Process simulation for crude oil stabilization by using Aspen Hysys

Abstract

Recently, a light oil from different formations is added to the existing crude oil stabilization plant to associate the production of crude which unfortunately not enough to release off all light components and as a results the true vapor pressure (TVP) exceeds the desired specification of 82737.1 Pa/12 psia for the exported oil. The Simulation results were comparable with industrial data to give a good match between the Aspen Hysys results and the industrial analysis. The existing plant operates in three stages of gas/liquid separators where it is reported that changing production conditions, such as inlet temperature, dry fluid flow rate, water flow rate and the temperature of the outlet fluid from Fired Heater, do not make the value of TVP within the permissible limits of (68947.6–82737.1) Pa / (10–12) psia. The current work studied the effect of adding a fourth vessel on the production specifications, where it shows a successful results on decreasing the TVP. It was found that, the live crude was successfully stabilized to a TVP of less than 12 psia / 82737.1 Pa when the feed dry fluid flow rate (26.4–105.6) kbd and the minimum base sediment and water cut in the feed stream is 4 Vol%. It is also found that, the temperature of fluid has a significant impact on the crude oil specifications where the inlet fluid temperature should be in range of (43–51.5) ⁰C and the differential temperature across the Fired Heater in range of (16–24) ⁰C with feed temperature range (40–55) ⁰C.