Exergy analysis of primary processing petroleum plants

Abstract

This study analyses exergy performance dependence on crude’s inlet pressure and temperature in an offshore petroleum separation plant. The plant consists in a separation train, a gas compression train, a gas turbine generation system for driving the compressors, an exchange system to heat inlet crude that has been considered a part of the separation train and an oil pumping system. Destroyed exergy and exergy efficiency will be analysed in the overall plant and in each part of it. The study will be carried out at different conditions: three different temperature and pressure values will be settled and, therefore, nine cases will be analysed. Besides studying exergy performance in the plant and in each unit when temperature and pressure are modified, it will also be studied which inlet variable (pressure or temperature) has more influence on the outlet variables (destroyed exergy and exergy efficiency). Simulations have been performed in Aspen HYSYS®.