Gas Dehydration
Natural gas contains water vapor that cannot be removed with separators or filters. This water vapor can condense and turn to liquid water, which can corrode or block downstream pipelines and equipment.
Valerus offers a range of gas dehydration equipment used for extracting water vapor from natural gas.
- Dry desiccant systems: Valerus provides systems for dehydrating natural gas using solid desiccants. These systems are suitable for small flows of natural gas.
- Glycol dehydration systems: Valerus designs and manufactures a range of dehydration systems that use triethylene glycol (TEG), a regenerable liquid hydroscopic solvent, to remove water vapor from natural gas. These systems are suitable for moderate to very large flow rates of natural gas.
- Glycol regenerators: Regenerators are used to reconcentrate or regenerate TEG by heating and driving off absorbed water so that the TEG can be reused for natural gas dehydration. Valerus offers standard designs with heat rates ranging from 125,000 btu/hr to 2,000,000 btu/hr.
- BTEX control systems: Along with water vapor, TEG can absorb volatile hydrocarbons from the natural gas. These volatiles are released during the regeneration process, and BTEX control systems are used to condense and capture these hydrocarbon vapors for safe disposal.
- Absorbers: Valerus offers a wide range of absorbers (contactors) that are used to contact natural gas with TEG to remove water vapor from the gas.
- Packed absorbers are process towers that include a structured packing that provides a large surface area for efficient contact of TEG and natural gas.
- Trayed absorbers are process towers that use cascaded bubble cap trays to bring TEG into contact with natural gas.
- ET (enhanced treating) absorbers include a two-stage process for contacting TEG and natural gas. Gas first bubbles through a flooded section of the tower, then enters the top of the tower where a concentrated spray of TEG provides efficient transfer of water vapor from gas to TEG. TEG absorbers are compact and efficient alternatives to tall packed or trayed absorbers.
