Alfa Laval, a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling — has won a plate heat exchanger order from a big oil company in Brazil. The order value is approximately USD 19.4 million and delivery is scheduled for 2012.
The Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers will be installed at offshore production platforms where they will be used for heat recovery in the main separation process.
“We have worked with the oil and gas industry in Brazil for over 40 years. During this time we have developed new products and process solutions to meet the heavy demands in deep sea oil production” , says Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group . “This order confirms our ability to supply energy efficient solutions to this market.”
Many of the offshore oil fields outside of Brazil contain heavy crude oil mixed with large amounts of water, which requires a lot of heat when separating the water from the oil. By using Alfa Laval plate heat exchangers, it is possible to recover heat from the process itself to heat up the heavy crude oil, resulting in a very energy efficient solution.
The majority of the remaining oil reserves consists of heavy crude oil, which typically requires more heat in the oil production process than conventional light crude oil.
[mappress] Alfa Laval, March 22, 2012