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Gas Dehydration
www.GasDehydration.com

What is Gas Dehydration?

Gas dehydration is used in the production and processing of natural gas by using either a liquid desiccant (or a dry desiccant in desiccant dehydration) that removes water from natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the natural gas treating process.  This also makes the gas "pipeline quality gas" which can then be sold to a natural gas pipeline company.

What are Amine Plants?

Amine plants are used for "gas sweetening" in the midstream oil and gas sector known as "gas processing." 

Amine plants provide H2S removal as well as CO2 removal from natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The process involves both absorption and chemical reactions. 

What is Amine?

Amine, is the shortened form of " Mono Ethanol Amine" or MEA.  MEA removes H2S or acid gases through a chemical reaction with hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide which forms a salt compound (see Gas Sweetening diagram below). 

When the MEA has absorbed the H2S ( and carbon dioxide) it is referred to as " rich" MEA. 

When the acid gases have been removed from the mono ethanol amine it's called lean MEA.

What is a "Cryogenic Plant"?

A cryogenic plant is another term for a "gas processing plant." 

Gas processing plants produce natural gas liquids products, including ethane, at very low or "cryogenic" operating temperatures.

What is Flare Gas Recovery?

Flare Gas Recovery, Waste to Fuel and Vapor Recovery Units recover valuable "waste" or vented fuels such as Biomethane that can be used to provide fuel for an onsite power generation plant.  

Flare Gas Recovery, Waste to Fuel and Vapor Recovery Units can be located in hundreds of applications and locations.  At a Wastewaster Treatment System (or Publicly Owned Treatment Works - "POTW") gases from the facility can be captured from the anaerobic digesters, and manifolded/piped to one of our onsite power generation plants, and make, essentially, "free" electricity for your facility's use.  These associated "biogases" that are  generated from municipally owned landfills or wastewater treatment plants have low btu content or heating values, ranging around 550-650 btu's.  This makes them unsuitable for use in natural gas applications. When burned as fuel to generate electricity, however, these gases become a valuable source of "renewable" power and energy for the facility's use or resale to the electric grid. 

Additionally, if heat (steam and/or hot water) is required, we will incorporate our cogeneration or trigeneration system into the project and provide some, or all, of your hot water/steam requirements. Similarly, at crude oil refineries, gas processing plants, exploration and production sites, and gasoline storage/tank farm site, we convert your facility's "waste fuel" and environmental liabilities into profitable, environmentally-friendly solutions.

What are Gas Compressors?

Gas compressors are mechanical device that increase the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. Gas compressors are responsible for moving the natural gas from the oil or natural gas production well to homes and businesses via natural gas pipelines and gas compression stations.

Gas compressionalso increases the temperature of the gas during compression.

What is Gas Processing?

Natural Gas Processing plants separate the various hydrocarbons and natural gas liquids from the pure natural gas (methane or CH4) to produce what is known as 'pipeline quality'  natural gas. Natural gas pipeline companies have requirements on natural gas they buy from producers which is why the natural gas processing plants are located where they are, and why they separate the ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes from the methane. Natural gas liquids or NGLs include ethane, propane, butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline.

What is Gas Sweetening?

Sulfur exists in natural gas and is known as hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  Natural gas is usually considered "sour" if hydrogen sulfides content exceeds 5.7 milligrams of H2S per cubic meter of natural gas. The process hydrogen sulfide removal from sour gas is commonly referred to as "gas sweetening."

The primary process for sweetening sour natural gas is quite similar to the processes of glycol dehydration and NGL absorption. In this case, however, amine solutions are used to remove the hydrogen sulfide. This process is known simply as the 'amine process', or alternatively as the Girdler process, and is used in 95 percent of U.S. gas sweetening operations. The sour gas is run through a tower, which contains the amine solution. This solution has an affinity for sulfur, and absorbs it much like glycol absorbing water. There are two principle amine solutions used, monoethanolamine (MEA) and diethanolamine (DEA). Either of these compounds, in liquid form, will absorb sulfur compounds from natural gas as it passes through. The effluent gas is virtually free of sulfur compounds, and thus loses its sour gas status. Like the process for NGL extraction and glycol dehydration, the amine solution used can be regenerated (that is, the absorbed sulfur is removed), allowing it to be reused to treat more sour gas.

Although most sour gas sweetening involves the amine absorption process, it is also possible to use solid desiccants like iron sponges to remove the sulfide and carbon dioxide.

Sulfur can be sold and used if reduced to its elemental form. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow powder like material, and can often be seen in large piles near gas treatment plants, as is shown. In order to recover elemental sulfur from the gas processing plant, the sulfur containing discharge from a gas sweetening process must be further treated. The process used to recover sulfur is known as the Claus process, and involves using thermal and catalytic reactions to extract the elemental sulfur from the hydrogen sulfide solution. 

What is Glycol Dehydration?

Glycol dehydration is used in the production and processing of natural gas by using a liquid desiccant that removes water from natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL). 

Various types of glycols are used in this process including;

• triethylene glycol (TEG)

• diethylene glycol (DEG)

• ethylene glycol (MEG)

• tetraethylene glycol (TREG). 

TEG is the most commonly used glycol in the natural gas industry.

What is H2S Removal?

H2S, or Hydrogen Sulfide, is a hazardous and corrosive element found in oil and natural gas which needs to be removed from the hydrocarbon before the oil or natural gas can be sold.  The hydrogen sulfides are usually removed in a mid-stream gas processing facility by either iron sponges or amine plants.

What is a Heater Treater?

A "Heater Treater" is used in the oil and gas production process and is used to removes water and gas from the produced oil - and to improve its quality for sale into a crude oil pipeline or for other transport. A heater treater typically combines the following components inside the heater treater:  a heater, free-water knockout, and oil and gas separator.

What is Natural Gas Treating?

As natural gas is produced from either a natural gas well, or from an oilwell which contains "associated gas," the natural gas must be treated or processed before it can be sold/injected as "pipeline quality gas" and then be used at a home or business as a fuel.

Natural gas treating or processing, takes place at gas processing plants to remove the impurities and other hydrocarbons other than the methane itself, or CH4. 

The by-products and impurities of natural gas that must be treated or processed include; ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, isopentane and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, as well as H2S or elemental sulfur, carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor and sometimes helium and nitrogen.

What is "NGL Fractionation"?

Natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation plants separate the mixed natural gas liquids stream into separated products. These natural gas liquids that are separated by heat at NGL Fractionation plants include; ethane, propane, normal butane, isobutane and natural gasoline.