Industrial Pumps Blog

Crude oil transportation is a serious issue with oil fields located in remote locations, and as resources become harder to find, this will be an increasingly challenging factor in effective upstream operations. The distance and widely varied environments which require extensive design work for increasingly complex pipe networks. Monitoring and managing oil and gas pipeline networks requires sophisticated techniques and highly specialized expertise to ensure uptime and performance meet operational requirements and maintain company performance.

The single most important factor which has pushed to the fore of upstream operations and crude oil transportation issues is the consumption of energy.

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Leaking sulfur is a serious environmental issue, and in the context of an oil and gas refining operation, this is a doubly serious concern.  The oil and gas industry are one of the most regulated sectors of the global economy from an environmental perspective, and regulatory control is only likely to increase despite the strides made in delivering a reduced environmental impact.

One by-product of refining operations is liquid or molten sulfur which must be removed from refined petroleum products, particularly diesel fuel.  Recovering the sulfur also contributes to the bottom line with many operators selling the by-product to make fertilizer, detergents and for manufacturing rubber amongst other applications.

Sulfur has a high melting point, 250 degrees Fahrenheit, however it has an upper bounded range of 300 degrees Fahrenheit before it begins to increase in viscosity to the extent it will solidify once more.  The sulfur must be constantly heated above 250 degrees F, but kept below 300 degrees in order to allow effective processing operations.

This narrow bounded range puts excessive pressure upon pump mechanical seals which will soon start leaking.  This in turn contributes to equipment reliability and availability, as well as increasing maintenance downtime and costs.

A Novel Solution

Bellows seals are the traditional solution for this type of pump seal leakage, however sometimes a non-standard approach will yield a more effective result.  Instead of simply following the manual, thinking out of the box can and will help to solve the leakage problem and deliver operational benefits which are specific to an installation.

For instance, instead of a bellows seal, a pusher seal can be considered.  Using this slurry seal design, which has a spring on the air side which spring-loads the pump face, there is also a greater amount of space between the ID and sleeve OD which means that sulfur accumulations are not going to create “hang ups” as often.

The last Presidential election encompassed the debate over whether to commence offshore drilling operations in our territorial waters in order to reduce our reliance on overseas oil producers.  Whatever the eco-political debate on drilling off our shores, it is a reality that the Gulf of Mexico presents significant engineering challenges and is a prime oil production region for the United States and the world.

The Gulf has seen a rapid expansion in the number of drilling platforms which is set to continue given the increased efforts at uncovering hidden reserves.  The spate of hurricanes over the last few years did create a block on oil and gas production, however this has been reversed and production now exceeds the 2006 production numbers (470 million barrels of oil).

The principal challenge facing operators is the effective operation of deeper wells in the shallow water zone, typically operated by chemical injection.  Shallow water projects are those which take place within 1,000 feet of water while deep-water projects are in excess of this.  Gas drilling operations further split shallow water operations using the TVD (true vertical depth) of the production field and the water depth.

The main problem is the formation of hydrates which will result in costly platform shutdowns.  The increased pressure due to deeper wells, low sea temperatures and extremely lengthy tie-backs all mitigate in favor of extensive hydrate formation.

Another issue is the environmental implications of drilling operations in such as sensitive area.  Oil and gas production utilize equipment and raw materials which will result in severe environmental impact should there be an accidental discharge.  Handling harsh and toxic raw materials requires robust and reliable storage and pumping solutions together with secure redundancy and fail-safe systems.

Finally, there is the harsh environment posed by the salt water sea.  This is highly corrosive, however there is another issue posed by the salt-water environment.  Methanol use produces very hard, abrasive rust particles which will cause severe damage to pumping mechanisms.  Countering this are the pumping systems transferring the range of chemicals to counteract the impact of the environment upon the drilling infrastructure.