Absrract
Saudi Aramco’s seawater system is the largest in the world, covering a wide area, from the Qurayyah Seawater Plant (QSWP) on the Arabian Gulf to the Ghawar field, with a total length of 1900 kilometers of cross-country pipelines, ranging in size from 6 in. to 60 in. The main purpose of the system is to treat and transfer seawater to maintain reservoir pressure. The system’s design capacity is 12.5 million barrels of treated seawater per day.
Microbial growth in the water injection system is a well-known problem with severe operational and financial consequences for the petroleum industry, including microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), reduced injectivity, reservoir plugging, production downtime, and extensive repair costs. Therefore, monitoring of system microbiology is essential in any mitigation strategy, enabling operators to apply and adjust countermeasures properly and in due time. To overcome the MIC challenges, Saudi Aramco, in collaboration with international company, has developed an Autonomous Microbe Sensor (AMS) technology (Bacteria Sensor) to detect & measure in real-time & on-line the bacteria counts in sea water injection system. AMS that is based on advanced staining of bacterial DNA, will provide bacterial results to operators within 1 hour. The technology will help in optimizing the biocide chemical consumption and ensuring adequate microbial control in the complex, Sea Water Injection System (SWIS). Thus, ensuring pipelines reliability and integrity.
