Article outline

In today's oil and gas industry, improving the efficiency of wellbore separation is one of the most pressing challenges, requiring a comprehensive approach and advanced technologies. Separation is the process of separating oil, gas, and water, which is carried out at wellbore collection and treatment facilities. The quality of oil treatment, as well as the economic efficiency of the entire production cycle, directly depends on the correct selection of separation parameters - the number of stages and pressure.

Optimizing separation unit parameters allows for an increase in oil yield by several percent, which is critical in today's oil and gas market. Even a modest increase in oil yield leads to a significant increase in company profits and helps reduce the cost of producing one ton of oil. This is especially important in light of growing demands for energy efficiency and environmental safety in production processes.

The subject of this study is the collection and treatment of wellbore products. Primary oil processing is carried out in preliminary water treatment and treatment units, where the oil-water emulsion passes through separators. In separators, pressure is reduced to separate associated petroleum gas, which can be used for various purposes: injection into the reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure, heat and power generation for on-site use, and shipment to gas processing plants for further processing.

Secondary oil processing occurs in integrated oil treatment units, where the water-oil emulsion undergoes additional purification to remove water, salts, and mechanical impurities. Water is separated from oil in special devices called settling tanks, where the difference in density separates the water and oil, ensuring high-quality oil treatment before transportation or processing.

This paper addresses the problem of selecting the optimal separation pressure for an oil and gas field using the Katz method. This method is based on the law of conservation of moles: the number of moles of oil entering the separator is equal to the sum of the moles of separated gas and separated oil. This approach allows for accurate modeling of phase equilibrium and determination of optimal separation process parameters. The field under study is characterized by the presence of low-viscosity gas-saturated oil, which requires multi-stage separation for its effective treatment. This is due to the need to maximize associated petroleum gas recovery and minimize the loss of light oil fractions, which ultimately contributes to increased production efficiency.

The calculations were performed in Microsoft Excel using spreadsheets and the “Solver” tool, which allowed for determining the parameters of the liquid and gas phases. This approach ensures high modeling accuracy and the ability to quickly optimize separation process parameters.

The study resulted in plots of oil yield versus pressure for two-stage and three-stage separation. Analysis of the obtained data showed that a three-stage separation scheme is the most feasible for this field. This solution achieves an optimal balance between process efficiency, economic feasibility, and operating costs, avoiding the excessive capital investment required with a six-stage separation system and the inefficiency of a two-stage scheme. Thus, optimizing the wellbore separation process, taking into account the specifics of the field and using modern calculation methods, can significantly improve oil production efficiency. Using a three-stage separation system for the field under study ensures maximum oil yield at minimal cost, which contributes to increased production profitability and the company's competitiveness in the oil and gas market.

Further research in this area could focus on exploring the feasibility of using alternative separation methods, as well as developing automated process control systems, which will further enhance its efficiency and reliability.