Gas Oil Separation Plant
Encyclopedia
Gas Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) is a type of plant used primarily in the oil industry. The plant processes crude oil from the well head and separates gases
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 and contaminants from the crude for reasons of safety, economy, and environmental protection. This makes the crude economically viable for storage, processing and export.

Produced crude oil is sent to a GOSP to be divided into oil and associated gases, which are then streamed to oil refineries and gas processing plants
Natural gas processing
Natural-gas processing is a complex industrial process designed to clean raw natural gas by separating impurities and various non-methane hydrocarbons and fluids to produce what is known as pipeline quality dry natural gas.-Background:...

 respectively. The products of these plants are then sent for supply and distribution.

Pressure

The raw crude often leaves the well head under very high pressure. Production pressures of greater than 3000 pounds per square inch
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...

 have been encountered in some fields. The high pressure makes transportation and storage difficult and dangerous.

Contaminants

Produced crude oil leaving the well head is both sour (contains hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...

 gas) and wet (contains water). The crude leaving the well head must be processed and treated to make it safe, environmentally acceptable, and economically viable for storage, processing and export.

Phase separation

It is often appropriate to separate gases and liquids for separate use. This also involves the separation of oily and water liquid phases.

Gas recovery

It is not appropriate to burn off the gases associated with crude oil. There are also economic reasons for processing and treating the produced crude. Recovering associated gases prevents wasting a natural resource, which was originally flared off
Gas flare
A gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying the presence of oil wells, gas wells, rigs, refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, and landfills....

.

Corrosion

There are also other economic reasons for GOSP. Removing contaminants from the crude, such as salt
Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

 and hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...

, protects the plant from corrosion
Corrosion
Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

damage. The initial processing of produced crude oil in a GOSP is also required to meet specifications of the crude for export and oil refining.

External links

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