XEBEC FAST-CYCLE PSA GOES OFF-SHORE TO SUCCESSFULLY RECOVER STRANDED GAS0 pages

XEBEC FAST-CYCLE PSA GOES OFF-SHORE
TO SUCCESSFULLY RECOVER STRANDED GAS
Case Study: Off-Shore Platform Uses Fast-Cycle PSA to Recover Stranded Gas
Venoco Inc.
Situation: Restricted space and limited on-board gas processing
solutions forced oil producer on off-shore platform to re-inject highcarbon dioxide laden associated gas
Solution: Installation of a Xebec PSA to dehydrate and separate CO2
& heavy light hydrocarbons in the associated gas to meet California
regulatory sales gas specification.
Benefits: Xebec PSA provides a cost effective solution within
available platform space
Location: Santa Barbara Channel, California

Xebec’s compact M-3100, fast cycle PSA was the perfect footprint
for the off-shore Platform Gail in Santa Barbara

Stranded off-shore gas opportunities are
difficult to realize:
Stranded off-shore gas opportunities are difficult to realize:
Off-Shore Platform Gail, located in the Santa Barbara Channel,
could not sell its produced associated gas due to the strict sales
specifications on both carbon dioxide and ethane levels. As a
result, operators on Platform Gail could only re-inject over 500
MMscfy of associated gas back into the wells. The loss of revenue
to Venoco Inc. – the owner of Platform Gail – totaled tens of millions
of dollars per year. Venoco researched various treatment methods
to solve this processing dilemma. However, the resultant designs
would have required increases to platform decking, superstructure
and electrical demand making the entire project economically
unfeasible.

XEBEC’s Design
XEBEC engineers approached Venoco with a design incorporating
the use of XEBEC’s Fast-Cycle Pressure-Swing Adsorption (PSA)
unit. On-shore, pressure-swing adsorption technology would have
been an obvious solution to Platform Gail’s gas treating needs.
However, conventional PSA units are generally cumbersome,
difficult-to-operate, and require a large footprint. XEBEC’s FastCycle PSA, however, incorporates the use of a rotary valve to
replace the multitudes of valves found on conventional PSA
technologies, and therefore, occupied a space no larger than
18 ft(L) X 8 ft(W) X 9 ft(H). In addition, as the entire treatment
unit was contained in one small and easy-to-work-with skid,
transportation effort from the dock to the platform, and crane lift
time were all minimized.

XEBEC ADSORPTION INC. | 730 Boul. Industriel, Blainville, Quebec, J7C 3V4 Canada
Toll Free: 1-877-88-XEBEC | Phone: (450) 979-8700 | Fax: (450) 979-7869 | Website: www.xebecinc.com | Email: associatedgas@xebecinc.com