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Title: Natural Gas Dehydration
Author: Matthew E. Vavro
Source: 2005 Appalachian Gas Measurement Short Course
Year Published: 2005
Abstract: The key to effectively drying natural gas is planning and proper design. With increasingly stringent environmental concerns, dry bed desiccants are gaining rapid acceptance over traditional methods such as triethylene glycol. By properly selecting the correct desiccant, and operating the system in a way that is conducive to effective dehydration, costs can be kept to a minimum. Engineering support, coupled with adequate product choices, has dramatically reduced dehydration costs. Proper design of the entire system is probably the single largest cost saver. Historically, gas dehydration equipment has been non-integrated, with parts being purchased separately and assembled in the field, without considering how the plumbing, vessels, and desiccants work together. Our new approach offers an integrated system, where plumbing, gas flow, dryer design, and desiccant performance are all considered. Additionally, new technology has enabled us to dry gas at nearly two linear feet per second, compared with traditional velocities of 0.5 - 0.75 ft/s, while at the same time greatly increasing the amount of water removed per pound of desiccant (referred to as dilution rate). The benefit to the operator is that vessels can be smaller, thereby reducing equipment costs. Consequently, gas dehydration units can contain multiple vessels on the same skid, allowing either multi-stage drying, which greatly reduces costs by removing as much water as possible with lowercost desiccants, or increased flow capacity by flowing gas in parallel through several vessels.

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