PM Lucas, a multidisciplinary integrated engineering and service provider, offers complete E&P engineering solutions from; G&G, reservoir, production, drilling and well intervention to process and surface facility engineering for the oil & gas and related industry.

 

Over the past ten years PM Lucas has been involved in the management and supervision of the drilling of over 1100 oil wells and the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of oil and gas production facilities in the Republic of Kazakhstan and former CIS countries. One such recent project required a complete turn-key nitrogen generation solution. As a preferred supplier for specified equipment packages, Donald Yee, the director, at PM Lucas contacted Boge.

 

Donald Yee explained: “We required a nitrogen generation system for a Greenfield conventional crude oil and gas gathering system located in the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan. In this type of application the nitrogen generator is used to provide an inert gas (nitrogen) blanket to 5 – 100 m³ (by volume) crude oil storage vessels. The vessels are repeatedly filled and then emptied with crude oil and the nitrogen is correspondingly released or pumped into the vessels to fill the vapour space. And for this project, the crude oil is then pumped to a custody transfer measuring station and sold into the Kazakhstan state owned oil pipeline system.”

 

In order to meet the required compressed air and nitrogen generation requirements in the temperature extremes of Kazakhstan, Bill Holder, the projects manager at Boge, recommended housing three Boge S29-2 screw compressors with an air receiver, nitrogen receiver, desiccant dryer and a nitrogen generator in a thermally insulated self-sufficient steel 12 m x 2.5 m x 2.5m container complete with heating and ventilation.

 

Yee commented: “Having worked with Boge in the past we knew they could deliver a high-quality package, they also came in with the best price and delivery time on the equipment. As a result Boge was commissioned to build the nitrogen package.” The nitrogen generator produces nitrogen gas from the compressed air produced by the Boge screw compressors on-demand. This method provides a very reliable, cost-effective and a safe option to the traditional cylinder or liquid nitrogen gas supplies.

 

The elimination of cylinder deliveries also reduces the carbon footprint of the nitrogen generator. Furthermore, the low air consumption makes this method of Nitrogen generation extremely energy efficient. The S29-2 screw compressor forms part of the established and award winning Boge S series screw compressor product range. Including three S29-2 screw compressors into the nitrogen system would ensure that compressed air demand and subsequent Nitrogen volume would be met.

 

Owing to its container design, the nitrogen package is highly flexible and mobile. The entire system was constructed at Boge UK and then delivered to the site in Kazakhstan. All that was required for installation was an electrical connection for power supply. Donald Yee concluded: “We have been very satisfied with Boge on this project. They have been very responsive to our needs.”