Static Equipment in Oil & Gas Industry

The majority of mechanical types of equipment found in oil and gas facilities belong to the static equipment group, which comprises pressure vessels, heat exchangers, storage tanks, fired Heaters, pig launchers, etc. In this article, images of some of such static or stationery equipment will be provided mainly to visualize the design guys who have not yet visited an actual working site or construction site.

Horizontal & Vertical Pressure Vessel: A pressure vessel is a container designed to hold fluids, i.e, gases or liquids at a pressure substantially different (higher or lower) from the ambient pressure. Pressure vessels are designed following ASME BPVC codes.

Fig. 1: Horizontal & Vertical Pressure Vessel

Columns: Tall vertical pressure vessels Have internals like trays, packing, distributors, demisters, etc. for separation and other applications.

Fig. 2: Column

Buried/ Mounded Storage Bullets: Bullets are large, high-pressure storage vessels. Generally used for storing LPG / LNG. Buried / Mounded to safeguard against any accident.

Fig. 3: Storage Bullets

Atmospheric Storage Tanks: Large, Atmospheric pressure storage equipment. Depending on the fluid stored, the tank roof design will be of the fixed roof or floating roof type. Click here to learn more about various atmospheric storage tanks.

Fig. 4: Atmospheric Storage Tank

Storage Spherical tanks: Spheres are very large, high-pressure storage equipment. Generally used for storing huge quantities of LPG / LNG / NGL.

Fig. 5: Pressurized Spherical Tank

Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers: Most commonly used heat exchanger. Used for high-pressure, high-duty applications.

READ  Overview of Air Cooled Heat Exchangers

Air Cooled Heat Exchangers: Also called dry-type cooling towers, Air is used as a cooling medium.

Fig. 6: Air Cooled Heat Exchanger

Plate Type Heat Exchangers (Fig. 7): Compact type heat exchanger, Used for medium pressure, high duty applications. Can work with very low approach temperatures.

Fired Heaters (Fig. 7): A fired heater comprises a furnace where the flame impinges directly on the tubes/surfaces containing the fluid to be heated which include process fluid, thermic fluids, air, water, and so on.

The furnace is also called a radiant zone as major heat transfer is by radiation, followed by the convection zone wherein the heat transfer is predominantly by convection.

Fig. 7: Plate Heat Exchanger and Fired Heater

PIG Launchers / Receivers:pig launcher is a device that uses a pressurized container to shoot a cleaning device (“pig”) through the pipeline to perform a variety of functions including cleaning, monitoring, and maintaining the pipe.

Fig. 8: Pig Launcher

Flare Stack and Flare & Knock Out Drum:

Fig. 9: Flare Stack and Knock out Drum

Jet Ejector and Scrubber:

Fig. 10: Jet Ejector and Scrubber

MSV Skid:

Fig. 11: MSV Skid

Wellhead:

Fig. 12: Wellhead

Part of this article is prepared by Mr. Satish Atmanathan, a senior oil, and gas professional with extensive work experience. For a more detailed explanation of all the above parts and visualization, listen directly to him in the following video:

Anup Kumar Dey

I am a Mechanical Engineer turned into a Piping Engineer. Currently, I work in a reputed MNC as a Senior Piping Stress Engineer. I am very much passionate about blogging and always tried to do unique things. This website is my first venture into the world of blogging with the aim of connecting with other piping engineers around the world.

7 thoughts on “Static Equipment in Oil & Gas Industry

  1. You are good writing for oil and gas refinery.so I am special thanks Mr Anup Kumar. You are all statics equipment briefly discussed.

  2. Hi Sir,
    Useful piece of explanation about static equipment, please send us your blog on industrial equipment’s to my mail ID. hums1980@gmail.com

  3. Hey Mr. Anup
    Keep up the excellent work, these collections and descriptions are a great way to get insight appreciate you putting your time and effort into compiling this.

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