Abstract

Pase-A facility in Aceh province in Indonesia is designed to produce and transport Hydrocarbon gas to South Lhoksukon (SLS) facility cluster "A". Pase cluster contains 3 wells and a single train facility to process 100 MMSCFD natural gas.

Triethylene Glycol (TEG) is used to dehydrate the gas to meet pipeline dewpoint specifications. For this facility TEG losses increase exponentially when flowing gas over 100 MMSCFD. The loss is suspected to be caused by foaming formation in the gas-glycol separator due to hydrocarbon liquid carryover from the production separator.

Project scope is to install two scrubbers downstream of the production separator and gas-glycol separator to reduce glycol losses, and result in operating cost saving of US$140,000 per year. One scrubber downstream of the production separator is used to entrain liquid hydrocarbon carryover to the static mixer, and the other scrubber downstream gas-glycol separator is used to catch any TEG carryover to the pipeline.

Based on detailed engineering evaluation, the installation of two scrubbers will allow the field to be produced at higher rates, up to 135 MMSCFD. The capacity increase to 135 MMSCFD is optimum given the well maximum deliverability, pipeline and facility capacity. Hydraulic testing was done at the increased rate for a short period of time, then followed by Pro-II model and Hextran simulation to verify process performance. Netop-Pipephase simulation was also conducted to determine pipeline capacity.

The modification to minimize glycol losses and thereby to enhance Pase facility capacity will be accomplished at minimum costs through use of idle equipment from the Arun Field.