INFOCHEM

INFOCHEM
physical properties group of

Flash Calculations

PVT and Flow Assurance Modelling with Multiflash

Aberdeen, Hilton Treetops

03rd 05th June 2014

2014 KBC AdvancedPROPRIETARY INFORMATION

Technologies plc. All Rights Reserved. 04th 06 2014
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Outline
Flash calculations with water
Effect of methanol on free water
PT flash
Fixed phase fraction flash

Phase envelopes
Effect of water amount on water phase boundary
Phase fraction lines

Tolerance calculations

Solid freeze-out

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Objectives
At the end of this session you should be able to:
Choose an appropriate model for natural gas with
low water concentration

Use the Fixed Phase Fraction Flash to determine

the T or P where a particular phase will form

Use the Tolerance Calculator to determine the

saturation limit for a stream
- Water saturation
- Amount of gas to inject into oil to match a specified
saturation pressure

Determine the temperature at which a pure solid will

precipitate from a stream

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Flash Calculations with Water
When water is present in trace amount together with natural gas:

For calculations around 0 C: Use hydrate model, even if you are

not looking for hydrates, to avoid erroneous phase equilibrium
calculations.

For calculations at temperatures above 30 C: At normal operating

conditions (pressure < 100 bar) CPA or RKSA is adequate.

Other aqueous components can determine whether an aqueous

phase forms.

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Example: Flash Calculation with Water
Dry gas containing: File: Demo_dry_gas.MFL

CO2: 5.5 mol%

H2S: 0.07 mol%
N2: 0.6 mol%
C1: 67 mol%
C2: 9.0 mol%
C3-C6: 17.1 mol%
Water: 0.02 mol%
Methanol: 0.11 mol%

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Example: Phase Envelop

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Example: Flash Calculation
PT flash at T= -15C, P= 6.5 bar with methanol.

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Example: Flash Calculation
Fixed water phase fraction flash at T = -15C
- with methanol

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Example: Flash Calculation
PT flash at T= -15 C, P= 6.5 bar without methanol

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Example: Flash Calculation
Fixed water phase fraction flash at T = -15C
- without methanol

errors are returned

no solution exists

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Example: Water Phase Boundary
Effect of water amount on the water phase boundary

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Example: Phase Fraction Lines
Hydrocarbon liquid phase envelope with fixed amount
(dry gas without methanol and water)

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Tolerance Calculation
Answers the question
How much of stream 2 should be mixed with stream 1 at a
given P and T to get a specified fraction of a particular
phase?
Usually we are interested in zero amount of the phase
Calculates the composition of the fluid resulting from mixing
the streams

Examples
How much water is needed to saturate a stream?
What is the limit on CO2 concentration in a stream before it
solidifies?
How much methanol is needed to suppress hydrates?

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Example: Tolerance Calculation
How much water is required to saturate the 'dry gas' mixture
at 20 C and 15 bar?
Remove water and methanol from the mixture

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Example: Tolerance Calculation
Tolerance Calculation dialog box:

Select the WATER phase, set phase

fraction to zero and the Type of
solution to Normal

Specify the component amounts in

the second stream. In this case pure
water

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Example: Tolerance Calculation

Calculation
shows the
water
saturation level
of the stream is

0.156 mol%

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Example: Tolerance Calculation 2
Tolerance calculation for crude oil
Calculate the amount of gas stream required to saturate
an oil at given P and T
Calculate the composition of the combined crude
( current fluid + gas stream )

Example:
Demo_Tolerance_Crude.mfl
We will use the stock tank gas as the injection gas
Flash to stock conditions: T = 15 C, P = 1 bar
Copy gas composition to tolerance calculation (second
fluid)
Do tolerance calculation at T = 15 C, P = 150 bar for
zero amount of gas

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Example: Tolerance Calculation 2
Flash the crude oil at standard conditions (15 C, 1 bar)

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Example: Tolerance Calculation 2
Tolerance Calculation dialog box:

Set the amount of gas phase to

zero (bubble point)

Specify the composition of the

second stream for the
calculation. In this case the gas
phase from the flash.

Set P = 150 bar and click on

Calculate.

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Example: Tolerance Calculation 2
Result of tolerance calculation for crude oil

Total gas to be added to

achieve saturation at 15 C,
150 bar: 19.8934 g

The recombined fluid is

displayed in the red column
in the window

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Example: Solid Freeze-out
Load File: Demo_dry_gas.MFL

Add the solid freeze-out model from the

Select/Freeze-out Components menu.
Default name is generated by adding
solid before the component name, e.g.
SOLIDCO2.
Example: calculate the temperature where
solid CO2 appears at a given P:
- Select CO2 from Freeze-out
Component list.
- Click Add/Remove button
- Use the Fixed Phase Fraction
Flash to find the T at specified P for
SOLIDCO2 = 0

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Example: Solid Freeze-out
Solid CO2 onset temperature at P = 6.5 bar

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Mercury Model in Multiflash
Presence of liquid mercury can cause corrosion
Multiflash can model elemental mercury, dimethylmercury and
diphenylmercury
Each species has to be given as individual component
in a gas stream it is reasonable to assume that all mercury is
elemental mercury ( much higher volatility)
Not straight forward to obtain mercury species in liquid

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Example: Mercury Precipitation
file: demo_dry_gas_hg.mfl

Add 10-6 moles of Mercury and select the Mercury model

Includes pure liquid and solid mercury do not use the Freeze-
out Components route

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Example: Mercury Precipitation
Fixed Phase Fraction calculation for
zero amount of SOLIDHG phase

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Exercises
1. Natural gas mixture with water
(Flash_Exercise_Example_1.MFL)

2. Recombining stock tank oil with gas stream to

reproduce the reservoir fluid
(Flash_Exercise_Example_2.MFL)

3. Characterise the fluid with water cut

(Flash_Exercise_Example_3.MFL)

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Objectives - Revisited
At the end of this session you should be able to:
Choose an appropriate model for natural gas with
low water concentration

Use the Fixed Phase Fraction Flash to determine

the T or P where a particular phase will form

Use the Tolerance Calculator to determine the

saturation limit for a stream
- Water saturation
- Amount of gas to inject into oil to match a specified
saturation pressure

Determine the temperature at which a pure solid will

precipitate from a stream

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