Upstream Process Engineering Course

2. Product and Discharge Specifications

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Product and Discharge Specifications

Contents
Crude Oil Product Specifications RVP Specification Gas Sales Water Content of Natural Gas Wobbe Index Gas Transportation LPG Specification
Quality Tests for LPG Valuation of Crude Oil Crude Yields Value Adjustment Brent Blend Crude Oil Contaminants Metal Contaminants

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Product and Discharge Specifications

Crude Oil Product Specifications

Crude oil is usually exported to market by tanker or by pipeline. Road and rail shipments are sometimes used for smaller volumes. For safe handling of crude, the vapour pressure and maximum delivery temperature are specified. For storage in tanks and transport by ship/road/rail, the True Vapour Pressure (TVP) must be less than 1 bara to prevent vapour loss in transit. Pipeline TVP is set in conjunction with the operating parameters of the system. TVP will be less than the lowest system pressure to prevent vapour breakout. The TVP of the export oil is controlled by the exporting plant operating conditions, e.g. pressure and temperature of the final stage of separation. Water and salt content also need to meet specified values to suit downstream processing requirements.
The lighter ends of the crude (shaded area) are removed to meet the TVP specification of the export system

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Crude Oil Product Specifications

For pipeline transmission other variables require to be controlled. These are fixed by the sales requirement, the following are typical values
Water content: Salt content: 2-5 wt % 70 - 200 mg per litre

Note, higher water contents reduce the pipeline or storage capacity and crude sales value For tanker transport, a more stringent water specification is often specified:
BS&W (Basic Sediment and Water) Content: 0.5 vol% maximum

Pour point and/or viscosity may be considered for pipeline capacity and storage problems but in general facilities are designed to accept the product rather than vice versa

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RVP Specification
Nomograph for estimating the RVP of crude oil

TVP cannot be measured directly, so instead an experimental method measures the Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP). The TVP is then calculated using a correction factor.

RVP is determined experimentally as follows. The sample is placed in a standard cell one fifth oil four fifths air. The RVP is the pressure of the vapour in the cell at 100 F Typical RVP spec is 0.7 bara (10 psia) at 38 C.

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Gas Sales Specifications

In order to condition gas for sales distribution a range of quality specifications require to be achieved. These vary from country to country, common features are hydrocarbon and water dewpoint, temperature, pressure and composition e.g. H2S and CO2
Water dewpoint limits are required to avoid corrosion and hydrate formation, and depend on typical ambient conditions. May be stated as a dewpoint (e.g. 10 deg C at 69 barg) or as a water content (e.g 2lbs/ mmscf). Temperature - A maximum temperature at the delivery point may be specified, usually around 30-50 C Pressure - The maximum gas pressure will be decided by the design pressure of the system and the allowable back pressure on other system entrants. Nominal gas pressure is the normal entry pressure to the pipeline, typically 70 - 140 Bar

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Product and Discharge Specifications

Gas Sales
Hydrocarbon Dewpoint Control
To prevent hydrocarbon condensation, with the consequences of the pipeline flowing two-phase, the pipeline operator often sets a limit on the gas cricondenbar. The significance of the cricondenbar is evident from the phase envelope - provided system pressures are higher than the cricondenbar then a single phase will always exist irrespective of temperature. A typical cricondenbar specification is 105-110 bara maximum. An alternative to cricondenbar control a hydrocarbon dewpoint or a liquid loading maximum value may be given

Solids: Free of particulates in amounts detrimental to transmission and utilisation equipment

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Gas Sales
The sales gas specification will be subject to a pricing agreement which is likely to include the following:
Gross Calorific Value (GCV) or Higher Heating Value (HHV)
The total heat produced by combustion of the fuel The total heat produced by combustion of the fuel minus the latent heat contained in the water vapour discharged as fuel gas, NCV represents the available heat Wobbe Index is used to compare fuel quality for different gases it characterises flame stability WI is the ratio of GCV to the square root of the gas s.g. - units are MJ/Sm3 This may be estimated from the molecular weight of the gas and corrected for N2 and CO2 Inert gases, usually N2/Ar, are removed to improve the gross calorific value of the gas Sulphur content is controlled for safety reasons, to prevent pipeline corrosion and improve the sales value of the gas
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Net Calorific Value (NCV) or Lower Heating Value (LHV)

Wobbe Index (WI)

Impurities

GCV of dry gas at 15 C & 101.325 Gas kPa (MJ/m 3) Methane 37.69 Ethane 66.03 Propane 93.97 i-Butane 121.43 n-Butane 121.78 i-Pentane 149.32 n-Pentane 149.65 Hexane 177.56 Heptane 205.43 CO2 0 H2S 23.79

Sulphur Content

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Sales Gas Specifications

Sales Gas Specifications
Gross Calorific Value Wobbe Index Hydrocarbon Dew Point @ 2 - 70 bara C Water Dew Point @ 69 bara C Impurities Oxygen mol % Carbon Dioxide mol % Nitrogen mol % Hydrogen Sulphide ppm Total Sulphur ppm Mercury mg/Nm3 Delivery Temperature Delivery Pressure Bara Units MJ/Nm3 MJ/Nm3 Continental Sales Gas UK Sales Gas (Transco) 38 - 43.6 38.9 - 44.6 46.6 - 52.1 48.2 - 51.2 -3.0 -8.0 0.50 2.50 1.00 5.00 15.00 5.00 5 - 30 C 51.00 -1.0 -10.0 0.001 2.0 - 4.0 7.00 1.00 15.00 1 - 38 C 69.00 US 35 - 45

45 F @ 400 psig 7lb/MMSCF 0.2 2 1-2 4.00

120 F (max)

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Water Content of Natural Gas

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Wobbe Index

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Gas Transportation
For some applications gas may be transported from a remote facility to a conditioning terminal - St Fergus - prior to gas sales. In this instance the gas need only be partially processed for transportation between the remote site and the terminal. The degree of processing will be application specific but is likely to include Water dewpointing Hydrocarbon dewpointing Acid gas treatment An alternative to water dewpointing is continuous addition of hydrate suppressant and corrosion inhibitor. This is used in some SNS fields.

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LPG Specification
Product Characteristics Commercial Propane Predominantly propanes and/or propylenes 208 1434 Composition Vapour Pressure @ 100 F, max. @ 37.8 C, max. Volatile Residue temperature @ 95% evaporation, F, max C, max butane and heavier, liquid vol %, max. pentane and heavier, liquid vol %, max. Residual Matter residue on evaporation of 100 cm 3, max oil stain observation Corrosion, copper strip, max. Total sulphur, mg/kg Moisure content Free water content Product Designation Commercial Butane Commercial B-P Mixtures Predominantly mixtures Predominantly of butanes and/or butanes and/or butylenes with propane butylenes and/or propylene 70 483 208 1434

-37 -38.3 2.5 0.05 cm3 pass (*) No. 1 185 pass -

36 2.2 2 o N.1 140 none

36 2.2 2 o N.1 140 none

(*) An acceptable product shall not yield a persistent oil ring when 0.3 cm3 of solvent residue mixture is added to a filter paper in 0.1 increments and examined in daylight as described in ASTM D-2158
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Quality Tests for LPG

The standard test for corrosivity (H2S) is the Copper Corrosion Test (ASTM D-1838)
A polished copper strip is immersed in the sample for 1 hour at 38C The test strip is then rated according to the following standards:
No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 Slight tarnish (light to dark orange) Moderate tarnish (red, lavender, brassy gold) Dark tarnish (magenta, red, green) Corrosion (black, dark grey, brown)

There are several methods of determining the acceptable levels of moisture in propane
The Cobalt Bromide Test
The cobalt bromide is supported on white cotton wadding and exposed to a stream of propane vapour, chilled to 0 C The colour of cobalt bromide changes from green to lavender at about 30% relative humidity indicating wet gas

The Valve-Freeze Method

A specially constructed and calibrated orifice designed to simulate expansion of propane through a pressure regulator A liquid sample is passed through the valve at a pre-set flowrate and the time taken for the valve to freeze and interrupt flow determines whether or not the propane is commercially dry A simple field test designed to use calculate moisture content of natural gases Not recommended as the accuracy is dependant on temperature and pressure which are difficult to control
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The Bureau of Mines Dew Point Test

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Valuation of Crude Oil

When evaluating the value of a crude produced from a new field, it will be compared to the benchmark crude, which for the North Sea is usually Brent Blend This takes into account the impact on the refinery of processing and any unusual qualities in the crude, for example product yields and qualities
Blend ( or Grade) OPEC Basket Dubai Fateh Bonny Light N. Sea Brent Urals/ Mediterranean W. Texas Intermediate World Average US$/bbl Fri. 31/01/03 30.58 29.13 33.07 32.50 31.45 33.53 Prepared by Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants Ltd

US$/bbl Fri. 22/09/06 57.55 57.94 62.15 60.49 57.48 54.46 56.38
Product and Discharge Specifications

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Valuation of Crude Oil

When evaluating the value of a crude produced from a new field, it will be compared to the benchmark crude, which for the North Sea is usually Brent Blend This takes into account the impact on the refinery of processing and any unusual qualities in the crude, for example product yields and qualities Any new crude is likely to be de-valued in order for a refinery to take the risk of processing an unknown feed, this discount may be in the range of $0.10 to $1.00 per barrel As the refineries experience handling the crude and market acceptance grows, these discounts may be moderated The method of loading the crude oil can also affect its initial market value, the perceived or actual risks of offshore loading such as delays due to the weather could de-value a crude compared with pipeline delivery which is assumed to be more reliable Pre-production assay samples of all the wells to be produced are blended in the appropriate production ratios to generate data for the valuation analysis Crude is separated into three key distillation cuts, Naphtha, Middle Distillate and Residue as a basis for valuation.
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Crude Yields
Naphtha
Light naphtha (C5 - 95C) Medium Naphtha (95 - 150C) Heavy Naphtha (150 - 180C)

Approximate values March 2006 follows (US$ per metric tonne):

C4 Naphtha Middle Distillate $435-490/ te $506-514 / te $530-540/ te

Middle Distillate
Kerosene (180 - 260C) Gas Oil (260 - 327C) Heavy Distillate (327 - 370C)

Gas Oil Specific Gravity

The European oil retail market is volume based To ensure consistency, cargo's are sold using the internationally agreed specific gravity of 0.845 For example, if the sales price is $300/tonne and the actual gravity is 0.85, the actual sales price is: 0.845/0.850 300 = $298.24
Product and Discharge Specifications

Residue
Vacuum Gasoil (350 - 565C) Vacuum Residue (565+ C)

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Value Adjustment
Specific crude values are adjusted to take account of variations in the physical properties and compositional properties of the distillation cuts Naphtha C5-165 C
no correction

Gas Oil 165-350 C

s.g. adjustments made

Vacuum Gas Oil 350 - 550 C

s.g., sulphur and viscosity adjustments

Fuel Oil 550+ C

s.g., sulphur and viscosity adjustments

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Brent Blend
The properties of the North Sea benchmark crude are as follows:
Gravity API Sulphur, wt % Pour Point, C Acid Number, mgKOH/g
C1 - C4 Naphtha (C5 - 180C) Middle Distillate (180 - 370 C) Residue (370+ C) Kerosene smoke point, mm Gasoil cetane index Gasoil density @ 15C Gasoil sulphur content, wt%

38.5 0.36 0 0.05

2.7 26.1 34.4 36.9 22.8 51.7 0.848 0.22

Crude Distillation Yields (wt %)

Middle Distillate Properties

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Crude Oil Contaminants/Adjustments

Basis of Penalty Blending, shipping and Acidity 0.3 mg KOH/g working capital costs Logarithmic relationship of fuel oil prices at different sulphur Sulphur Continuous levels Catalyst costs in conversion Metals 3 ppm (Ni + V) process Conradson Carbon 5.7 wt% Loss of throughput Nitrogen 1000 ppm in Vac. Gas Oil Yield Loss Gas Oil S.G. Continuous Weight/volume relationship Market prices for fuel oil and Fuel Oil Viscosity Continuous gas oil
Conradson Carbon - A measurement of hydrocarbon mixtures tendency to leave carbon deposits (coke) when burned as fuel or subjected to intense heat in a processing unit such as a catalytic cracker. The ConCarbon test involves destructive distillation -subjection to high temperature which causes cracking, coking, and drives off any volatile hydrocarbons produced--and weighing the residue which remains. A somewhat similar test, Ramsbottom carbon, also measures mixtures tendency to form coke. For reasons of laboratory convenience, analysts ordinarily restrict the Ramsbottom method to hydrocarbons which flow 90 C. To obtain a useful indication of carbon residue formation by light distillates, such as high-speed diesel, the industry often measures coke formation by the last 10 percent of the material to boil. This technique goes by names such as "ConCarbon residue on 10 percent bottoms
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Quality

Typical Limit Attracting Penalties

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Metal Contaminants

Metals in crude oil (specifically; nickel, vanadium and sodium) are considered for three distinct reasons Catalyst Poison
In fluid catalytic cracking, nickel and vanadium act as a catalyst poison resulting in an increased yield of hydrogen and coke at the expense of more valuable products The refiner can deal with this problem by either increasing the catalyst replacement rates or blending feedstocks The absolute limits on metals are very site specific and range from 1-2 ppm for a conventional VGO (Vacuum Gas Oil) cracker to 60 ppm for a state of the art residue cracker Anode grade coke for use in aluminium smelting commands a premium, the metals specification is stricter of these grades of coke and consequently requires a feedstock (560C + residue) of less than 400 ppm nickel plus vanadium Residual fuel oil has both a sodium and vanadium specification which refiners must meet For most of Europe this specification is 300 ppm vanadium, 150 ppm sodium

Residue Specification

Fuel Oil Specification

Refiners will generally blend feedstocks to achieve this specification

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