At the beginning of 2024, an oil and gas operator in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, encountered a major challenge. Their oilfield’s heating separator, operating in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, suffered from blockages and heating failures. Within less than six months of operation, hydrogen corrosion caused leakage at the vessel’s weld seams. The high water content in crude oil led to a drastic 30% drop in separation efficiency, while frequent repairs resulted in monthly losses exceeding $10,000 for the project.

A Technical Collaboration Spanning 8,000 Kilometers

To seek a solution, the project’s technical team traveled to HC’s manufacturing facility in Jiangsu, China. They provided in-depth details about their core requirements and pressing issues. After analyzing the working conditions—coastal salt fog concentration of 3.5 mg/m³ and hydrogen sulfide content exceeding 300 ppm—our team proposed a series of advanced improvements.

Material Optimization: We selected Q345R steel as the base material for the heating separator. Through a normalizing treatment process, we enhanced its high-temperature strength while maintaining a tensile strength of 345 MPa. Additionally, we reduced welding residuals by 62% to improve durability.

Corrosion Resistance Enhancement: The inner wall of the vessel was coated with a 3mm epoxy resin layer, which passed a 2,000-hour salt spray test without corrosion and can withstand extreme pH conditions ranging from 2 to 12.

HC strictly adheres to ASME standards for design and manufacturing. For welding, we employed submerged arc welding with 100% radiographic inspection, increasing weld integrity from the industry average of 95% to an impressive 99.8%.

Upon completion of manufacturing, we conducted pressure testing at 1.5 times the design pressure (2,160 psi) for 30 minutes, achieving a leakage rate of less than 0.01%.

To enhance user convenience, we also accounted for Nigeria’s unstable power grid by designing the electrical cabinet to tolerate a 30% voltage fluctuation. Additionally, the control interface supports both French and English for seamless operation.

Successful Delivery and Client Satisfaction

Through cross-department collaboration, the heating separator was successfully delivered. The client expressed great satisfaction with the quality and performance of our equipment, stating that the final product far exceeded their expectations. They eagerly anticipate further cooperation with HC in the future.

At HC, we always put our customers first to solve their challenges. We integrate cutting-edge global technologies, respond swiftly to market demands, and provide advanced, reliable, and safe solutions for the oil and gas industry.

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