Vintage Petroleum, LLC, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation operates oil and gas fields in Lost Hills, California, northwest of Bakersfield. The fields operate steam boilers that use nearby canal water. High concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the canal water caused excessive corrosion in the boilers.
Vintage was looking for an effective means to reduce oxygen content in the canal water to prolong boiler life and reduce maintenance costs.
The customer selected Envitech to design and build two stripper towers. The towers use high pressure natural gas to strip oxygen from the canal water. The water is pumped 1,000 feet from the canal to the tower locations. After stripping to remove oxygen, the water is pumped to an existing fresh water tank.
The vessels are constructed of carbon steel with a 3/16 inch corrosion allowance and painted internally and externally. The
vessels are fabricated in accordance with ASME Code Section VIII Division I requirements and stamped. The maximum vessel design working pressure is 100 psig at a maximum design temperature of 300 °F and also designed for half vacuum.
The lower vessels are 6 feet in diameter. The upper packed bed sections are 4 feet in diameter. The overall vessel height is 27 feet.
The first system was installed in 2013. The second system was installed in 2014. Both systems are operational and the facility reports success in prolonging boiler life. Designed to the parameters summarized in the adjacent table, the stripping towers resulted in an innovative process solution to solve a unique operational problem.
- Gas flow rate, mscfd: 328
- Water flow rate, gpm: 450
- Operating temperature, oF: 60 to 120
- Operating pressure, psig: 40
- Oxygen content of in stripping gas, ppm: 70
- Dissolved oxygen content in canal water, mg/L: 9
- Dissolved oxygen removal: > 90%
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