During a scheduled shutdown on the Goodwyn platform this year, Woodside contracted CETCO Oilfield Services to treat the fluid generated during a flushing operation on the Goodwyn West Alpha condensate (water) stripping column T-100 and, install a permanent CETCO adsorption OIW (Oil in Water) package.
The second platform to be built by the Woodside-operated North West Shelf Venture, the Goodwyn is connected to the condensate-rich Goodwyn gas field near North Rankin and is the single largest offshore oil and gas investment in Australia.
During the shutdown of the Goodwyn platform, the vessel was drained, purged with Nitrogen and then flushed with water which was subsequently drained through the CETCO package, prior to an internal inspection.
A CETCO RFV3000 adsorption skid was utilised to polish the flushing volumes onboard the platform, allowing the effluent to be discharged to the hazardous open drains caisson – avoiding contamination of the drains system and any subsequent issues. CETCO’s RFV3000 skid consists of two sock filter vessels and two adsorption media vessels. During the shutdown operation, the RFV3000 was run in series with the first vessel containing CETCO’s patented CrudeSorb media and the second vessel containing a patented activated carbon mix.
Prior to the shutdown, a permanent CETCO OIW package was also commissioned onboard the Goodwyn and was utilised by the Woodside shutdown team to treat draining volumes from T-200 vessels.
When treating the condensate (water) stripping column on T-100 with the CETCO package, samples were taken at the inlet and outlets of the package to monitor the corrosion inhibitor and OIW levels to establish the effectiveness of the CETCO technology in reducing these levels. Results showed that the CETCO package managed to reduce these levels significantly. The Corrosion inhibitor level averaged 2mg/l on the CETCO outlet and the Oil in Water averaged 0.21mg/L on the outlet and In addition to this accomplishment, the OIW treatment process proved to be very successful by achieving an oil removal efficiency of up to 100% with an overall average efficiency of 96.9%.
Commenting on the success of this project, Matthew Bradnock, CETCO Area Manager and Lead Operator on the project, said:
“The Goodwyn shutdown project was a great success. Both the RFV3000 and permanent OIW package assisted with the shutdown draining operations by removing residual condensate and corrosion inhibitor from the condensate (water) stripping column flushing volumes. This allowed vessel draining to be undertaken without the risk of generating emulsions and recovered oil problems within the drains system which has the potential to cause OIW issues.
“Oleochem Laboratory technician’s were present throughout the operation to conduct ongoing sampling and ensure the Woodside shutdown teams environmental targets were being met prior to discharge from the CETCO package.
“Myself, and the CETCO operators would like to thank all of the crew members of the Goodwyn platform for all their help, assistance and safe working practices throughout the project and in particular, Dave Birney and Simon Rate of Woodside Energy Limited for all their work prior to the shutdown.
“This was our first project in this region and it is encouraging to know that the Woodside Shutdown Team headed by Dave Birney are very pro-active in sourcing improved environmental solutions and looked to CETCO to assist them in the Goodwyn shutdown.”
In addition to the operational success of this project, Woodside’s Operations Superintendent, Don Lupton commented on CETCO’s GWA project manager Matthew Bradnock:
“Matthew is a very good representative for CETCO. He has great product knowledge and goes the extra distance to ensure client satisfaction.”
CETCO Oilfield Services, experts in cost-effective environmental systems and products, specialise in treating completion fluid, acid flowbacks, produced water and the removal of hydrocarbons from wastewater streams so that fluids can be discharged directly into the environment.