Analysis of Separator Pressure performance for Maximum Oil Recovery in a Production Unit

An intermediate pressure, called optimum separator pressure, was determined to maximize the condensate volume accumulation in the stock–tank of a petroleum production unit. The C7+ was treated as only one cut and beak-down of Heavy fraction Cut (C7+ splitting) with respect to the most widely used distribution function (gamma probability function) is evaluated for optimizing the different stages of separation pressure in a production unit as well. The separator pressure was optimized by maximizing the API gravity and the amount of stock tank liquid. The optimum pressure corresponds to a maximum in the API gravity and a minimum in gas–oil ratio (GOR). The proposed methodology determined the optimum separator pressure in different stages of separation and production rate increased. The temperature is also important in optimization of production units operations but the temperature of separation is a function of ambient temperature which is difficult to control. The optimum separator pressures for a 36000 bbl/day oil production unit were determined. As a result of the optimization performed for this unit, the oil recovery was increased by 36 and 31 bbl/day during summer and winter seasons, respectively.

Keywords:

production unit , optimization , oil recovery , separator pressure