Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

Al Boobaid, M.

Saudi Aramco, Dharan, Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Al Boobaid is a Process Engineer in Saudi Aramco’s process and control systems department/gas processing unit. He has 6 yr of experience in the gas processing industry in gas sweetening, gas and liquid dehydration, gas conditioning and NGL recovery. He earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

HC condensate sphere inlet pipe failure investigation

KELM Engineering LLC: Rinawi, A.
Saudi Aramco: Al Bukhari, A.  |  Al Hajji, M.  |  Al Boobaid, M.

During a normal turnaround and inspection (T&I) of a hydrocarbon sphere, a fatigue failure in the 24-in. inlet pipe riser was discovered. As per the original 2003 design, the sphere serves as a surge tank during pipeline scraping, as well as a backup for a stabilizer during T&I. Each stabilizer has a capacity of 78,000 bpd. However, due to asymmetry in the piping configuration, the sphere typically receives higher flow of 90,000 bpd, with rates sometimes reaching 110,000 bpd as a result of scraping or other activities happening concurrently. The sphere was upgraded to work continuously in 2012 to handle the anticipated additional condensate by adding an overhead gas compressor and a dedicated condensate shipper pump.

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