Scale Team

Champion
Technologies

Technical Report

Qatar Petroleum Development

Crude Oil Heat Exchanger
Scale Inhibitor Recommendation

Champion Technologies
Maitlands Quay,
Sinclair Road,
Aberdeen Author : S. Brice/ K Turner
Phone: 01224 - 854 052 Work by : S. Brice
Fax: 01224 - 876 022 Investigation : SOW 2005/15
e-mail: info@champ-tech.com Date : March 2005
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CONTENTS

1.0 SUMMARY

2.0 INTRODUCTION

3.0 SCALE PREDICTIONS

4.0 EXPERIMENTAL
4.1 Dynamic Loop Scale Inhibitor Performance Tests

5.0 RESULTS
5.1 Dynamic Loop Scale Inhibitor Performance Tests

6.0 CONCLUSIONS

7.0 APPENDIX

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1.0 SUMMARY

This report provides a summary of the work done to identify a scale inhibitor for use by
Qatar Petroleum Development (QPD) in the crude oil heat exchangers used in the Arab
C4 and Arab D fields.

• All laboratory testing was carried out using a version of the protocols described in the
Champion Technologies Development Laboratory Instruction (DLI) 10.104. These are
industry standard procedures for assessing the suitability of selected scale inhibitors.

• Scale prediction calculations have been used to identify the main scale types likely to
form and to identify water chemistry for laboratory testing. The calculations show that
CaCO3 and CaSO4 (Anhydrite) the scale types predicted to form, with the main scale type
being CaCO3. The Arab C4 water chemistry was found to exhibit the highest scaling
potential of the two given water chemistries.

• Dynamic scale loop tests were performed under the required conditions. Tests performed
showed that the product Gyptron SA1110-OM was found to inhibit scale formation at a
Minimum Inhibitor Concentration (MIC) of between 5 – 12.5 ppmv.

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

Champion are presently working with QPD, a joint venture between a Japanese
consortium including Cosmo Oil and Qatar Petroleum, to identify product chemical
requirements for a new offshore oilfield development, Al-Karakara Oilfield, just on the
Qatar side of the border with Abu Dhabi.

Initial production start-up is presently scheduled for August 2005. QPD are installing a
crude oil heat exchanger on the crude oil stream between the LP separator and Oil Surge
Drum. Operating conditions in the heat exchanger will have a maximum temperature on
the shell side of the exchanger of up to 356F. It is thought that due to the very high skin
temperature of the exchanger tubes there is a possibility of scale deposition, with severity
depending on the produced water throughput of the vessel.

From information given by QPD it is known that there will be negligible produced water in
the initial field start-up and that initial crude oil production will only be around 10K bbls per
day. It is not thought that there will be an especially severe during the initial start-up,
however there are concerns about scale deposition as the field water cut and production
throughput increases.

QPD have asked Champion Technologies to conduct some initial lab evaluations to
determine whether scale is likely to be a problem in the exchanger and then to provide a
recommendation for a Scale Inhibitor product for use injection upstream of the exchanger
in order to prevent deposition.

The objective of this work is to recommend a product capable of inhibiting scale formation
under the conditions experienced in the crude oil heat exchangers for the Arab C4 and
Arab D fields. In order to select a suitable scale inhibitor, a series of scale predictions and
dynamic scale loop tests were performed under conditions representative of the elevated
temperature found in the crude oil heat exchanger.

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3.0 SCALE PREDICTIONS

Scale prediction calculations were performed to provided two main results: (i) the Saturation
Ratio (SR) - a parameter indicating the thermodynamic driving force for the formation of each
scale type, (ii) the Mass of Precipitate - the mass of each scale that would be required to form
in order to return the system to a non super-saturated condition.

A SR of 1 or more indicates that the water is super-saturated with respect to that scale and
that scale formation is thermodynamically favourable. For CaCO3 scale, the possibility for a
brine to remain supersaturated over short time periods has been documented in a number of
laboratory studies. These experiments suggest that a SR as high as 5 or more can be
present at low temperatures and for short times without scale precipitation. At higher
temperatures, e.g. 150°C (302F) precipitation is typically observed at SR close to 1. For
sulphate scales, e.g. BaSO4, CaSO4 and SrSO4 scale would normally be expected for all SR
> 1.

Scale prediction calculations were performed using the 2 water compositions provided
(Details of the water chemistries used are in given in Appendix, Tables 1 and 2). In both
cases the water chemistries provided were taken from analogous fields. The calculations
were performed in order to determine the scaling tendency of the 2 Formation Waters (FW)
under conditions representative of those found at the crude oil heat exchanger (356F and
73psi). The results of the scale predictions are shown in the Appendix, Table 3.

These predictions suggest that under the conditions found at the crude oil heat exchanger
CaCO3 and CaSO4 (Anhydrite) are both expected to form, with the main scale species being
CaCO3.

From the results of the scale predictions it can be shown that for the Arab C4 FW both the SR
and predicted mass for carbonate scale is high (SR ~ 222, mass = 222 g/m3). The Arab C4
FW was also shown to have a fairly high SR for CaSO4 (Anhydrite), with the predicted mass
being very high (SR ~ 40, mass = 1678 g/m3).

The scale prediction results for the Arab D brine again show a very high SR and predicted
mass for carbonate scale (SR ~222, mass = 307 g/m3). The values for CaSO4 (Anhydrite)

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were shown to be lower than for Arab C4 (SR ~2.9, mass = 226 g/m3), with this indicating a
lower risk for this scale type under these conditions.

From the results of the scale predictions it was determined that the Arab C4 FW exhibited
the highest scaling potential of the two given water chemistries. Based on these results it
was decided that all further test work should be carried out using the Arab C4 water
chemistry.

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4.0 EXPERIMENTAL

4.1 Dynamic loop tests

Dynamic scale loop tests were performed in accordance with Champion Technologies
DLI 10.104. The dynamic scale loop tests were performed under the following sets of
conditions.

• Temperature: 338F
• System pressure 100psi
• pH 7.5
• Coil length: 1m
• Coil I.D.: 1.0 mm
• Flow rate: 10ml/min
• Pass Criteria: < 1psi increase over one hour.
• Test Brine 100% Arab C4

Following each test, the loop was cleaned with 50 ml Champion scale dissolver (SD 132),
50 ml de-ionised water, 50 ml 0.1% acetic acid solution then deionised water until
pH 7 ± 1 was achieved.

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5.0 RESULTS

5.1 Dynamic scale loop tests results

Experimental data obtained for dynamic scale loop tests are presented as Figures 1 and 2.

An initial blank run was performed using the Arab C4 water chemistry in order to determine
the scaling time of the brine. An increase in differential pressure (∆P) consistent with the
formation of scale was seen after ~ 5mins with the ∆P increasing to ~ 3.5 psi after 15mins
(Figure 1). Based on this result a pass criterion of < 1psi increase over one hour was then
set for all further testing.

A second run was then performed with the addition of the Scale Inhibitor Gyptron SA1110-
OM, at a series of requested doses (25,12.5 and 5 ppmv). From the results it can be shown
that both the 25 and 12.5 ppmv doses of SA1110-OM were shown to inhibit scale growth
over a period of one hour. When the dose was lowered to 5 ppmv, scale formation was
found to occur. From these results it can be shown that the Minimum Inhibitor Concentration
(MIC) for the product Gyptron SA1110-OM under the required conditions is between 5 and
12.5 ppmv. (See Figure 2)

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6.0 CONCLUSIONS

• Work has been performed to support the selection of a suitable scale inhibitor for use by
QPD in the crude oil heat exchangers used in the Arab C4 and Arab D fields.

• Scale prediction calculations have been used to identify the main scale types likely to
form and to identify water chemistry for laboratory testing. The calculations show that
CaCO3 and CaSO4 (Anhydrite) the scale types predicted to form, with the main scale type
being CaCO3. The Arab C4 water chemistry was found to exhibit the highest scaling
potential of the two given water chemistries.

• Dynamic scale loop tests were performed using Arab C4 FW under conditions selected to
represent the elevated temperature conditions found at the crude oil heat exchanger.
Tests performed showed that the SI Product SA1110-OM provided effective inhibition at
an MIC of between 5 – 12.5 ppmv.

• On the basis of this testing, the scale inhibitor product Gyptron SA1110-OM is
recommended for use by QPD in the crude oil heat exchangers used in the Arab C4 and
Arab D fields.

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7.0 APPENDICES

Table 1: Arab C4 Water Composition

Table 2: Arab D Water Composition

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Table 3: Scale Prediction Results

FW Temp. Pressure pH CaCO3 CaSO4 (anhydrite) CaSO4 (gypsum)

(F) (psi) (calculated) Max SR Max Mass Max SR Max Mass Max SR Max Mass
3 3 3
(-) (g/m ) (-) (g/m ) (-) (g/m )
Arab C4 356 73 6.63 222 288 39.6 1648 1.68 0
Arab D 356 73 6.72 227 307 2.9 226 <1 -

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Figure 1: QPD Dynamic Loop Tests
100% Arab C4 FW, pH = 7.5, T = 338F, flow rate = 10 ml/min, Pressure = 100psi

5.0

Blank Run

4.0
Differential Pressure (psi)

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (minutes)

Figure 2: QPD Dynamic Loop Tests

100% Arab C4 FW, pH = 7.5, T = 338F, flow rate = 10 ml/min, Pressure = 100psi

5.0
Blank Run
SA1110-OM

4.0
Differential Pressure (psi)

3.0

2.0

25ppmv 12.5ppmv 5ppmv

1.0

0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Time (minutes)

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