Magnetic Separation Technology saves $390k a year

Midstream Operator – Coyanosa Texas, Mar 2022

Problem

The operator identified high levels of black powder contamination in their condensate production. The contamination was reducing the quality and sale price of the condensate along with increased costs from conventional filter change-outs and shutdowns.

The conventional filters were ineffective in removing nano-size particles of black powder contamination from the condensate and required replacement four to five times on the worst days and as few as three to four times a week (48 to 80 filters monthly), costing $500 per filter.

Solution

The customer installed a BPS magnetic separator in line before the traditional filter skid to improve the quality of the condensate and reduce the consumption and negative environmental impact of the single-use filters.

Results

The BPS magnetic separator cleaned the black powder contamination from the condensate down to and below 1μ in size with high efficiency (see analysis).

Significant Benefits:

Improved quality resulted in higher revenue
Reduced consumption and costly disposal of filters, unlocking savings of up to $390,000 yearly on average.
Reduced erosion of pipelines, meters and pumps.

ESG benefits:

Reduced coalescer element consumption and disposal
Improved environmental footprint
Reduced opportunity for injury

*Figure-1: A BPS Magnetic Separator Element with 5+ lbs of black powder contamination after 7 days running on the condensate system*

Analysis Results

BPS had SEMx, a third-party lab, to complete EDS, PSD, and XRD tests on the solids captured on the Magnetic Separator Element (MSE).

EDS and XRD Analysis

XRD is used to identify the crystalline compounds found within the contamination. The results are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 : Results of XRD Analysis

Mineral Name	Chem. Formula	Weight %
Greigite	𝐹𝑒3𝑆4	38.8
Mackinawite	𝐹𝑒𝑆	45.7
Magnetite	𝐹𝑒3𝑂4	0.3
Wüstite	𝐹𝑒0.950𝑂	4.8
Calcium Aluminum Silicate	𝐶𝑎2.75 𝐴𝑙5.5 𝑆𝑖18.5 𝑂48	3.7
Iron Sulfate Hydroxide	𝐹𝑒1.5(𝑆𝑂4)𝑂𝐻	2.9
Manganese Sulfide	𝑀𝑛𝑆	0.8
Siderite	𝐹𝑒𝐶𝑂3	2.9

PSD Analysis Results

PSD analysis determines the sizes of particles within a solid’s contamination. Figure 2. illustrates the particle size distribution of contamination found within the sample. The analysis determined that 47% of the particles were below 4 microns in size and 22% were less than one micron.

Figure 2: Particle Size Distribution for Solids Contamination