What is the main scope of the first thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in the Middle East and what are the technologies involved?
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the largest producer of oil and gas in Oman, partnered with GlassPoint to build the Middle East’s first EOR project. GlassPoint’s Enclosed Trough technology was selected because of its protective glasshouse structure and streamlined oilfield integration. This technology takes proven concentrated solar power trough designs and pairs them with an agricultural glasshouse, making a system uniquely suited for desert oilfield applications. The 7 MW system is now in daily operation, generating an average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam per day that feeds directly into existing thermal EOR operations at PDO’s Amal West oil field.
Was “cutting-edge technology” used in the development of the project?
The Enclosed Trough architecture is an innovative approach to concentrated solar power. The system uses traditional agricultural glasshouses to protect solar collectors in a sealed environment, free of dust, dirt, sand, and humidity. By shielding the solar collectors from the elements, low-cost, lightweight materials can be used. The system generates steam by using ultra-lightweight curved mirrors. These aluminum mirrors move throughout the day, tracking the sun and focusing light on stationary receiver tubes. The high-intensity light heats the water in the receiver tubes to generate high-pressure steam for EOR.
The maintenance of solar panels in the region is expensive because of the dust. How did you manage this problem?
The technology’s architecture reduces maintenance cost by protecting the solar collectors from the harsh oilfield environment. We further reduce cost by using an automated robotic washing system, which eliminates the need for manual cleaning and minimizes water use, recapturing nearly 90% of the wash water.
What are the major challenges you faced during the execution of the project? How did you manage them?
Building anything in a remote desert location is a challenge. You must construct an entire work camp and bring all your materials in from a great distance. You cannot afford to forget a screwdriver, because it might cost you days of work. Extreme heat during the day means that workers are often building during twilight or dark conditions, when temperatures are less dangerous. We overcame these challenges by meticulously managing every detail of the building process. We designed our system to be easy to assemble, so it was a matter of being organized and making sure we had all the materials we needed on hand.
As our portion of the project was installing the solar EOR facility, the only portion that could have posed a difficulty from an E&P standpoint would have been integrating into existing oilfield technology. When designing the system, we took a traditional oilfield steam generator and conceptually dismantled it to see how much of it we could keep. We kept the pumps, valves, tanks, sensors, and control system already in use, so the vast majority was the same. By using much of the same equipment already familiar to oilfield operators, we made integration simple.
What are the key lessons learned from developing the project?
We now have our installation process down to a science and it is designed to replicate easily at a large scale. We have learned how to work with local Omanis successfully and know great value that local contractors can bring to a project. In the future, we would be able to use many of the same local contractors we have already trained and can bring this technology to scale at higher rates of efficiency.
The shortage of technical talent is a concern for many in the industry. Is this a challenge that your company is facing?
Although a shortage of technical talent is a very real problem for the industry as a whole, we have been very fortunate to work with PDO, which is at the forefront in EOR. This level of expertise made PDO the ideal partner to help us launch this new technology and prove its value in oilfield applications.
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and GlassPoint Solar commissioned the Middle East’s first solar enhanced oil recovery project at PDO’s Amal West field in southern Oman in May.
PDO is attempting to extend the life of its heavy oil assets by deploying innovative EOR technologies. This project can reliably fuel thermal EOR with solar power while reducing the burning of natural gas. This is helping develop Oman’s heavy oil while saving natural gas for use in other gas applications, such as power generation and industrial use. The project will serve as a prototype for future solar generation projects in Oman.
Construction on the project began in January 2012 and was finished in December of the same year.
| Rod MacGregor is chief executive officer and president of GlassPoint Solar. An entrepreneur, he has than 20 years of experience operating companies in China, Europe, and the United States. His first company, Insignia Solutions, received the Queen of England’s award for technical achievement and the Queen’s award for export achievement. MacGregor earned a BSc degree from the University of Glasgow. |