Plug & Play nitrogen installation for the Petrogas offshore platform Helder
In the first quarter of 2020, BOGE Compressors Netherlands were allowed to develop an easily transportable Plug & Play nitrogen installation for one of the offshore platforms of Petrogas. This installation ensures that the Petrogas platform Helder is always supplied with sufficient nitrogen and that a potential explosion hazard is prevented.
Petrogas E&P is an internationally operating organisation for the exploration and production of oil and gas. The organisation is driven by a technical and operational policy and strives to manage its activities in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. At Petrogas, they believe in conducting all activities in an efficient, profitable and above all ethical way, based on the core company values. The Dutch branch of Petrogas (Petrogas E&P Netherlands has been located in Rijswijk since 2015. The company has eight oil and gas platforms and employs approximately 150 people in the Netherlands, 100 of which are onshore and 50 offshore.
For the offshore platform Helder, BOGE was able to design a Plug & Play nitrogen installation. Oil is produced on the platform where the installation is placed. The produced oil is treated in separators before the oil is pumped ashore. Water is separated from the oil in the separators. In the past, natural gas was used as blanketing gas in the water treatment plant. Blanketing gas is used to prevent oxygen from the air entering the water treatment plant and possibly causing an explosion. When the pressure in the water treatment installation increases, methane is emitted to the atmosphere.
This emission of methane to the atmosphere is no longer permitted by the Dutch government and it has therefore been decided to replace natural gas with nitrogen. The required nitrogen on the Helder platform in the North Sea is produced by the BOGE nitrogen production installation. In addition to the desired nitrogen installation, an important topic for this project was the ability to ‘easily’ transport the installation to its actual destination in the North Sea. A special hoisting frame designed by BOGE ensured that transport by land and sea was carried out smoothly and safely.
The desired nitrogen for Petrogas is made by a special BOGE membrane generator N48-M. This is a complete generator to which a regular oil-lubricated compressor can be directly connected, without conditioning. An S 150-3 screw compressor was chosen for this project. All necessary filters are incorporated in the generator unit. The generator is also equipped with its own control unit and various sensors to ensure that the customer is always supplied with high quality nitrogen. A major advantage of this installation is that a large amount of nitrogen can be continuously produced on site (350 Nm3 / h at 95% purity) with a low dew point.
In order to also carry out maintenance on the offshore platforms, BOGE has offshore certified personnel. In addition to the company being certified following ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 150001, the compay also has technicians available who can be deployed for offshore projects such as at Petrogas. The staff is trained to deal with the situations that apply to these projects when working in the right way