Clariant Oil Services Treats Heavy Oil in Indonesia Steam Flood Facility

Benefits

• 21% Reduction in chemical usage  
• Annual saving of $231,000 realized
• Reduced export oil excursions through 30% improvement in BS&W

Background

A major international oil company operating a heavy oil steam flood operation in Indonesia was experiencing separation and crude dehydration difficulties in one of its central gathering stations (CGS). The field is around 35,000 acres and typically produces 197,000 bpd of 20.8º API crude, together with 1,100,000 bpd of produced water from approximately 5,000 rod pump wells. The fluids are processed in five CGS through a 3-stage separation train with temperatures ranging from 71°C to 98°C.

The composition of the heavy crude supports stable oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions, and treating these emulsions is considered the most critical challenge at the facility. The operator altered some of the process controllers and, as a consequence, frequent excursions beyond the crude export specification of 0.8% BS&W resulted. In order to counteract the excursions, the demulsifier dose was increased to approximately 120 ppm.

As part of the integrated chemical management system, Clariant Oil Services was asked to work with the operator to investigate the nature of the excursions and to provide recommendations to resolve the issues.

Clariant Oil Services Solutions and Value Delivered

Clariant Oil Services uses the LeanSigma method to improve operations that are process driven. This is a structured and standardized approach that uses the DMAIC cycle where we Define the problem, Measure how big the problem is, Analyze the problem to identify the root causes, Improve the problem by defining solutions, and Control the problem by implementing the best solutions. The operator was very supportive of this method, and implementation of the solutions led to optimization of the process facilities, which included the demulsifier application.

The dose rate of Clariant Oil Services’ PHASETREAT 5157 demulsifier was reduced to approximately 95 ppm, which has since generated an annual savings of $231,000. Additionally, the optimization process improved the BS&W by 30%, greatly reducing the number of excursions beyond the export oil specification.

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