OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. TATNEFT Company introduces energy-efficient technologies allowing to reduce operating costs of using fuel and energy resources and materials. Among them there is the technology of hot separation developed by TatNIPIneft (RF Patent N.2412739) to provide own fuel gas for the plants, reported the press-centre of TATNEFT.

When developing fields in new areas operators face problems of providing fuel gas for oil treatment facilities and associated petroleum gas (APG), especially low pressure gas utilization, due to the lack of gas pipeline infrastructure. Utilization of APG as fuel gas is not always possible due to remoteness of gas collection facilities, where it is separated, and transported to the centralized crude oil treatment installation, which involves significant capital expenditures for the organization of the collection and transportation of APG for future utilization.

The hot oil separation technology developed by scientists of the Institute ensures supply of the own fuel gas to the crude oil treatment facilities in the conditions of receiving degassed raw materials, as well as solving the problem of the low-pressure gas utilization.

This technology has been implemented at the "Kalinovy klyuch" crude oil treatment facility of "Tatneft-Samara" Company. Wells' production comes at "Alexandrowka" UPS (initial water separation unit) and DNS-215 (booster pump station), where the separation of associated petroleum gas from oil takes place. Further on degassed crude is fed to the "Kalinovy klyuch" crude oil treatment facility. After a three-phase separator the pre-dehydrated oil is heated in furnaces to a temperature of 60-70°C and is supplied to the hot separation stage, where due to high oil temperature and pressure decrease to 0.1-0.5 atm gas emission is taking place, which goes to the furnaces as fuel. The amount of gas required to heat the oil is adjusted by the pressure in the separator, which solves the problem of its utilization.

Implementation of the hot oil separation method at the "Kalinovy klyuch" crude oil treatment facility of "Tatneft-Samara" Company resulted in saving capital investments in the amount of 53.6 million rubles through excluding a 25 km associated petroleum gas pipeline construction from the "Alexandrowka" UPS to the "Kalinovy klyuch" crude oil treatment facility.

This engineering development has been awarded the II-nd degree diploma in the nomination "Energy efficient products" of the XIV-th International specialized exhibition "Energy. Resource Saving".