SPE 141629

A Study to Evaluate the Impact of CO2-EOR on Existing Oil Field Facilities

Hisham Saadawi, SPE, ADCO, Andrew Johns and Ken Watler, Mustang Engineering

Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Projects and Facilities Challenges Conference at METS held in Doha, Qatar, 13–16 February 2011.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract
Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) has recently commissioned the first ever CO2-EOR pilot in the
Middle East in its Rumaitha field. The main objective of the pilot project is to evaluate the feasibility of CO2 injection as a
potential enhanced recovery technique. If the pilot is successful, ADCO will use CO2 to replace the hydrocarbon gas currently
being injected in the field.

In order to assess the impact of large scale CO2 injection on the field’s facilities, an engineering study was conducted.

This paper discusses the methodology and main features of this study. Topics covered include: description of the field
facilities; technologies for the separation CO2 from associated gas, key design parameters, study methodology, impact on
existing facilities and the study findings.

1. Introduction

The NEB field is located some 70 km onshore west of Abu Dhabi city. The field is operated by Abu Dhabi Company for
Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO). Oil production from the field began in 1992 using early production facilities.

As part of the field development, facilities for oil gathering and processing were installed and commissioned in 2005 [1]. The
field facilities are designed to process a sustainable oil production rate of 110,000 barrels of oil per day. A combination of
water injection, gas injection and water alternate gas (WAG) is used to provide pressure support and enhanced oil recovery.

ADCO recently implemented in Rumaitha Field the first ever CO2-EOR pilot in the Middle East [2], [3]. The pilot aims at
testing CO2-EOR as a potential enhanced oil recovery mechanism in ADCO fields. The pilot was commissioned in 2009 and
has been operational two years. If the pilot is successful, CO2 injection will be adopted on a larger scale to replace the
hydrocarbon gas currently being injected in the fields.

In order to evaluate the impact of CO2 injection on the existing field facilities, a study was initiated with the following
objectives:

• Evaluate the impact of CO2 breakthrough on the existing facilities design, processing capacity and materials.
• Study options for separating and processing of CO2 after gas breakthrough.
• Study options for processing the associated gas and condensate
• Develop the process conceptual design for the recommended option.
• Prepare a cost estimate and schedule for the various options.

The next section describes the existing field facilities.

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2. Existing NEB Field Facilities

The NEB field is actually made of two separate oil fields, Rumaitha field and Al-Dabbyia field.

In Al-Dabbyia, oil flows from the wells to 14 gathering centers or clusters. The well fluids then flow through trunk lines to a
central processing plant. The plant has two processing trains; each oil train comprises 1st & 2nd stage separation, 1st & 2nd
stage desalting and a crude stabilisation column exporting to an atmospheric storage tank, crude is then pumped to the export
pipeline. Each gas train consists of a low pressure (LP) & a medium pressure (MP) compressor, plus a further 2 stage high
pressure (HP) gas injection compressor feeding injection gas to both Al Dabbiya a Rumaitha.

Rumaitha field has 10 clusters and a central processing plant. The plant has one processing train which is similar to that in
Al-Dabbyia.

A schematic of the facilities is shown in figure 1.

3. Study Methodology

The study was conducted in several phases. The first phase was data gathering. This was followed by data analysis.
Preliminary screening was carried to identify the most suitable technology for separating CO2. At the same time, process
simulation was carried out to evaluate equipment requirements and cost. Potential suppliers were approached for preliminary
proposals and budget estimate. Finally, a techno-economic analysis was carried out of the various options and field
configurations.

The data required to conduct a study of this nature, is the design data of the existing facilities as well as the forecast data after
CO2 injection. This include; process design basis of the existing facilities; Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), Material Selection
Diagrams, plot plans, data sheets of major equipment, piping classes specs, pipelines specification , etc.

The various profiles required for the study included expected oil, gas and water production profiles as well as CO2 injection
rates and the expected CO2 profile in the associated gas after breakthrough. These were obtained from reservoir engineering
of the field performance over the next 25 years. The expect CO2 profiles shows one of the key differences in this study from a
traditional EOR developments. The graph below shows the CO2 profile for this study compared to a traditional EOR
development in a mature field.

As can be seen from figure 2, in typical EOR development there is very rapid increase in CO2 content so that equipment and
processes are designed for the final conditions. However, for this study the increase is relatively slow and gentle that interacts
well with a phased development with different complementary units being installed over time as CO2 content increases.

One of the most important variables that must be investigated in CO2-EOR projects is the minimum miscibility pressure. It is
the lowest pressure at which the reservoir oil becomes miscible with the injected CO2 at reservoir temperature. It is
determined using laboratory slim tube test. There are also various published thermodynamic correlations for predicting the
MMP [4].

Once CO2 breaks with the associated gas; it is separated from the associated gases and recycled back to the reservoir. The
composition of the recycled stream and the amount of “impurities” or gases other than CO2 will influence the MMP. For
example:

- Methane (C1) can increases MMP and decrease oil recovery

- Propane (C3) and heavier hydrocarbons decrease MMP
- Similarly, Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) decreases MMP

Various processes for separating CO2 from the produced gas will give different degree of CO2 purity. In general, the more
pure the CO2 it is, the more complex and expensive will the separation process will be.
The study covered three major configurations/ locations for the CO2 recovery facilities as listed below:

ƒ Combined Plant designed to process all the gas from both Rumaitha and Al Dabbiya and then distributed for injection
in both fields. The Combined Plant would be located adjacent to the existing Al Dabbiya oil production facility.
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ƒ De-coupled or Standalone Plant for Al Dabbiya only. This plant would be designed for the production from Al
Dabbiya ONLY and be located adjacent to the oil plant.

ƒ De-coupled or standalone Plant for Rumaitha only. This plant would be designed for the gas production from
Rumaitha ONLY and be located adjacent oil plant.

The study looked to determine the optimal process configuration for each of the plant sizes listed above at three arbitrary
levels of CO2 in the net associated gas. These are:

ƒ 10% CO2 in the net gas

ƒ 30% CO2 in the net gas

ƒ 50% in the net gas

The various technologies for separating CO2 from the associated gas are discussed in the next section.

4. Technologies for separating CO2 from hydrocarbon gas

Once CO2 breaks through to the producing wells, it will be produced with the well fluids. The CO2 will then flow with the
associated gas from the production separators. The CO2 will then have to be separated and injected in the reservoir to
minimize the amount of CO2 being imported for makeup. There are several technologies for separating CO2 from
hydrocarbon gases. They can be grouped generally into the following four categories:

- Chemical solvents
- Physical solvents
- Membranes
- Cryogenic processes.
Each of these types of technologies has advantages and disadvantages. Thus efficiently design EOR recovery facilities often
will be a combination of different technologies organized in a way to maximize the advantages of each type of technology.
The combination of ways that these basic technologies can be combined for efficiency is also very diverse.

For example, chemical solvents like MDEA are very efficient at reducing CO2 level in associated gas to very low levels. CO2
purity with a well designed system can exceed 99.9+% with chemical solvents. However, they are extremely energy intensive
needing 3 to 4 times the energy per unit volume compared to other processes as the CO2 needs to be compressed from
atmospheric pressure to injection pressure. Amines also produce a ‘wet’ CO2 product that generally must be dehydrated for
injection. Thus amines are not efficient for bulk CO2 removal.

On the other hand, physical means like permeable membranes are very good for bulk CO2 removal but are extremely
inefficient for final gas treating. The typical economical breakpoint for membranes is approximately 10% to 15% residual
CO2 in the treated gas. The disadvantage is that they often need pre-treatment to protect the membrane from damage and CO2
produced is often at moderately low pressures that increase compression costs. However as amines and membrane generally
complement each other; these 2 technologies are often used in series for maximum efficiency.

On the other end of the spectrum are cryogenic processes like Ryan Holmes or distillation that have different strengths and
weaknesses. In the case of both of these technologies, one major advantage is that they produce liquid CO2 product which can
very efficiently be pump to injection pressure instead of being compressed up to injection pressure.

Distillation is suitable for bulk CO2 removal only as it reduce CO2 content of the associated gas to the range of 15 to 20%. It
also removes LPG like material with the CO2 and thus is suitable for situation where there is little LPG material or there is no
market for the LPG and where the purity specification will allow the LPG to be injected with the CO2 as all the LPG
components will dilute the CO2 purity level. Actual purity will depend on the amount of LPG in the feed gas, but in general
will not exceed 90% even for high concentration fed gas

Conversely Ryan Holmes can not only treat the produced gas to low levels of CO2, less that 1 or 2% in the net associated gas
with very high CO2 purity exceeding 99%. In addition, it can produce a marketable LPG product with the disadvantage of
high cost and energy requirements since in essence it is a LPG recovery system that produces CO2 as a useful byproduct.
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The physical solvents, like Selexol or Rectisol, fall in the middle ground between the other technologies. They are relatively
energy efficient since recovered CO2 is delivered at relatively high pressures for compression and can treat the associated gas
to low CO2 levels, less than the typical 2% specification. However, they are not very tolerant of heavy hydrocarbon which are
absorbed by the solvent in many cases and ‘poison’ the solvent unless removed. They also have somewhat lower CO2 purity
level, typically less than 90% to 95% depending on the process and feed gas composition because of the co-absorption they
also cannot be used for LPG recovery. But in the right situation they can efficiently work as a bulk removal units with other
technologies like amine for final treating or conversely for final polishing for a distillation system.

There are several processing schemes, combination and numerous variations to each of the above categories. For this study,
the various technologies were used independently or in combination with approximately 16 different process and plant
configurations studied for each of the plant locations, combined and de-coupled Al Dabbiya and Rumaitha plants

5. CO2 Impact on the Existing Facilities

Because of the thermodynamic and chemical properties of carbon dioxide, injection of CO2 instead of hydrocarbon gas
impacts the existing facilities in more than one aspect. CO2 will impact the performance of process equipment performance
and will also affect metallurgy and corrosion rates.

Dry CO2 is not corrosive. Since the injected CO2 is dry, there are no corrosion concerns for the existing gas injection network
if it is used for CO2 injection. High pressure CO2 pipelines, however, can suffer failure from phenomena known as long
ductile fraction [5]. One way of preventing this failure is by the use of mechanical crack arrestors. More detailed studies
would be required to establish if it is necessary to install crack arrestors on the injection pipelines

Corrosion rates of the pipelines in the crude oil gathering system were calculated using commercially available software. The
software is using De Wart correlations to predict the expected corrosion rates. Chemical injection was in the model used to
mitigate corrosion effects.

During the initial years after CO2 breakthrough, chemical injection is adequate to delay the impact of the corrosive
environment. However, as the water cut increases, it is anticipated that selected pipelines will have to be replaced by pipelines
made of corrosion resistant material.

In the central processing plant, the production separators are cladded with Incloy 825 alloy and are suitable for higher CO2
concentration. However, the, cumulative corrosion resulting from CO2 breakthrough will necessitate the replacement of
existing carbon steel pipe of both vapor and oil outlet lines with corrosion resistant material.

Another area of concern with existing facilities is the gas compression system, typically centrifugal compressor for large
installation. As the CO2 content increases, so will the molecular weight of the gas. All things being equal, centrifugal
compressor will generate roughly the same head, however due to increasing molecular weight; this is expressed as a higher
discharge pressure from the compressor. Conversely, the higher density of the dense phase CO2 increases the hydrostatic head
generated in the injection which results in a lower surface injection pressure being required. Careful study of the changes in
compressor operation is needed for a long term EOR injection project like that studied to compare compressor performance
with injection requirements.

6. Summary

This paper presented the methodology adopted for a study to evaluate the impact of adopting CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery
in the NEB field onshore Abu Dhabi. Based on the findings of this study, the following concluding remarks are made:

1. Once CO2 breaks through, there several technologies that could be adopted in the field for separating the re-cycled
CO2 from the associated gas.

2. The selection of the optimum separation technology depends on many factors such as the market for hydrocarbon
liquids, required degree of CO2 purity in the recycled stream to achieve MMP and operators experience. The
weighing of these factors can heavily influence the ultimate selection of the optimal technology from a simple, low
cost amine/membrane system to a more expensive Ryan Holmes plant for additional LPG recovery

3. CO2 EOR projects involve high capital expenditures; by phasing and delaying the installation of the CO2 separation
facilities and delaying the replacement of carbon steel components with CRA materials enhance the project
economics
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4. The extended timeframe of increasing CO2 rates also work well with phasing requirements as different and
complementary technologies can be installed in different phases as the CO2 content increases. Depending on project
specific factors for example, amine can initially installed followed many years later by a bulk removal technology
like membranes.

Corrosion mitigation measures in the pipelines can be adopted by a combination of chemical injection and selective use of
corrosion resistant alloys (CRA) to replace the more vulnerable parts of the system in a phased manner.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the Management of Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) for permission to
publish this paper.

References

1. Saadawi, H., “HAZOP Studies for Grass-Root Field Development Project,” SPE paper no. 93723 presented at the at
the 14th SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference held in Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Bahrain,
12–15 March 2005.

2. Al-Hajeri, S., Negahban, S., Al-Yafei, G., Al Basry, A., “Design and Implementation of the First CO2-EOR Pilot in
Abu Dhabi,” SPE paper no. 129609, presented at the SPE West Asia EOR Conference, Muscat, Oman, 11-13 April
2010.

3. Saadawi, H., “Surface Facilities for a Pilot CO2-EOR Project in Abu Dhabi,” SPE, paper No. 127765, presented at
the SPE West Asia EOR Conference, Muscat, Oman, 11-13 April 2010.

4. “Practical Aspects of CO2 Flooding,” SPE Monograph Series, SPE, Richardson, Texas, USA, 2002.

5. King, Graeme, “Design of Dense Phase Carbon Dioxide Pipelines,” Paper presented at the 3rd International CO2
Forum, April 2, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
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MP Compressor
Vapor
FEED Recovery

Crude Oil Export

Oil Air Cooler
1ST Stage Separator Storage Tanks

Water LP Compressor
Treatment
2nd Stage Separator
Condensate from LP
& MP Scrubbers
Oil Heater

Desalter Feed Pumps

ST
1 Stage
Desalter
Oily Water Separator

2nd Stage Side

Reboilers
Water Treatment

C Reboiler

Wash Water
2nd Stage Oil Stabilization Column
Washing
Water Treatment Water
Heater

Figure 1: Oil train process schematic

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Figure 2: Typical CO2 profiles of new and mature fields

HC Gas

CO2
separation CO2
plant
Make-up CO2

HC
Liquids

Oil

oil well CO2

injection
well

Figure 3: CO2 is separated and recycled