Concurrent 17. Oral Presentation for: Mercury in natural gas: delivering accurate reservoir sampling and analysis
Janelle Lawer A *A Woodside Energy, Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 63 - https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22430
Published: 2 June 2023
Abstract
Presented on Wednesday 17 May: Session 17
Natural gas is a critical part of the world’s energy supply and plays an important role in the transition to lower-carbon energy sources. The industry’s ability to process natural gas safely and efficiently will continue to rely on an accurate understanding of feed gas composition and contaminants, particularly in enabling future developments via existing infrastructure. Mercury is toxic to organisms, highly volatile and produced from hydrocarbon basins globally. Trace mercury concentrations in the hydrocarbon stream can potentially introduce liquid metal embrittlement hazards to industrial equipment, including cryogenic heat exchangers used to refrigerate liquefied natural gas. Inaccurate measurement of mercury levels can lead to adverse impacts measurable across the areas of health, process safety, environment, operations, waste disposal and decommissioning. Worldwide, significant project cost overruns and processing incidents have resulted from the uncertainty of mercury concentrations in hydrocarbon streams. Successful mercury management ideally begins early in a project’s lifecycle with development decisions informed by accurate measurement of mercury concentrations from reservoirs. Historically, this has been problematic, as mercury contamination and scavenging often result in a large range of uncertainty. The results from a multi-company collaborative study to reduce mercury uncertainty with new downhole sampling techniques will be shared in a case study, including production insights from the Julimar Field, west coast of Australia. The recommendations, procedures and operational best practices discussed will be applicable across the industry and beneficial to any party considering the impact of mercury in the development and processing of natural gas resources.
To access the Oral Presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here
Keywords: background, chamber, cleaning, contamination, downhole, mercury, residual, scavenging.
Janelle Lawer, Wheatstone Technical Lead, Woodside Energy. Janelle Lawer is an oil and gas professional with 20 years of experience working with supermajor and mid-size exploration and production companies in Australia and the USA. She has held roles across the spectrum of geoscience, petrophysics, reservoir engineering and technical asset and joint venture management, with a focus on delivering integrated and collaborative technical solutions. Janelle holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons I) from the University of Queensland, Australia. She is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and will serve as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2023–2024. |
