Electrodialysis Membrane Technology applied to MEG reclamation – a case study
Ben Leitinger A * , Trina Dreher B , Michael Cavill B and Kobe Thys CA Beach Energy Limited, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
B Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, Mount Waverley, Vic., Australia.
C Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, UK.
The APPEA Journal 63 68-82 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22118
Submitted: 8 December 2022 Accepted: 25 January 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
At Beach Energy’s Otway Gas Plant (OGP) the mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) system salt concentration increased significantly following the commissioning of new subsea horizontally completed wells. Therefore, to de-risk future developments, which are anticipated to include similar wells, a salt removal strategy was implemented. The use of MEG for gas hydrate suppression in wet-raw gas subsea or onshore production pipelines is common across the oil and gas industry, with the MEG recycled using well-proven regeneration and/or reclamation technologies. The MEG extracts water that can contain residual salt and minerals, which over time accumulate in the MEG and can lead to several operational issues, including severe fouling in the MEG regeneration plant, production line blockages and production pipeline integrity concerns, such as accelerated corrosion. MEG reclamation is used to minimise salt accumulation and to date, the dominant technologies employed have been vacuum distillation or flash vaporisation. However, since early 2022, electrodialysis (ED) membrane technology has been deployed at the OGP in an effort to find a more cost-effective solution. The technology is proving a viable alternative to a traditional vacuum distillation reclaiming–regeneration process with energy savings of 17–28% for a hybrid ED-Regeneration process with significantly lower capital cost. This paper details the technical and operational challenges overcome to implement the ED reclamation technology in an industry with more stringent regulatory requirements when compared to typical ED applications (e.g. within the water treatment, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries), as well as present the main system performance outcomes following 6 months of operation.
Keywords: ED, electrodialysis, formation water, glycol, ion exchange, MEG, mono-ethylene glycol, reclamation, regeneration, salt removal.
Ben Leitinger is a Chartered Process Engineer with over a decade of experience in the upstream oil and gas Industry in various operations technical support, and now project delivery, roles. Most recently Ben has successfully led, as Project Manager and Process Lead, the application of electrodialysis technology for removal of dissolved salt from mono-ethylene glycol at Beach Energy’s Otway Gas Plant. |
Trina Dreher is a Chemical Engineer with 30 years of experience in operational and research and development projects in the minerals and petroleum industries. For the past 16 years, she has worked for Process Group, Suez and Veolia in various process engineering and technology development roles in the upstream oil and gas sector. In her current role as Senior Technology Leader, Trina focuses on Energy Transition technologies and the implementation of Veolia’s technologies into new markets. Trina received her PhD and BE (Hons) degrees from the University of Melbourne and completed her postdoctoral studies at McGill University, Canada. Trina is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. |
Michael Cavill has over 19 years’ experience in upstream gas processing and produced water treatment design, having worked for Process Group, Suez and Veolia as a Process Design Manager. Michael’s current role as Global Process Leader sees him leading a team of engineers who oversee the concept, detailed design and expansion of Veolia’s portfolio of upstream gas and produced water processing technologies. Michael is a Chartered Professional Engineer with the Institution of Engineers Australia and holds bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and Business Administration from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. |
Kobe Thys graduated in 2007 from the University of Leuven, Belgium, as an Engineer in Materials Science. He started his professional career with Metalogic in the role of Corrosion Engineer, leading corrosion studies for risk-based inspection programs. In 2012, Kobe joined GE (which became Suez then Veolia) in their Belgian laboratory performing failure analyses and membrane application studies, including electrodialysis. Upon moving to the United Kingdom in 2017, Kobe took up the role of Commercial/Process Engineer for electrodialysis applications, and in 2020 he was appointed Lead Process Engineer. Since January 2022, Kobe has held the position of Product Line Director for Veolia’s Ionics brand. |
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