In this Part 1 presentation of the initial Gas – Lift series, and effort has been made to provide for initial orientation regarding the important Gas – Lift history, initial background, initial production efforts, Gas – Lift components, and design criteria. Oil and Gas production has been an integral part of the World’s energy based economy for over 160 years. Improvements in new GLV designs were implemented after the 1940’s. In all GL applications, however, the pressure and volume of the injection gas was difficult to control due to the limited numerical models available to predict the Valves ..read more

This Tip of the Month will discuss energy issues in the U.S, and highlight why there must be an “all of the above” approach to electricity generation technologies to ensure availability and reliability. The type of technology selected should be based upon what the local resources and environment can provide as there is no silver bullet, or one size fits all solution. Energy density of the various electricity generation technologies will be covered, and some examples of current performance will be examined ..read more

There are several “non-metallic” options for gas gathering system applications. To a large degree, non-metallics eliminate the corrosion concerns – both internal and external – associated with metallic – typically carbon steel – pipelines ..read more

Hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide are the principal objectionable acid gas components often present in natural gas, synthetic gas, and various refinery gas streams. These acid gas components must be removed for corrosion prevention in gas pipelines, process equipment, and for health and safety reasons. Reference [1] provides current acceptable concentration levels for these acid gases in various gas streams. Hydrogen sulfide removal often requires the production of sulfur in the sulfur recovery units to meet emission limits. Sulfur is a product used to produce sulfuric acid and fertilizers ..read more

Let me introduce you to one of our incredible instructors, Kindra Snow-McGregor. Kindra is the Technical Director of Oil and Gas Processing at PetroSkills | John M. Campbell and is the instructor for a lengthy list of courses including Overview of Gas Processing - G-2, Gas Conditioning and Processing - G-4, and all of our G-4 Short Courses, to name just a few. Here are Kindra’s answers to some fun questions to help you get to know her more on a personal level ..read more

There are three key processing units, viz. Acid Gas Removal Unit (AGRU), Mol Sieve Dehydration Unit (MSDU) and Mercury Removal Unit (MRU) that are common in both gas processing, and LNG facilities. In this TOTM, we discuss some common operating problems associated with these process units and suggests ways to troubleshoot the root cause of these operational issues. The key to successful operations of these units is the understanding of the parameters that cause the primary operational issues and address these at the design stage of the project ..read more

Part 1 : Shale gas is typically considered an “unconventional” resource, along with tight gas and coalbed methane. Of these three, coalbed methane (CBM) has several characteristics that make it quite different than shale gas and tight gas, including: shallow depth, low pressure and temperature, and the need for a significant early life “de-watering” stage. As a result, CBM developments have some considerably different aspects to them and will not be discussed further in this article ..read more

By 2020, many companies had already begun attempts to transition their training from face-to-face and add more e-learning and virtual delivery, but the COVID-19 pandemic hastened these companies to make their move with immediacy! Additionally, the industry’s financial health, used to previous highs and lows of economic cycles, faced an oil price decline in the beginning of 2020 that was coupled with a collapse in demand due to COVID-19 restrictions unlike other times. This case study is about how one company successfully converted key operator training from Face-to-Face to Blended quickly and ..read more

In some cases, a choke/line heater is required at the wellsite to deal with the large JT expansion cooling effect experienced by choked high-pressure wells, especially during start-up. This is a somewhat different application than prevention of hydrates in the GGS but there are some common aspects to the equipment utilized. First, the hydrate temperature of the flowing wellstream is estimated. From Figure 1, for 0.65 SG gas and assuming any free water present is condensed/fresh water, the estimated hydrate temp at an assumed average GGS pressure of 1,100 psig is ~ 65 F ..read more

This Tip of the Month investigates the impact of process gas pressure on the performance of a mechanical refrigeration plant with mono ethylene glycol (EG or MEG) injection for hydrocarbon dew point (HCDP) control. Specifically, we will discuss how the process gas pressure impacts the gas-gas heat exchanger and chiller duties. The operation of the mechanical refrigeration system will be investigated and reported ..read more