What is a process flow diagram in oil and gas?

A process flow diagram (PFD) is a diagram commonly used in chemical and process engineering to indicate the general flow of plant processes and equipment. The PFD displays the relationship between major equipment of a plant facility and does not show minor details such as piping details and designations.

What are the processes for oil and gas formation?

Oil and gas are formed from organic material mainly deposited as sediments on the seabed and then broken down and transformed over millions of years. If there is a suitable combination of source rock, reservoir rock, cap rock and a trap in an area, recoverable oil and gas deposits may be discovered there.

How does a gas processing plant work?

Natural-gas processing plants purify raw natural gas by removing contaminants such as solids, water, carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), mercury and higher molecular mass hydrocarbons. Some of the substances which contaminate natural gas have economic value and are further processed or sold.

What is a process flow chart?

A process flowchart is a diagram that shows the sequential steps of a process and the decisions needed to make the process work. Within the chart/visual representation, every step is indicated by a shape. These shapes are connected by lines and arrows to show the movement and direction of the process.

What is the process of oil production?

The oil production process is extracting the hydrocarbons and separating the mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, gas, water, and solids, removing the elements that are non-saleable, and selling the liquid hydrocarbons and gas.

What are plant products in oil and gas?

Plant products: Natural gas liquids recovered from natural gas processing plants (and in some cases from field facilities), including ethane, propane, butane, butane-propane mixtures, natural gasoline, plant condensate, and lease condensate.

What is condensate in oil and gas?

Condensate is a mixture of light liquid hydrocarbons, similar to a very light (high API) crude oil. It is typically separated out of a natural gas stream at the point of production (field separation) when the temperature and pressure of the gas is dropped to atmospheric conditions.

What is NGL in oil and gas?

Petrochemical Boom In addition to methane, natural gas contains hydrocarbons known as natural gas liquids (NGLs), like ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and pentane. Natural gas processing plants and refineries remove (or condense) NGLs as a liquid from the vaporous natural gas stream.

How does an oil plant work?

Refining turns crude oil into usable products. As the gases move up the height of the column, the gases cool below their boiling point and condense into a liquid. The liquids are then drawn off the distilling column at specific heights to obtain fuels like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel.

What are the three steps used to refine oil?

All refineries have three basic steps: separation, conversion and treatment. During the separation process, the liquids and vapors separate into petroleum components called factions based on their weight and boiling point in distillation units.