PRODUCTION • PROCESSING • HANDLING
PRECISE PUMPING
When it comes to toxic fluid handling at offshore pump facilities, Thomas Neumann explains how robust pump technology minimises the risk of leakage when pumping condensate mixtures
To ensure that hazards to personnel and the environment can be ruled out when pumping the separated products to the flare, hermetically tight process diaphragm technology is essential
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n addition to contamination caused by sand and water deposits, crude oils and natural gases contain numerous non-marketable – and therefore unwanted – components such as hydrogen sulphide and chlorine. Breaking down these components and processing them further is not economically viable. For this reason, the pumped fluid within a condensate application is purged of these by-products, which are then pumped by process diaphragm pumps into the gas flare of the offshore installation, where the toxic and unusable residual mixture is burned off, or passed onshore for disposal. To avoid endangering personnel and the environment during this process, the pump systems being used must be robust and leak-free. An intelligent material selection for avoiding
sulphur-induced stress cracking or stress corrosion is just as important as having a pump with a low net positive suction head required (NPSHR). According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), crude oil pumping is steadily increasing around the world. In 1990, just under 3.1 million metric tons of crude oil were removed from the ground, and in 2006 this figure rose to 4 million metric tons. Currently, the amount of crude oil being pumped is at an all-time high of more than 4.5 million metric tons – a trend that can also be seen in the natural gas industry, according to IEA. In that industry, the amount of gas pumped quadrupled within just under 50 years, reaching a record amount of 3.6 million metric tons. Te high demand on the raw material markets can be
largely attributed to hydrocarbons, which are present as fossil fuels in products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil or biogas and which serve as a starting material in countless chemical synthesis processes. Te crude oil and natural gas being pumped, however, contains both hydrocarbons and contaminants such as water and sand deposits, in addition to several non-usable substances. Tis includes substances such as chlorides and hydrogen sulphides. Further processing of these substances does not make economic sense.
MATERIAL SELECTION AND DESIGN AS DECIDING FACTORS While the flow is being split into crude oil, natural gas and water, the unwanted components are separated. Te purified raw
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