New technologies are important in the development of heavy oil reserves. Economical production of heavy and high viscosity oil represents a major challenge for the oil industry. The economic feasibility of heavy oil projects is determined by numerous factors, one of the most important being the design of the process plant. New separation technologies are keys to optimizing process plant design to make the whole heavy oil project economically viable. We provide these technologies: enhanced liquid-liquid separation, highly efficient degassing, emulsion breaking and sand removal.
Benefits
Efficient systems for water-gas-oil-sand separation will optimize process plant design and make both onshore and offshore heavy oil projects economically viable through:
- Enhanced phase separation as the result of higher G-forces generated
- Reduced residence times, allowing for a reduction in footprint and the weight of the plant
- Reduced temperatures, allowing for lower energy consumption
- Emulsion control, allowing for a reduction in chemicals consumption
- Improved oil and water quality
- Reinjection of produced water into the reservoir