AnInnovativeApproachtoEvaluateNewTechnologiesinSAGDPlants

AlbertoAlva-Argaez,MaryamMahmoudkhani

COSIA–AIEESWaterConference.March22-23,2016

Outline

• Introduction:OilSands– SAGDfacilities• Objective• Integratedapproachinprocessoptimizationandtechnologyevaluation

• HowtoevaluateGHG,waterandoperationalcosttrade-offs?

• “SurmontTriOpti”Tool• Nextsteps

2

SteamAssistedGravityDrainage(SAGD)

• ThermalproductiontechnologytoextractbitumenfromAlberta’ssubsurfaceoilsandsdeposits

3

Wellpad OilTreating

De-oilingWaterTreating:Lime-Softening/

Evaporator

SteamGeneration(OTSG)

Emulsion:Bitumen+Water

ProducedWater

DeoiledWaterBFW

Steam

Make-upWater

Wastetodisposal

SalesOil

DiluentDiluent

4

Objective• Bettertoolsrequired:

– forcombinedanalysisofwaterandenergysystems,includingoperatingcosts andenvironmentalimpacts(i.e.trade-off)

– toidentify opportunitiesforreducingOpEx

– toimprovemethodstoholisticallyevaluatenewtechnology

5

Whytrade-offanalysisforOpEx-GHG-Water?

• Highlyintegratedhydrocarbonandwatertreatmentunits

• Highdegreeofheatintegration– Optimizingforenergyconsumptionmaynotresultinthebestprojectsduetotheimpactsonwaterconsumptionandoveralloperatingcost

– Increasingwaterrecyclemayincreaseenergyusage,(i.e.greenhousegasemissions)

• Identifyingthebestenvironmentalandeconomictradeoffrequiresan“IntegratedApproach”

6

Simulationvs.Optimization

FindshortestpathbetweenAandB

7

Simulationvs.Optimization

– Squaresystemofequations

– Nodegreesoffreedomavailable

– Userspecifiesallparameters

• E.g.splitfractionforrecyclevsdisposal

– Morevariablesthanequations

– Manydegreesoffreedommaybeavailable

– Solutionfoundagainstanobjectivefunction

– Optimalvaluesforparameterstominimizeobjectivefunction

8

Simulatorvs.SurmontTriOpti

– Generalpurposetool-compromise

– Fluidcharacterization-pseudocomponents

– Nocostelements,environmentalmetrics

– Unabletoenforceconstraintssuchas>=or<=.Onlytrialanderror

– SpecificallydesignedforSAGD– Fluidcharacterizationfitforpurpose:

• Bitumen:Tailormademodels• Water:Rigorouscorrelations• Gas:Peng-Robinson• Ions:Separatespecies

– Fewercomponents- efficientcalculations

– Integratedcostandenvironmentalmetrics

– Optimization-based.Constraintsdefinitionbuiltin

9

Optimizationapproach

1

2

PW Disposal

1

2

PW Disposal

Optimize (min OpEx)

Decisionvariables– waterflowrates

Optimizationmodels– GAMSorMatlab platformandfiles

• UMIST• UofCCollaboration

Challenges:

- Update/maintainmodels- Interpretationofresults- Convergenceofgeneralsolvers- Difficulttoshareresults

10

Ourapproach:SurmontTriOpti

- TriOptiisacustomsoftwarewithafullyflexible,modernuserinterfacetodefineprocessmodels,provideinputparametersandvisualizeresults.

- RobustoptimizationenginebasedonProcessEcology’sin-housealgorithms

11

Simpleuserinterfaceandworkflows

SoftwareElements12

GraphicalUserInterface

Simulation- calculationengine“Xtrema Engine”

Optimizationalgorithms

p-graphs

Thermodynamics

Mass/Energybalances UnitOperations

Physicalproperties

SystemBoundaryOil

Producedwater

Makeupwater

SkimTank

ORF/IGF

WLS/AF

WAC

OTSG

Disposal

Steam

Blowdownrecycle

BFW

FWKO Treater

Emulsion

13

Modelsonlyasdetailedasnecessary• MassandEnergyBalances• Customizedphaseequilibrium• Reduced“Component”slate(bitumen,diluent,fuel,waterquality)

• Simplemodelsfortreatmenttechnologies• Pumpenergy,chemicalsusageanddisposalcost-simplefunctionsofflowrate

• PiggingfrequencyfunctionofblowdownrecyclerateorinletBFWqualitytoOTSG

14

SurmontTriOpti• Efficientevaluationofnewtechnologies

• Identifynovelopportunitiesandalternativesforopexreduction

• Lesstrialanderrorinsimulations– moreprocessunderstanding

• Platformtosearchforbetterprocesses

15