The Low Fars Heavy Oil (LFHO) development is targeted at a large, heavy oil accumulation of approximately 7 to 15 billion barrels in a desert area of some 1,200 km2 in northern Kuwait.

Phase 1 of the LFHO development will include a 60,000 bopd Central Processing Facility (CPF). The initial development area will comprise north and south regions and will use Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) followed by Steam Flood (SF) for the reservoir development. The development areas will be split into Blocks, with each block having an Infield Satellite Station (ISS) to gather the production and pump the raw fluids to the CPF for treatment. Block 2 and Block 3 will be developed in Phase 1 to sustain the 60,000 bopd production rates.

Mechartes was appointed as a CFD consultant for the project to carry out studies for various tanks, including the LFHO, Skim, Skim Oil, Decant, and Desand Tanks. We utilized CFD analysis to determine the optimal location and orientation of mechanical mixers inside the storage tank to achieve maximum homogeneity.

For the Skim Tank, we conducted a flow analysis to estimate the minimum droplet distribution that can be separated with 90% oil removal efficiency. In the Skim Oil Tank, we estimated the oil concentration at the water outlet and the water concentration at the oil outlet for different droplet diameters. Additionally, we performed a detailed process design for the Decant and Desand Tanks to confirm the required tank size and internals to meet the process objectives.