KOC and Engineering Activities - Report Example

PRACTICUM REPORT Table of contents 1.0 Introduction 3 1.1 Production 4 1.1.1Oil operation facilities 5 1.1.2 Gas operation facilities 6 1.2 Benefits to the intern 7 1.3 Learning outcomes 9 References 10 1.0 Introduction The year 1994 saw the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) being established by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company whose current name is British petroleum and Gulf Oil Corporation famously referred to as Chevron. KOC engages in the extraction of crude oil through drilling of wells with the option of shipping the crude oil to foreign countries or the crude oil being transferred to Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) where the crude oil is to undergo treatment to produce Gas, Gasoline, and Kerosene. Some of the major activities that KOC is involved in include exploration, surveying both onshore and off shore, test well drilling and establishment producing wells on top of the exploration of crude oil and natural gas. The Gulf war was one of the events that had a lot of devastating effects on KOC facilities. But just a few month after Kuwait being liberated in 1991 the production of oil gradually returned to normalcy. In 2005 there was exposure of Sabriya Field which was rich in super light crude oil and the exposure of API 52 crude oil was a big milestone for KOC with regards to their exploration abilities (Brief History of Kuwait Oil Company, 2012). This report looks at various activities which are biased towards engineering and which are of interest to students on attachment. 1.1 Production KOC is involved in production and exportation of oil and gas and this involves the use of related facilities in 12 developed oil fields the state of Kuwait. The oilfields are spread all over the country and are classified into North Field, West Field, South and East Field each of them being under regulation of a site base camp. The KOC facilities are compost of the oil operation facilities and the gas operation facilities. 1.1.1Oil operation facilities The facilities under oil operation facilities are Oil well heads Oil flow lines and corridors Gathering centres Oil wellheads The construction of most of the oilfields is such that they are double completed and have parallel springs. There are about 15 well head structures types that have been introduced to the oilfields with weight appraisals being varied. Oil flow lines & corridors In KOC we have there are multi-phase pipelines which facilitate the transmission of well production outputs to the Gathering centres so that three phases (oil, gas and water) are separated . Gathering centre Currently there are 21 gathering centres which are operational at KOC. The GCs take the role of stabilizing the crude oil through multi-stage adjustment process with gas and water being operated from the crude oil so as to be able to meet the quality requirement expected at the subsequent stages. 1.1.2 Gas operation facilities The gas operation facilities are compost of the Gas systems and function; and booster stations Gas systems and functions The gas systems involves the high pressure (HP) and the low pressure (LP) separation of gases and thereafter being transmitted to the booster stations where there is further compression in readiness for further transmission. The HP (High Pressure) and LP (Low Pressure) separated gases from the Gathering Centres are transmitted to the Booster Stations via respective of HP and LP gas systems. At the Booster Stations, the HP and LP gasses are compacted for further transmission to the LPG Plant. The condensate recovered from the packed and cooled gasses in the Booster Stations is dehydrated and steered to the LPG Plant through devoted pipelines. Tank Vapours (TV) is privately compacted at the GCs by the Tank Vapour Compressor (TVC). The gas produced at West Kuwait is generally sour (20,000 to 30,000 ppm H2S), consequently after its compression and dehydration at nearby stations is initially transported to the current KNPC's Acid Gas Removal Plant (AGRP) for sweetening before being sent to LPG Plant (Exploration, 2012). Both Gas and Condensate pipelines are equipped with Pig Launchers and Receivers to facilitate pigging and cleaning of the lines. Booster stations These are components of an oil field facility whose purpose is to see full utilization of separated gases from GC that had been previously been squandered to flare. Basically in a booster station there is reception of the gas from different GC and then compresses it, and then there is separation of condensate from gas stream, dehydration of both the compressed gas and the condensate. The condensate from GC is also received and dehydrated. The compressed gas and condensate then separately transmitted via pipelines to Mina Al –Ahmadi LPG facility at which point the transmitted products are processed so that there is recovery of Gasoline and LPG ready for exportation. After being processed at the LPG facility, the effluent gas popularly known as lean gas is transmitted as fuel gas to industrial stations in Kuwait with the excess being utilized in fueling the oilfields GSs or will be flared in dedicated excess flares (Production , 2012). 1.2 Benefits to the intern Having an industrial attachment at KOC is of great benefit to an engineering student for current academic purpose as well as for development of their careers as engineers. This is especially so bearing in mind that knowing how to relate to partners at work environment is of crucial importance when it comes to an engineering profession. Through the attachment at KOC the student was presented a chance of figuring out how to relate with people at work environment and these enhanced the ability of the student to cooperate at work setting. The attachment was a good learning avenue with regards to best practices and techniques concerned to safety issues. Safety in a major concern in any industry but in an oil facility this is even more important. Due to the safety concern at the facility, the safety practices and procedures are pinched so as to avoid the possibility of any catastrophic accidents occurring. Having an attachment at KOC gives one a chance of thinking like an engineer with safety occupying a central position where procedures of protecting the pipelines from corrosion attack being focused on as the major transportation of crude oil is through pipeline transportation. The students learned the various techniques that are available for inspection if there are cracks in pipes before reaching a dangerous magnitude and here focus was on techniques like magnetic testing and liquid penetrant tests. These clearly shows that the attachment is a perfect avenue for the student acquiring a practical knowledge and skills with regards to maintenance and engineering field as a whole and more so in the field of chemical engineering. The teamwork skills gained during the period of attachment can also go unmentioned. 1.3 Learning outcomes Looking back it come to a realization that the selection of KOC for attachment was an informed decision. Through being an attaché at KOC the collaboration skills of the student enhanced with an engineering workplace set being experienced firsthand. The attachment gave the chance of learning to relate with partners, skills on resolution of conflicts and about leadership command chain works at work environment. Learning more on Health Safety and Environment (HSE) came in handy during the attachment. This knowledge is vital for me when it will come of the stage of being a graduate engineer. The attachment provided a chance of learning new maintenance techniques as well as the development of maintenance programs and schedules. Performance of different tests was learned in the inspection of substation segments, and here emphasis is on corrosion. With all the pipeline being prone to corrosion, it means that the abilities and information that is picked up with regards to inspection of the cracks in the pipeline is a very essential technique at KOC and similar set up. References Knpc.com.kw, (2014c). Major Environmental Projects. [Online] Available at: http://www.knpc.com.kw/en/HSE/Pages/hsepro.aspx [Accessed 20 Sep. 2016]. AHistory of KOC available at https://www.kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/History/SignificantDates.aspx Drilling . (2012). Retrieved from kockw: https://www.kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/Operations/Drilling.aspx Exploration. (2012). Retrieved from kockw: https://www.kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/Operations/Exploration.aspx Production . (2012). Retrieved from kockw: https://www.kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/Operations/Production.aspx Read More