Investigation of the effectiveness of an acoustic shelf-type degasser for removing hydrogen sulfide from crude oil during treatment

UDK: 665.62

DOI: 10.24887/0028-2448-2026-7-134-138

Key words: acoustic treatment, hydrogen sulfide, shelf-type degasser, degassing, hydrogen sulfide separation

Authors: A.V. Dengaev (Gubkin University, RF, Moscow); V.E. Katnov (Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, RF, Kazan); R.G. Nurgaliev (RITEK LLC, RF, Volgograd); A.P. Paliy (RITEK LLC, RF, Volgograd); D.A. Volkov (LUKOIL-Engineering LLC, RF, Moscow); A.N. Korol (LUKOIL-Engineering LLC, RF, Moscow); S.A. Trubitsina (Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, RF, Kazan); A.A. Kayumov (Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, RF, Kazan); A.F. Maksimenko (Gubkin University, RF, Moscow); A.V. Vakhin (Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, RF, Kazan)

One of the typical challenges in the development of mature fields is the progressive water cut increase in the production, accompanied by a higher concentration of associated gases, particularly highly toxic and corrosion-active hydrogen sulfide H2S. The presence of dissolved H2S in marketable crude oil creates significant technological, economic, and environmental risks. Due to increasingly stringent quality standards and feedstock transportation requirements, the allowable H2S concentration in crude oil is regulated and must not exceed 20 ppm. Existing degassing methods are often energy-intensive, costly, or insufficiently effective in achieving the target specifications. This creates a need to upgrade the process equipment of oil treatment facilities and to develop new technical solutions. This paper considers a fundamentally new degassing unit for hydrogen-sulfide-containing crude oil based on shelf-type acoustic emitters, which promote the removal of sulfur-containing gas from the bulk oil phase through the action of physical cavitation fields. The main objective of the work was pilot-scale field testing of the developed cavitation-based oil treatment technology for the selective removal of hydrogen sulfide. The studies were carried out directly at an oil production facility of TatRITEKneft Territorial Production Enterprise. The tests confirmed the effectiveness of the technology under actual field operating conditions and demonstrated a high level of crude oil purification from hydrogen sulfide. The use of a physical treatment method, as opposed to chemical scavengers, reduces operating costs and improves the environmental safety of the process.

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