(213f) Optimization of Gas-Oil Three Stage Separator's Pressure to Increase Stock Tank Oil Using Aspen Plus

The separation processes are one of the most significant components of any chemical industry and specially when we consider the crude industry.  There are several types of separator involved in the industry, which can deviate from a single point to multi stage separators. The idea of multi stage separation is to produce the maximum amount of hydrocarbon liquid from the well fluid, and offer the high stability of the two currents of liquid and gas. To make the more efficiency of the process in terms of separation quality, several separation processes at decreasing pressures are used. The choice of operating pressures in surface separators can have a notable impact on the amount and quality of the oil produced in the store tank.

The present work is focusing on the optimization of pressures of the separator installed in the crude oil production unit using ASPEN Plus software. The proposed method determines the optimum pressures of separators in different levels of separation and, therefore, optimize the operating conditions. In this study, the optimum pressures of separators in a 3896 Kg mole/hr oil production unit were determined. As a consequence, the oil recovery was improved about 467 Kg mole/hr (130 bbl/day), and the worth of total produced oil was enhanced by 0.3°API.