Seven Generations – Karr

Gas Liquids Engineering provided the EPCM services to expand an existing multi-well gas battery site located at Karr in the Kakwa region of North West Alberta. The site which had gas processing facilities and a Condensate Treater was expanded to increase the condensate processing capabilities to 9855 m³/d (62,000 bbl/d). Expansion of the site including the integration and de-bottlenecking of facilities was carried out in multiple stages. The first phase of the expansion was the installation of a 3975 m³/d (25,000 bbl/d) Stabilizer train. As the field condensate production continued to increase, a 7950 m³/d truck-out facilities was designed and constructed to bridge the condensate processing shortfall until a second Stabilizer train could be added. With the addition of the second Stabilizer train, the quality of the condensate RVP, density and moisture content improved eliminating pipeline quality penalties that were previously being incurred. In summary the expansion included:

  • A 3975 m³/d Stabilizer train
  • A ten (10) bay truck loading facility with a capacity to handle 7950 m³/d
  • A second 3975 m³/d Stabilizer train
  • Integration and de-bottlenecking of the Stabilization, gas processing and Condensate Treater facilities

The detailed design features of the expansion, integration and de-bottlenecking included:

Initial Stabilization Train:

  • Stabilizer tower
  • Flooded kettle reboiler
  • Feed drum, shell & tube feed /bottoms exchanger
  • Aerial condensate product cooler
  • Pump surge vessel designed to provide sufficient residence time for 7950 m³/d
  • Natural gas liquids booster and injection pumps
  • Overhead compressor and aerial cooler
  • Gas sweetening unit that treats spikes in hydrogen sulphide content in the Stabilizer Overhead
  • Three phase separator for the Stabilizer Overhead stream
  • Utilities: power generators to generate 4160 V power supply, air compressor package replacement for the entire facility

Truck-out Facilities:

  • 2860 m³/d (18,000 bbl/d) sales and raw condensate tank farm
  • Vapour recovery system
  • Truck-out facilities with the capacity to load 10 trucks and 7950 m³/d of condensate

Second Stabilization Train:

The design of the second Stabilizer was based off of the design of first stabilizer design with some modifications including learnings from the operations of the first Stabilizer. The second Stabilizer train was set-up to operate in parallel with the first train. Some of the existing Stabilizer downstream facilities were integrated and made common to both trains. The design features included:

  • New inlet separator
  • Stabilizer Feed Drum
  • Feed / Bottoms Exchangers
  • Stabilizer Tower with 40 MMbtu/hr Reboiler
  • Condensate Product Cooler
  • Overhead Gas Compression
  • A new flare stack and incinerator
  • One additional power generator

De-Bottlenecking & Facilities Integration:

  • Upgraded the reboiler of the first Stabilizer from 30 MMbtu/hr to 40 MMbtu/hr
  • Replaced the Treater overhead compressor
  • Added NGL product transfer and pipeline injection pumps
    • Two (2) 800 hp 4160 V 9-stage centrifugal pumps c/w VFD & associated MCC
    • Coriolis meter product measurement
  • Integrated:
    • Condensate Surge Vessel and Condensate sales pumps
    • Redundant reboiler as a backup to both Stabilizer trains
    • New low pressure Condensate product transfer pumps
    • Stabilizer overhead systems for both trains and the Treater overhead system
    • New Overhead cooler common to the Stabilizer and the Treater compression systems
    • New 3-phase Separator for the Stabilizer overhead gas system
    • Existing gas sweetening unit to make it available to both Stabilizer trains
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