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8/17/2016

MethodimproveshighpressuresettleoutcalculationsOil&GasJournal

Methodimproveshighpressuresettle
outcalculations
03/02/2015

AndersAndreasen
JacobGramIskovEriksen
CarstenStegelmann
HasseLynggaard
RambollOil&Gas
Esbjerg,Denmark
Settleoutcalculationsinnaturalgassystemsneedtobesufficientlyrigorousaccuratelytopredictsettle
outundervariousoperatingconditionswithoutbeingsoconservativeastoincreasecosts.
Thisarticleproposesaparticularrigorouscalculationusableasanalternativetoaprocesssimulator.The
variedcontributionsofmanysubvolumestothefinalsettleoutcalculationcomplicatetheprocessandcan
produceinaccuraciesduringuseofanonrigorousmethod.Thesimplemethod,however,iseasyto
implementandrequiresnothermodynamicpackageorcalculationtool.
ThesimplemethodproposedinthisarticleisalsopreferabletobothTnandTmmethodsduetoitsgreater
simplicity.Theproposedsimplemethodmaybeappliedwithonlyminorcalculationinaccuracywhen:
Basedonanevaluationofsettleoutcalculationsforinstalledequipment,theinaccuracycreatedbyuse
ofoneofthesimplermethodspresentedisintherange2%andthehighestpressureinanyofthe
subvolumesbeforesettleoutislessthan150barg.
Parametervariationstudiesshowthatkeepingthemaximumpressurelessthan100barorthreetimes
thelowestsystempressure,whicheveristhelowest,andatthesametimekeepingthemolecularweight
lessthan26kg/kmolshouldlimitcalculationinaccuracytoamaximum2%attemperature.

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Relativecalculationinaccuracyshouldofcoursebecomparedwithactualsettleoutpressure.Thesimple
methodalsogenerallyseemstoovervaluesettleoutpressureathighpressure,whichisconservativeand
safebutmayleadtooverdesignifusedinextremecases.
Werecommendthatliquidcontentbeexcludedinthecalculationtopreventanundervaluationofthesettle
outpressure.Theliquidshouldbeconsideredaninertspectatornotexchangingmassorenergywiththe
gas.Thevolumeoccupiedbytheliquidshouldbesubtractedfromthesystemvolume.
Settleoutcalculations

Settleoutcalculationsrepresentanimportantstepinseveralkeyengineeringactivities,bothininitial
designandwhenupdatingoperatingconditions,alarmlevels,andduringdesignmodificationprojects,
especiallyforcompressorloops.Settleoutcalculationshelp:
Decideupondesignpressureofthelowpressurepartofthesettleoutsystem.
Determinestartingpressureandtemperatureforblowdowncalculations.
Calculatecompressorrestartconditionsafteracompressortrip.
Fig.1showsatypicalsystemconsideredforsettleoutcalculationsatwostagecompressortrain
includingsuctionscrubbers,dischargecoolers,andrecyclelines.Forpurposesofsettleoutcalculations,
thesystemissegmentedintosubvolumesdifferingeitherinpressureortemperature.Equipmentdata
sheetsandisometricpipingdrawingsprovidethebasisforestimatingeachpart'svolume.

Designpressure

Thedesignpressureofsuctionsideequipmentscrubber,cooler,etc.shallbehighenoughtoprovide
sufficientmarginwhensettlingoutoccurs.Thesuctionsidewillusuallyincludeapressuresafetyvalve
(PSV)forfireprotectionofthescrubber.1
Providingamarginbetweensettleoutpressureanddesignpressurecanpreventunnecessaryflaring.API
521saysdesignpressureshallbeaminimum1.05timessettleoutpressureatmaximumpressuredrop,
calculatedassumingthesuctionsideisoperatedatnormaloperatingpressureandcompressordischarge
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pressureissettothemaximumachievable.2Itdoesnot,however,specificallymentionhowmaximum
dischargepressureshouldbedetermined.
Compressorperformance,pressurealarmhighhigh(PAHH)onthedischargeside,orultimatelyPSVset
pressurecanlimitmaximumdischargepressure.NORSOKP001saysmaximumoperatingpressure
shouldbedeterminedasthesettleoutpressureoccurringatcoincidentPAHHonboththesuctionside
andthedischargeside,addinga10%marginfordeterminingdesignpressureorPSVsetpressure.3API
521thereforeseemslessconservativethanNORSOKP001,asthesettleoutpressureiscalculated
fromhigherinitialpressuresandahighermarginisapplied.
Blowdown,restart

Conductingacompressorsystemblowdownrequiresdeterminingtheinitialtemperatureandpressure,as
wellascompositionofthesystem'scontents.Temperatureandpressurearedefinedasthesettleout
pressureandtemperature.4Blowdowncalculations,however,canbeperformedforanumberof
scenarios.Coldblowdownsimulationscheckforlowtemperatures,belowthematerialdesigntemperature,
whichcancausebrittlefractures.5Firecasesaresimulatedwhererupturesduetohightemperature,
whichcanweakenthematerial,arearisk.67Fortheformerweperformsettleoutcalculationsfrom
normaloperatingconditionsandforthelattersettleoutcalculationsfromcoincidentPAHHtrips.
Thesettleoutpressurecalculationisalsoofinterestinestimatingtherequiredtorqueincaseofa
compressortripandasubsequentfastrestartwithoutintermediatedepressurizationblowdown.89The
higherthesettleoutpressurethehighertherequiredtorque.Restarttorqueiskeyinformationin
appropriatelyspecifyingthecompressordriver.
Rigorousmethod

Akeycharacteristicofthesettleoutprocessisthatitoccursatconstantvolume.Assumingpressure
equalizationbetweensubvolumesoccursquicklyenoughforheattransfertobenegligibleallowsreduction
ofthefirstlawofthermodynamicstoU=Q+W=0,whereUisthechangeininternalenergy,Qisheat,
andWiswork.Thethermodynamicproblemtobesolved,therefore,hasaconstantvolumeandconstant
internalenergy:aUVproblem.
Thesolutionmethodproposedinthisarticleisbasedonaconstanttemperatureandconstantpressure
flashcalculationemployingthePengRobinsonequationofstate(EoS).Calculationofdensityandrealgas
correctionstoallthermodynamicproperties(U,H,andS)arebasedontheEoS.
Thesolutionprocedureistocalculatetheinternalenergyofallsubvolumes,Vi,andfromthesefindthe
totalinternalenergy,Utot,atthestartingconditionsforeachsubvolume,TiandPi.Thecontentinall
subvolumesisadded.Aninitialestimateofthesettleoutpressureismadewithasimplemethod.Internal
energyandfluidvolumeofthetotalmassiscalculatedattheinitialguessforTandP.Subsequently
changingpressureandtemperaturevaluesensuresVandUarezero.Thepressureandtemperature
thatsatisfyaconstantvolumeandaconstantinternalenergyarethesettleoutpressureandtemperature.

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Simplemethod

ThesimplemethodforcalculatingtheinitialguessintheUVmethoddescribedpreviouslyconsiderseach
subvolumeasseparatedbyinvisiblewallsthatcanmoveaseachelementexpandsoriscompressed
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duringpressureequalization.Forasinglesubvolume,workoccursasifthevolumeisnotconstant.
Assumingtheprocessisreversibleandadiabatic(Q=0)andthatthefluidtrappedfollowstheidealgas
law,theworkforeachsubvolumecanbeexpressedasshowninEquation1.10
Usingthisinformation,addingtheworkforallsubvolumes,andassumingnetworkiszeroyieldssettleout
pressure(Equation2).Equation3showsthecalculationifaninitialguessforthesettleoutpressureis
calculatedfromanidealgasmolebalance,whichreducestoEquation4.Investigatingthesimplemethod
usedforcalculatinginitialguessesascomparedwiththerigoroussolutionmethodallowsquantifyingthe
extenttowhichthesimplemethodcanbeusedasanalternativetotherigorousmethod.
Tn,Tmmethods

TheTnmethodofcalculatingsettleoutconditionsappliesacompressibilityfactortotheidealgas.It
assumesthatthetemperaturemoleterm,nT,isconstantandadditiveforeachvolume.Equations513
describehowtocalculatesettleoutconditionsundertheseassumptionsforanyarbitrarynumberof
volumes.
Equation5determinesthenumberofmolesforeachvolume,withEquation6showingthenumberof
molescontainedintheentirevolume,i.e.,thenumberofmolesatsettleoutconditions,andEquation7the
entirevolumeatsettleoutconditions.
Thenormalvolumeofeachvolumesegmentiscalculatedwithnormalconditions(Equation8)
Pi,n=1.01325barandTi,n=273.15K.,withEquation9determiningnormalvolumeforsettleoutconditions.
Simplyapplyingtheidealgasequationincludingthecompressibilityfactorthenyieldstemperaturemole
termforeachvolume(Equation10).
Undertheassumptionsmadeforthissimpleapproach,thetemperaturemoletermforthesettleout
conditionswillbethetotalsumofeachtemperaturemoleterm(Equation11).Equation12estimatesthe
subsequentsettleouttemperature.Applyingtheconceptofvolumeundernormalconditions,aspreviously
determined,yieldsestimatedsettleoutpressure(Equation13).
TheTnmethodofcalculatingsettleoutconditionsdidnotincludethemolarmassesofeachindividual
volume.Thisomission,however,isnegligiblewhenmolarmassesaremoreorlessequal.TheTmmethod
incorporatesmolarmassbyusingatemperaturemassterm,replacingthepreviouslyusedtemperature
moleterm.
Equation14providestherelationshipbetweenthenumberofmoles,molarmass,andmass.Similar
equationsandassumptionsaspresentedfortheTnmethodcandeterminesettleoutconditionswiththe
Tmmethodbyapplyingthetemperaturemassterm,mT.
Results

Weappliedthemethodsdescribedforcalculatingsettleoutpressuretoanumberofrealcases(Table1).
TheycoversettleoutinexistingequipmentinstalledoffshoreintheDanishsectoroftheNorthSeaand
includeseveralcompressorloops,bothsinglecompressorandtwocompressorsinseries,including

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scrubbersandcoolers.Furthercasesincludeconnectedvesselspipingoperatedatdifferentpressures,
wheresettleoutwilloccuriftheunittrips.

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Eachsettleoutcasepairsthenumberofdistinctsubvolumeseachdifferinginpressureortemperature
withthelowestandhighestpressurebeforesettleoutoccurs.Eachcasecalculatessettleoutpressure
withtherigorous,simpleTnandTmmethodsandlistscalculationinaccuracyrelativetotherigorous
method(Table2,Fig.2).

Fig.3displaystheinaccuracycausedbyapplyingthenonrigorousmethods,depictingcalculation
inaccuracyasafunctionofthehighestpressureinthesystembeforesettleout.Otherdescriptorscould
havebeenchosenaswell,althoughitisdifficulttofindasinglegooddescriptorforthecalculationwhile
alsoaccountingforthevaryingcomplexitywithdifferentnumbersofsubvolumes.Themaximumpressure
ischosen,sincethelargestdeviationsfromtheidealgaslawwilloccurinthispartofthesystem.The
effectonthefinalresultalsodependsonthehighpressurevolumeandgascompositionmolecularweight.

Settleoutcalculationinaccuracyislessthan2%inmostcases,andfortheremainingcasesan
inaccuracyofuptoslightlyabove4%isobserved.Exceptforthreecases,absoluteinaccuracyisless
than2bar.
Fig.2showsnonrigorousmethodsusuallygeneratesimilarresults,especiallyforsystemsinwhichthe
subvolume'smaximumpressureislessthan150barg.Atgreatherthanthis,somediscrepancyis
observedbetweenthedifferentmethods.Thereisageneraltendencyforthecalculationinaccuracytobe

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highestforsystemswiththehighestmaximumpressure.Atlowermaximumpressuresettleoutpressure
isinmostcasesundervalued,whileatthehighermaximumpressuressettleoutpressureisovervalued.
Parametervariation

Westudiedthesuitabilityofthesimplemethodforsettleoutcalculationsbyperforminganumberof
parametervariationstudiesinvestigatingtheeffectsofpressure,temperature,andmolecularweightonthe
calculationinaccuracyforsettlingoutbetweentwoequalvolumes.Calculationinaccuracyisestimatedby
comparisonwiththerigorousmethod.
Fig.3showstheeffectofpressureandtemperaturefortwodifferentgasmolecularweightsaswellasthe
generaltrendthatthelargestinaccuracyisfoundathighpressuredifferenceswhenthetemperature
differenceissmallandathightemperaturedifferenceswhenthepressuredifferenceissmall.Adiagonal
fromthelowerlefttotheupperrightofFig.3hasrelativelylowinaccuracy,withincreasingmolecular
weightgenerallyseemingtoincreasetheinaccuracyinsettlingoutpressureestimatedbythesimple
method.
Consideringsettlingoutbetweenonevolumefixedat50barandtheothervariedupto200barextendsthe
analysistohigherpressures.Fig.4showstheresultsfortwodifferentmolecularweights,illustratingthe
inaccuracyinthesimplemethodchangingfrombeinggenerallylessthanzeroatlowerpressure(~80100
barg,dependingonthemolecularweight)tobeingpositiveathigherpressure.Wheretheundervaluationof
thesimplemethodisrelativelymoderateatlowerpressure(Fig.4),theovervaluationathigherpressure
becomesmoresevereandincreasingmolecularweightagainamplifiesanyinaccuracies.

Testingconfirmedtheeffectofincreasingmolecularweightonthecalculationinaccuracy(Fig.5):
increasedmolecularweightleadstoincreasedcalculationinaccuracywhenusingthesimplemethod.

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Handlingliquidcontent

Whenperformingsettleoutcalculationsforcompressorsystems,theprocessengineermusthandleliquid
contentinthesystemintermsofcalculation.Includingliquidinthecalculations,however,willgeneratea
lowersettleoutpressure,regardlessofwhethertherigorousorsimplecalculationmethodisused.
Handlingliquidcomplicatesthecalculationbyrequiringmoreinput(aliquidphase)andcreatesless
conservativeresults,leadingustoexcludeliquidcontentinthecalculationwhenusingeithertherigorous
methodorsimplecalculationmethods.
Processsimulator

Aproprietarycodeforrigorousmultiphasethermodynamiccalculationsperformedthecalculations
presentedinthisarticle.Atailormadetool,however,maynotbeavailabletoeveryone.Inthesecasesa
generalpurposesteadystateprocesssimulationtoolcanbeused,withavarietyofcommercial
proprietary,freeclosed,andopensourceoptionsavailable.Examplesofcommercialprocesssimulators
includeAspenTechHYSYS,HoneywellUnisim,Prosim,gProms,andProdeProperties(freefornon
commercialusage).DWSIMandCOCOareexamplesoffreeprocesssimulationtools.11
Methodsusingaprocesssimulatorrelyonconstantvolumewithaconstantenthalpyflash.Onemustfirst
defineastreamrepresentingeachofthesubvolumesconstitutingthesystemunderconsideration.
Pressureandtemperatureareassignedforeachstreamcomposition,aswellasanappropriatefluid
packageequationofstate,usuallythePengRobinsonorSoaveRedlichKwong.Connectingeachstream
toanautomaticadjustershiftsthemoleormassperunittimeuntiltheactualvolumetricperunittime
matchesthevolumeoftheparticularsubvolume.Thechosentimeunitisnotimportant,thoughitis
importanttousethesametimeunitconsistentlyforallstreams.
Amixeroperationcombinesallstreamsrepresentingthesettleoutsystemsubvolumesintoasingle
stream.Thecombinedstreampassesthroughavalveoperation(constantenthalpyoperation),andthe
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outletstreamrepresentsthesystemaftersettleout.Connectinganotheradjustershiftsthepressureuntil
thevolumeofthesettleoutstreamisequaltothesumofallthesubvolumesforagenericflowsheet
implementationofsettleoutcalculationinaprocesssimulator(Fig.6).

Thecompositionavailablefromanoverallplantprocesssimulationcangenerateamultiphasefluidwhen
flashedatthetemperatureandpressureofanyoftheinletstreams.Insertingatwophaseseparation
operationdownstreamoftheinletstreamsandroutingtheseparatorgasoutlettothemixeroperationcan
overcomethisproblem.
Thevolumetricflowgivenasfeedbacktotheadjustershouldbethegasvolume,notthetotalvolume
includingliquid.Whendiscardingtheliquid,operatorsshouldverifythatthefluidisactuallytwophase
hydrocarbonliquidandgasandnotinthedensephaseregion(P>Pc).Theprocesssimulatorinsome
casesmaymapthedensephasetoaliquidstate.Inthisinstance,duringinsertionofaseparator,no
contributionwillbemadetothesettleoutcalculationforthatparticularstream.Toavoidthisdonotinserta
separatorforstreamswithapressureexceedingcriticalpressure.
Wecomparedsettleoutcalculationsperformedwithaprocesssimulator(HYSYS)toboththerigorous
methodandthesimplemethodoutlinedpreviously.Allcasesconsideredtwoequallysizedvolumeswith
thelowpressurepartbeing50barand40C.forallcases.Thehighpressurepartis60C.forallcases
andthesettleoutpressureiscalculatedforatotaloffivecaseswithahighpressureof60,90,120,and
180bar.Fig.7summarizestheresults.

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Resultsforthethreedifferentmethodsareverysimilarforthe60and90barcases.At120barthesettle
outpressurecalculatedwiththesimplemethodbeginstodeviate,becomingmoresevereat180bar.
Exceptforthe180barcase,therigorousmethodandprocesssimulationmethodarealmostidentical.Itis
generallyobservedthatthesimplemethodgiveshighersettleoutpressurethanthetwoothersatelevated
pressure.
References

1.APIRP14C,"RecommendedPracticeforAnalysis,Design,Installation,andTestingofBasicSurface
SafetySystemsforOffshoreProductionPlatforms,"AmericanPetroleumInstitute,2007.
2.APISTD521,"PressurerelievingandDepressuringSystems,"6thed.,AmericanPetroleumInstitute,
2014.
3.NORSOKP001,"ProcessDesign,"5thed.,StandardsNorway,2006.
4.Hekkelstrand,B.,andSkulstad,P.,"Guidelinesfortheprotectionofpressurizedsystemsexposedto
fire,"ScandpowerRiskManagementAS,Mar.31,2004.
5.Sims,J.R.,"Improveevaluationofbrittlefractureresistanceforvessels,"HydrocarbonProcessing,Vol.
92,No.1,January2013,pp.5962.
6.Mahgerefteh,H.,Falope,B.O.,andOke,A.O.,"ModellingBlowdownofCylindricalVesselsUnderFire
Attack,"AIChEJournal,Vol.48,No.2,February,2002,pp.401410.

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7.PerSalater,T.,Overaa,S.J.,andKjensjord,E.,"SizeDepressurizationandReliefDevicesfor
PressurizedSegmentsExposedToFire,"CEPMagazine,September2002,pp.3845.
8.Samurin,N.A.,andTalabisco,G.C.,"SystemDesignStudyUsingDynamicSimulationofaPropylene
RefrigerationProcessCompressionTrain,"DresserRandInsights,No.1,Winter2008,pp.814.
9.Bhattacharya,D.,Chittibabu,H.,Mumm,J.,andValappil,J.,"Dynamicsimulation:atoolforengineering
problems,"DigitalRefining,PetroleumTechnologyQuarterly,Q4,October2012.
10.Smith,J.M.,VanNess,H.C.,andAbbottM.M.,"IntroductiontoChemicalEngineering
Thermodynamics,"5thed.,NewYork:McGrawHill,1996.
11.VanBaten,J.M.,Kooijman,H.,andTaylor,R.,"FlowsheetingforfreewithCOCO,"CACHENews,
Winter2007.
Theauthors
AndersAndreasen(anra@ramboll.com)ischiefconsultantwithinprocessengineeringinthe
departmentofoffshorefielddevelopmentandstudiesatRambollOil&Gas,Esbjerg,Denmark.
HehasalsoservedasseniorresearchengineeratMANDiesel&Turboworkingwithlargetwo
strokedieselenginecombustionoptimizationandemissionreductiontechnologies.Heholdsan
MSinchemicalengineeringfromAalborgUniversity,Esbjerg,andaPhDfromtheTechnical
UniversityofDenmark,Lyngby,alsoinchemicalengineering.HeisamemberoftheSocietyof
PetroleumEngineers.

JacobGramIskovEriksen(jgie@ramboll.com)isastudentinternatRamboll.HeholdsaBSin
energyengineeringwithspecializationinthermalprocessesandispursuinghisMSinprocess
engineeringandcombustiontechnologyatAalborgUniversity,Esbjerg.

CarstenStegelmann(cts@ramboll.com)ischiefconsultantwithinprocessandtechnical
safetyengineeringinthedepartmentoftechnicalsafetyatRamboll.HeholdsanMSanda
PhDinchemicalengineering,bothfromAalborgUniversity,Esbjerg,andisacertified
functionalsafetyexpert(CFSE).

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HasseLynggaard(hsl@ramboll.com)ischiefconsultantwithinprocessandtechnicalsafetyengineering
inthedepartmentoftechnicalsafetyatRamboll.HeholdsanMSandaPhDinchemical
engineering,bothfromAalborgUniversity.

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