Environmentally Friendly Well Testing

摘要

Burning hydrocarbons during cleanup and well-testingrnoperations produces toxic gases, soot, acid rain, unburnedrnhydrocarbons and noise. Not only do these emissions have arndamaging impact on the environment, but they also impose anrneconomic impact: the cost of the oil and gas flared and the costrnof the equipment used during the flaring operations.rnA joint task force between two offshore operatingrncompanies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.),rnwith the help of the contracted service provider, worked tornimplement innovative solutions to achieve flaring-emissionrnelimination targets and eliminate environmental risk.rnInnovative equipment modifications and design, coupledrnwith new operational procedures, were implemented tornneutralize the fluids used to prepare the well for productionrn(allowing well effluents to flow through the test separatorrnduring the cleanup phase) and to use a boosting system tornpump the oil into the sealine (fully eliminating oil flaring).rnThe initial stages of the solution neutralized the acidrnflowed back to surface and eliminated the oil flaring. Arnmultiphase flowmeter was then introduced to the system. Notrnonly did the multiphase flowmeter enhance operationrnflexibility, confidence in the information acquired, andrnaccuracy of the results, but it also eliminated gas flaring afterrnthe cleanup period. The minimal pressure drop across thernmeter and the high-pressure rating of the meter allow wellrneffluents to flow naturally through the sealine withoutrnseparating the well-effluent phases. Deployment of thernmultiphase flowmeter in the system reduced the gas flaring byrnabout 60% during the overall job.