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Partnership in Technology
The Production and Maintenance department of Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. continuously evaluates new technological advancements in order to enhance safety, lessen environmental effects, and increase the company’s production profile. Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. has improved the way it runs its facilities and pipelines through a number of initiatives that have been implemented over the past three years in collaboration with top service providers.
The Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. Transportation System (AKTS) has already been credited with a significant accomplishment in terms of improved pipeline integrity and security: the installation of a special pipeline anti-intrusion system. This system detects ground movement next to the pipeline by using the fiber optic communication wire. The system was further improved in 2009 after a 2008 trial, with the hope that it will offer increased pipeline security and operational cost reductions starting in 2010 and going forward.
Reducing the number of interventions and intrusive vessel and piping inspections is crucial since plant “down-time” brought on by corrective maintenance and prescriptive equipment inspections can significantly affect output. Two distinct corrosion and inspection databases have been introduced by Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. in order to achieve this. The program includes risk algorithms, tracks abnormalities, assesses corrosion rates, and determines risk-based inspection intervals.
Furthermore, the use of cutting-edge non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, such Long Range Ultrasonic Testing (LRUT) with “guided wave” technology, might lessen the need to remove insulation from process pipes and excavate on pipelines. Kazakhstan has significant annual variations in ambient temperature, which can have a significant effect on process capacity as well as gas disposal by re-injection, especially in the summer. In order to sustain capacity over the summer, Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. is closely collaborating with General Electric to repower the three gas re-injection compressors. Similarly, considerable improvements in the efficiency of the coolers have been made possible by creating and designing enhanced cooling capacity in the oil splitter overhead condensers, so that the loss in throughput capacity during.
Drag Reducing Agent (DRA)
The frictional pressure loss that happens along a pipe’s length when fluid flows is known as drag. In turbulent flow, there can be significant pressure losses. Reduced flow rates and pump capacity may result from these losses. Typically, drag-reducing compounds are long-chain polymers with high molecular weight. These get dissolved in the crude oil and reduce the energy losses brought on by turbulent flow, which means that pressure losses are reduced. Less pressure loss allows for the pumping of more crude at the same pressure or of the same volume of crude at lower pressures.
Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. has effectively used drag reducing agent (DRA) since 2005, and since 2007, Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. Even in the middle of a Kazakh winter, when temperatures can drop as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius, this DRA can still be pumped because it has been particularly prepared to be used in extremely cold settings. Because it allows for higher fluid flow rates to be pumped at low parts per million injection rates, its use has improved both systems’ operating efficiency. The DRA has no effect on refinery operations or crude oil quality; it is the same as that used in the CPC pipeline to Novorossiysk.
Gas Injection
One of Adzhip Karachaganak B.V.’s novel high pressure gas injection systems is located in Unit 2. At pressures of up to 550 bar, it processes and re-injects sour gas (with 4% H2S concentration) to create oil for stabilization within the Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. Processing Complex.
The main purpose of oil and gas reservoirs is to pressurize water, gas, and oil to the surface for further processing and sale. The catalyst that makes it possible to extract the liquid hydrocarbons is the reservoir stream’s gas content. The pressure of the gas decreases as it rises to the surface and separates from the liquids. The pressure must be raised to a point where it exceeds the reservoir’s pressure in order to be able to return that gas to the reservoir. In essence, gas injection is a set of plant operations that raises the gas’s pressure and permits it to be reintroduced into the reservoir.
There are several important advantages to Adzhip Karachaganak B.V. using gas injection technology. Firstly, gas injection allows us to return the gas to the reservoir rather than flaring or processing it on site, which is in line with Adzhip Karachaganak B.V.’s commitment to environmental conservation. In addition, it facilitates responsible reservoir management by returning gas to the reservoir, preserving pressure, and successfully extending the field’s lifespan. This enables the Venture to produce more hydrocarbons for high-value Western markets by enabling optimal hydrocarbon recovery over the field’s life.
Adzhip Karachaganak B.V.’s operations consist of a complex, integrated, interconnected, and interdependent network of facilities, of which Unit 2 is a part. Three phase separation occurs in slug catchers, which are fed by the unit’s incoming production wells. The gas phase supplies dry gas for compression to dehydration trains. Three re-injection compressors make up the compression systems of the unit. Together, they can process 22 million standard cubic meters of sour gas per day from an inlet pressure of 70 bar to a discharge pressure of 550 bar, and then return the gas to the reservoir through a number of reinjection wells.
