Oil & Gas webinar archive

Digital process twins based on first-principles advanced process models can accurately predict and optimize these complex and challenging systems and help engineers create value by reducing both OPEX and GHG. This webinar will examine PSE’s approach to reducing both liquefaction plant OPEX and GHG emissions via plant performance optimization.

Oil prices reached their all-time low in last 30 years during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Operators saw a significant reduction in demand earlier in the year which led briefly to negative oil prices. With the oil price now steadily recovering, the webinar will look at some of the current challenges faced by the industry and will describe software technology that can accurately predict and optimize these complex and challenging systems. It will also highlight the importance of the additional value that can be created by integrated asset optimization.

In a data-driven world, a solution to provide a comprehensive overview of asset performance represents an opportunity to optimize production holistically. However, this understanding of complex systems requires the consideration of data from multiple sources in real time. Today, this data is typically scattered across several separate tools and software packages. The second challenge towards real-time data-driven production optimization is the lack of holistic models – meaning a development of a single strong mathematical algorithm, whose simulation is giving results that are based on the whole value chain with all its complexity, multiple interactions and constraints...

Presented as part of the World Oil "Artificial Lift & Production Optimization" series.

Operational strategy optimization requires addressing several questions simultaneously: which wells to operate, choke back, or apply gas lift; how to manage the production–facilities interaction; how to meet processing constraints. Model-based optimization helps operators maximize production while reducing operating costs.

Presented under the SPE Expert Hour Series.

When the field is modelled mathematically, normally only the production system (sand-face to separator inlet) is considered in the model. Increased production and a much better understanding of the asset can be achieved by including the facilities components in the model. To model the integrated production and facilities systems, software tools can be linked at the system boundary (usually the separator) and data (pressure, flowrates, etc.) passed across this boundary. This approach not only leads to model inaccuracies (e.g. different fluid definitions) but also prevents true asset optimisation as only the individual elements can be optimised. To gain the maximum benefit from an integrated model, the same software tool should be used for both the production and facilities elements.

This webinar will explain the technical basis of production optimisation and its practical application. In today's low price environment, oil and gas field production optimisation is of paramount importance to all operating companies. Each field must maximize production while keeping CAPEX and OPEX to a minimum. The interplay of decisions on routing, well on/off and artificial lift is too complex for any person to find the optimum or even a point close to the optimum. Advanced software dedicated to field optimisation can use global optimisation techniques to identify significantly better daily production values than existing solutions.

This webinar describes a new approach to integrated asset optimisation. This approach incorporates the interaction between the production system, the fluid properties and the process equipment, which can only be fully described by a complex facilities model integrated with the production model. gPROMS Process combines state of the art optimisation technology with a library of standard process unit operations including separators and compressor trains. The gPROMS Oilfield library includes extensions to address challenges specific to oil and gas production optimisation including the translation of black oil models to fully compositional equation of state models.

This webinar will showcase PSE’s dynamic modelling capabilities for distillation column relief loads and flare capacity analysis. A recent case study for a refinery flare will illustrate how the current flare capacity was quantified for the global power failure scenario and sufficient excess capacity was confirmed for connection of significant additional column loads.

This webinar will showcase PSE’s dynamic modelling capabilities for combined depressuring, fire survivability and low temperature assessments of coupled process and flare systems. An example of a depressuring system will demonstrate the benefits of performing the design using a coupled dynamic model of the process and flare system in an integrated workflow.

The aim of depressuring in a fire emergency situation is to prevent possible catastrophic escalation. This is achieved by routing hydrocarbons into the flare network. The effect is not only to remove the flammable inventory from the system but also to reduce stresses in pipes and vessels. This webinar discusses changes in the 6th edition of API 521 on fire analysis. The presentation will introduce the analytical methodology for fire analysis; then examine the impact through case studies.

Several major incidents involving flare and relief systems can be traced to a failure to recognise hazards and perform adequate analysis. This webinar uses the incidents as examples to explain how industry guidance such as API 521 and good engineering practices have been enhanced to prevent future accidents and promote inherently safe design. It will describe the best practice solutions you need to effectively manage process safety.

This webinar follows on our previous, Part 1, webinar on the topic. The presentation will briefly review the topics introduced in Part 1 focusing on the analytical methodology for fire depressurization analysis and then discuss through case studies: the conventional workflows and how these can be improved in terms of efficiency, consistency and reduced uncertainty through the use of dynamic flare analysis and optimisation.

In conventional screening methods, calculations of safe design temperatures are based on analysis of a single pseudo-vessel with simplified representations of thermodynamics and heat transfer. Such methods are no longer seen as providing either the necessary assurance for safe operation or the required information for making capital expenditure decisions. In this presentation we discuss a rigorous approach, using distributed blowdown system models, to assess risks of cold temperature brittle fracture during process depressurization. We highlight the important benefits of this approach and when it should be applied, and discuss how it fits into existing engineering workflows and how it is aligned with the changing industry guidelines.

The aim of depressuring in a fire emergency situation is to prevent possible catastrophic escalation. This is achieved by routing hydrocarbons into the flare network. The effect is not only to remove the flammable inventory from the system but also to reduce stresses in pipes and vessels. This webinar will discuss changes in the 6th edition of API 521 on fire analysis. The presentation will introduce the analytical methodology for fire analysis and explain the limitations of the empirical approach considering equipment in a well-ventilated fire area.

In gas processing facilities, minimum metal temperature usually sets the materials of construction. If metal temperatures below -46°C are predicted, Low Temperature Carbon Steel presents an embrittlement risk and designers must switch to expensive stainless steel construction. Such decisions have a huge impact on project costs, order times and project viability. In this webinar, we will present a case in which the decision was worth more than $1,000,000,000 in CAPEX.

In many Oil & Gas facilities, the blowdown operation sets the minimum metal temperature and therefore drives materials-of-construction decisions. The choice between stainless steel and low temperature carbon steel can be worth many millions of dollars in material costs. A poor choice can compromise asset integrity. As industry guidelines evolve to highlight the importance of accurate low temperature assessment, best practice increasingly demands rigorous modelling techniques. This webinar will demonstrate an advanced process modelling approach to accurately assess the design temperature of flare headers.

Traditional flare modelling assumes that the header and knockout drum are at steady-state conditions. A more rigorous, fully dynamic flare model can be used to produce more efficient designs, or to demonstrate the sufficiency of existing systems. In this webinar, with reference to case studies, we show how the transient behaviour of the flare system can be accurately predicted for blowdown events, avoiding unnecessary modifications and saving tens of millions of dollars in capital expense.

An emergency pressure relief incident is over in minutes. Do you really know what happens during that critical time? How much capacity can your flare network REALLY handle? Do extreme cold transient temperatures place your system's integrity at risk, and if so, for how long? This webinar demonstrates our validated approach to answering these questions using gFLARE^® technology.

PSE Oil & Gas combines gFLARE^® and CFD for safe design and operation of flare system knock-out drums.

High-fidelity dynamic modelling can result in a considerable reduction in capital expenditure while simultaneously improving process safety. Explore how rigorous blowdown studies determine accurate temperatures to inform materials-of-construction decisions.

This webinar describes an approach to rapidly determine the optimal design parameters of a compression train using rigorous model-based optimisation methods. The approach makes it possible to accurately determine trade-offs between capital expenditure and operating costs. Application examples include LNG, EOR and waste heat recovery with Organic Rankine Cycle.