Process Vessel Corrosion Protection for 3rd Largest Oilfield

The Rumaila oilfield is one of the largest oilfields in the world. Located in Southern Iraq near the Kuwaiti border, it spreads over a 1,800km² area. In 2009, a $15bn service contract was signed for the development of the field. Group of asset owners have taken a leading role in developing Rumaila with the most advanced technologies of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by water injection.

In 2011, FEED work commenced on the Produced Water Re-Injection (PWRI) Project Phase 1. PWRI is an important strategy for deriving value from waste water and is implemented due to increasing discharge treatment costs and the tightening of environmental regulations.

PWRI includes the Integrated Processing Complex (IPC), a central processing facility for oil, gas, condensate and water separation as well as water treatment facilities. Due to the Rumaila field’s substantial size, there will be two water treatment facilities for re-injection, one in the North and one in the South.

New process vessels were required to deliver the IPC package, including: 10 desalters, 10 dehydrators and 20 degassers. They were manufactured in China with the design temperature of 100°C / 212°F and a pressure of 15Bar.

Produced from carbon steel, additional corrosion protection inside these vessels was a must. Inconel 625 cladding was first considered for protecting these newbuild process vessels as a familiar option. However, the client wanted to reduce capital investment cost without compromising on quality. They wanted a reliable process vessel corrosion protection solution, which could be delivered in any part of the world.

Between 1996 and 2014, over 830 newbuild process vessels around the world have been protected with a Belzona vessel lining.

Our largest single process vessel corrosion protection project to date consisted of protecting 143 pressure vessels operating at the oil and gas field off the north east coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf. Click the button below to view a brochure outlining Belzona experience with Greenfield Oil and Gas Projects.

For these 40 newbuild vessels, Belzona lining was ultimately found to be the most cost-effective process vessels corrosion protection solution. Based on the temperatures, pressures, type of media and preferred application method (hand-applied), Belzona 1391T was chosen alongside inserts manufactured from Belzona 1111 (Super Metal) for small bore nozzle protection. More than 870 nozzle inserts were required.

Process vessel shells were protected with a two-coat Belzona 1391T vessel lining system. Small bore nozzles were fully protected by bonding in preformed Belzona 1111 nozzle inserts. All vessels were coated at the fabricator yards in China before shipment and installation on site.