There are four main types of produced reservoirs in the United States today.
In this video we’re going to take a high-level trip through the flow path of each type to
explore the commonly used vessels and equipment.
Standard oil reservoirs contain mostly crude oil with minimal amounts of water and gas.
Standard oil reservoir will generally have two stages of separation.
The first stage will happen in a Free Water Knockout.
In this vessel, retention time will allow the natural specific gravities to start separating
the oil, water and gas from each other.
As they exit the vessel, the water is piped to storage, where it will eventually be disposed
of.
The gas is piped to either a sales line, via a meter run, or combustion line, and the oil
emulsion will move on to the second stage of separation.
The second stage separation for an oil reservoir will typically happen in a heater treater.
In this vessel, heat is used to accelerate the separation process and continue refining
the produced emulsion into its three components.
As they exit the heater treater, the water is again piped to storage.
The gas will either travel to a sales line through a meter run or is destroyed in a combustor
if quality parameters are not being met by the producer.
The oil will continue to either a lease automatic custody transfer unit or LACT or storage to
await midstream transportation.
Volatile oil reservoirs contain high amounts of corrosive gas in addition to oil and water.
This type of reservoir will follow the same path as a standard oil reservoir, except for
the gas.
The gas in volatile oil well streams is highly corrosive.
Because of this, it must be sent through an additional gas treatment process in a chemical
gas conditioning tower or amine unit.
These vessels are designed to absorb unwanted elements from acidic gas.
From there, the gas will go to a filter separator to remove any chemical carryover and then
go back to the gas sales line.
An important consideration for producers operating volatile oil reservoirs is the materials in
their vessels, piping and valves.
It is recommended to specify corrosive-resistant materials to prevent premature wear due to
the corrosive gas present in this type of well stream.
Dry gas reservoirs produce mostly natural gas with some water vapor.
This type of reservoir will first go through a Gas Production Unit or GPU.
This vessel incorporates a line heater and separator in one unit to separate the gas
from the liquid.
When leaving the GPU, the separated water will go to storage for later transportation
and disposal.
The condensate, which is a very light, valuable liquid hydrocarbon, will go to storage to
be sold to a midstream company.
Gas will exit the GPU, and if conditions are correct and the pressure is already high enough,
it will continue directly into a sales line.
If the water content of the gas is too high, a large scrubber is used to remove additional
liquid and further clean the gas before traveling into the sales line;
If further separation is needed, it will flow to a gas dehydration unit either at the individual
well location or at a central facility before returning to the sales line.
If the quality of the gas is acceptable, but the pressure is too low, a compressor will
be used to increase the pressure before it is sent downstream into a sales line.
Gas condensate reservoirs will follow the same path as a dry gas reservoir, except for
condensate.
Because of the large amounts of condensate these reservoirs produce, the liquid condensate
will go to a low-pressure separator in order to further separate it from the gas.
After that, the condensate will go to storage and the gas will go into a sales line.
We have videos on most of these vessels where you can learn how they work in more detail
and what Kimray products you’ll find at each location.
Check out our YouTube playlists for more training and information and contact your local Kimray
store or authorized distributor with any questions.