter, is keeping water out of the finished natural gas. In addition to being able to carry over salts, glycol, etc., water can condense in the pipeline, collect in low spots and freeze adversely affecting the health and integrity of the pipeline. The result is reduced effective diameter of the pipe contributing to lower flow, and ultimately less revenue. Water carryover also causes corrosion challenges as many of the salts can aggressively
attack the walls of the pipe and contribute to increased pipe scale in the products that they transport. In this particular case, we provided LiquiSep® systems to mitigate the carryover of aqueous and solid contaminants in the NGL products. It is for two gas plants in eastern Montana – a 20” vessel to handle up to 350 GPM for the Sidney plant, and a 14” vessel to handle up to 75 GPM for the Baker plant. It is estimated that the water concentration can fluctuate to as high as five (5) percent. The physical challenges, along with potential penalties for dispensing natural gas contaminated with water into revenue pipelines, are significant and faced by many gas producing regions in the U.S. With over 50 major interstates, and many more minor interstate and intrastate pipelines, there is significant opportunity for Pentair to provide LiquiSep systems from its rental fleet as well as permanent equipment.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Oil Additives Upgrade VMAX EFFICIENCIES LOWERS COSTS AND REDUCES PROCESS TIME As we met with our client’s Process Engineering team at their chemical plant in Belle Chasse, LA, we discussed the features and benefits of Pentair and our technologies, but more importantly, listened to the area of need; the Blending and Shipping area on their Proprietary Oil Additives. The issue was that the oil additive was not meeting spec in the normal shipping and blending process. The oil additive had to be loaded onto a tanker truck and sent to the back of the plant and then refiltered into a diatomaceous earth (DE) filter and then re-loaded on to the tanker truck to be shipped to their end user. During this process of loading and unloading the additive would lose quite a bit of product. In addition, they were replacing the super bags each time they loaded and still had to refilter in the DE filter at the rear of the plant. Their overall goal was to see if we could replace the bags with our pleated V-MAX filter elements so that they did not have to go through the process of loading and unloading and losing valuable product, in addition to reducing the cost of utilizing DE. Diatomaceous Earth is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine, white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 3 microns to more than 1 millimeter, but typically 10 to 200 microns. Depending on the granularity, this powder can have an abrasive feel, similar to pumice powder, and is very light as a result of its high porosity. The typical chemical composition of oven-dried diatomaceous earth is 80 to 90% silica, with 2 to 4% alumina (attributed mostly to clay minerals) and 0.5 to 2% iron oxide. Diatomaceous earth consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. It is used as a filtration aid to remove particulate in a process stream.
8 Bag vessel utilizing bags before the upgrade to Pentair’s V-Max.
The success of the upgrade would allow our client to discontinue using DE. The savings on one vessel alone was $140,000 annually. Upong measuring the vessels, they purchased 8 cages (V-MAX element sit inside of a metal cage). The cages were installed and the testing of the new media was performed and validated soon thereafter. This success is giving us the opportunity to evaluate other areas of the plant.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
WATER & PARTICULATE REMOVAL FROM JET FUEL STREAM LONGER ONLINE LIFE AND REDUCTION IN OPERATIONAL COSTS
A Salt Lake City oil refiner was having challenges with contaminants in their jet fuel. The plant was using two vertical filter/coalescers for removal of solid and liquid contaminant upstream of their MEROX速 process. The two vessel system works in a one on/one off configuration running to a terminal differential pressure of 12-15 psid between change outs and are averaging element change outs every three (3) months. The plant was looking to improve the following: - Water and particulate removal of the jet fuel stream. - Eliminate product haze to minimize the amount of product that does not meet hazy specification. A process flow diagram of their equipment can be referenced in Figure 1 (below). Upon being contacted by the plant our Field Services went on-site to complete a walk through and conduct sampling of the jet fuel. Based on the analysis performed in our STAR Labs, we recommended the upgrade of the existing coalescing vessel with stainless steel cores and risers with our high effeciency elements. The cores and risers provide a support structure and sealing surface for the elements. Each vessel would contain 23 of our high efficiency LiquiSep速 elements that flow inside to out, followed by 26 outside-to-in flowing coreless Compax速 elements. The first of the two coalescer/filter vessel was installed and commissioned in April 2013 (pictured left). Pentair Field Services were on-site for the commissioning of the vessels to provide technical assistance with the operation of the equipment. After evaluating two technologies side-by-side for 3 months, the refiner determined that Pentair technology more effectively removed water from their jet fuel and had longer element life. The upgrade has made nearly a 10 percent increase in the water removal of the coalescer. The plant has also increased the online life from 12 days to 27 days. This is an improvement in online life and reduction in operational costs. The plant was pleased with the improvements in online life and fluid quality and has elected move forward with the upgrade of their second vessel. This upgrade is scheduled to occur later this year.
to
FIGURE 1 18
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
Middle East Achieves Upstream, HRT Breakthrough TESTING AND PILOTS PAY OFF
When we carried out a Pilot on produced water at a petroleum site in Oman in the late summer of 2011, it caught the attention of our corporate think tank. The results from the Pilot were very encouraging.
GAS TO FUEL GAS
GAS+OIL+LIQUID FROM SLUG CATCHER
OIL TO DEGASSER HEATER TREATER
Our client has been facing issues with their water treatment facilities at the Hazar site, and invited us for further discussions after our initial presentation. At this site, the effluent water from the Heater Treater is directed first to a Hydro Cyclone and then to an Induced Gas Flotation Unit (IGF} downstream. These units are expected to remove oil from the effluent water and deliver water with less than 40 ppm oil.
NEW EQUIPMENT
WATER
SKIMMER
OIL TO SLUG CATCHER
FLOTATION UNIT
OIL TO SLUG CATCHER
WATER
However, in practice, this scheme has proven to be largely unreliable and units have frequently had to be taken off line for cleaning. The Hydrocyclone and IGF suppliers blamed this on the inlet oil content which was designed to be 1000 ppm at the most, but slugs of 10,000 ppm were common and 30,000 ppm levels were also noticed. With this in view, the operator was planning to install a skimmer as per the scheme below, in order to stop the slugs from reaching the two units above. After reviewing the water analysis, ambient conditions and treatment objectives, we proposed a HRT速 (Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology) system to in place of the Skimmer, and suggested placing it downstream of the hydrocylones. The idea was very well received initially, but we knew from our past experience that when it came to signing off on a new technology, doubts would creep in. In anticipation of this resistance, we provided an option to go for a 6 month Rental (Beta Test) rather than an outright purchase. This was a completely new concept to their management, but as they warmed up to the idea and after several clarifications, in July 2013, we were awarded the contract to run a full flow HRT unit on a rental basis for 6 months, with all expenses for equipment and services to be paid by the client. The system is currently being commissioned and running in Hazar, Turkmenistan.
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ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
UPGRADES BY field services Upgrading existing filtration & separation vessels is essential in supporting our sales team all across the world with years of industry, engineering design, and field support experience. Field Service Engineers actively design as well as assist sales representatives in completing upgrades for clients. We define an upgrade as re-designing and re-engineering an existing vessel with Pentair ‘internals’ or filter element technology. A typical installation of our equipment usually entails five steps: 1. Taking measurements of the vessel to be upgraded. 2. Using the measurements to do an analysis that will decide what type of equipment we will utilize for that particular application. 3. Complete the design to send on to fabrication/production. 4. Settting up a date for onsite installation. Field Services doing an installation
5. Onsite installation of our technology. One step that could come before an initial measurement would be gravimetric testing and analysis on any downstream contaminant. This would be done on-site or in our lab, depending on the situation. A recent upgrades was in Parachute, Colorado at a gas plant, completing an installation of 110 “rockets” (rockets are a term we use for hardware in this particular application) in a coalescing vessel using our UltiSep® technology which removes unwanted aerosols from the gas streams. Measurements were taken and the we worked closely on the design and after fabrication, we did the installation. After and during the installation, it is very important that we communicate with our clients and discuss the details of how to correctly change out elements as well as basic things to look for throughout the use of our technology, like pressure ratings, differential pressure parameters, etc. It is also very important for us to inspect their existing equipment and make sure that all of their level controls and pressure gauges are working correctly. Once all of the basic maintenance requirements have been discussed and reviewed with all parties, the initial job is complete.
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Example of our APEX elements inside of an UltiSep vessel
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
INNOVATION & TECHNOLoGY Much of the growth of the Pentair Separation Systems is attributed to the past innovations that have allowed us to fill needs in the Energy landscape. Among these innovations have been our Hydrocarbon Recovery Technology (HRT®) which is broadly applied to hydrocarbon recovery from aqueous process streams, and our POLAREX® technology which applies extractive separation to replace conventional wash systems or contacting towers. Both HRT and POLAREX resulted from customer driven process challenges. Investment in innovation resulted in the adaptation of our underlying knowledge of separations, allowing us to capitalize on the opportunities to apply superior separations, and to bring them to market in a manner that captured significantly greater value for both us and the end users. Rather than delivering HRT and POLAREX as stand alone separator vessels, we developed integrated separation systems. Delivery of the integrated system allowed us to present the entire technology as well as all of the ancillary support equipment required to make it work (separators, elements, skid bases, valves, piping, instrumentation, controls, etc). This presented value to the end user in the form of a single guaranteed process, but also shortened lead times for installation, minimized engineering work, reduced capital costs and simplified the entire purchasing process. In turn, the systems increased the complexity of our offering and made our technologies less susceptible to competitive pressures. It also allowed us to displace non-standard competitors. Innovation in the lab allowed us to innovate with our business model and disrupt the conventional approach to plant design and
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operation. As a result, we’ve greatly expanded our market. Today we have delivered > 600,000 bbl/day of NGL treating capacity based upon our POLAREX technology, representing the vast majority of the newly installed NGL fractionation capacity built since 2010. Additionally, our HRT technology has made great inroads in the areas of amine treating / sulfur recovery and more recently produced water treatment. Investments in our laboratory capabilities have further empowered us to undertake the next generation of technology development. Already, investments in a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR) and Gas Chromatograph – Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) are paying off in greater understanding of contamination challenges at key customers and in providing the tools to perform extensive inhouse analysis of process samples. We look forward to bringing greater advancements in the years ahead and further demonstrating the technological leadership of Pentair in the separations market.
ENERGY NEWSLETTER // SUMMER, 2013
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