System of Comprehensive Energy-Efficient Utilization of Associated Petroleum Gas with Reduced Carbon Footprint in the Field Conditions

Abstract

This paper considers the issue of associated petroleum gas utilization during hydrocarbon production in remote petroleum fields. Due to the depletion of conventional oil and gas deposits around the globe, production shifts to hard-to-recover resources, such as heavy and high-viscosity oil that requires a greater amount of energy to be recovered. At the same time, large quantities of associated petroleum gas are extracted along with the oil. The gas can be utilized as a fuel for power generation. However, even the application of combined power modes (combined heat and power and combined cooling heat and power) cannot guarantee full utilization of the associated petroleum gas. Analysis of the electrical and heat loads’ graphs of several oil fields revealed that the generated thermal energy could not always be fully used. To improve the efficiency of the fuel’s energy potential conversion, an energy system with a binary power generation cycle was developed, consisting of two power installations—a main gas microturbine and an auxiliary steam turbine unit designed to power the technological objects in accordance with the enterprise’s power load charts. To provide for the most complete utilization of associated petroleum gas, a gas-to-liquid system is introduced, which converts the rest of the gas into synthetic liquid hydrocarbons that are used at the field. Processing of gas into various products also lowers the carbon footprint of the petroleum production. Application of an energy system with a binary power generation cycle makes it possible to achieve an electrical efficiency up to 55%, at the same time maintaining high efficiency of consumers’ energy supply during the year. The utilization of the associated petroleum gas in the developed system can reach 100%.

Operational Analysis and Medium-Term Forecasting of the Greenhouse Gas Generation Intensity in the Cryolithozone

“…For example: intensity of works and other industrial activity, time of year, time of day, type of works, and industrial activity, etc. Similarly, the proposed approach can be used as part of a subsystem for monitoring CO 2 emissions in other industrial applications [18][19][20][21].…”

Overview of Methods for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Conventional and Unconventional Reservoirs

“…To increase oil recovery, the following gases are used: dry hydrocarbon gas, highpressure gas, enriched gas and gas-water (water-gas) mixture. When using liquefied hydrocarbon gases and other liquid hydrocarbon solvents as displacing agents, another problem arises in extracting the solvent remaining there, the price of which can significantly exceed the cost of oil [50].…”

Hydrodynamic Modeling and Evaluation of Partial Substitution of Cushion Gas During Creation of Temporary Underground Gas Storage in an Aquifer

“…Besides, electricity consumption is limited by the needs of the field. If there are no consumers other than the subsoil user company itself, there may be a situation of energy oversupply (12). The payback of this technology is most often achieved by selling electricity to a third-party consumer (13).…”