(151a) Increasing Reliability and Functionality of Molecular Sieve Dehydrators

Williams Energy in Durango, CO operates a 400 MMSCFD natural gas cryogenic processing plant.  The dehydrating unit was installed in the late 1950’s using the standard Fisher design of the era.  After decades of use and continual operational problems Williams began to research companies and products which could improve their operation. 

Johnson Screens was introduced to Williams engineering group where a host of solutions were presented.  Upon completion of the engineering study, Williams selected to implement Johnson Screens patented Shaped Support Grid (SSG^TM), the first commercial use of the product.

The result of the engineered solution has improved bed utilization, increased capacity and eliminated normal operational problems specific to the molecular sieve dehydrator units.

The study presented reviews the pre-installation operational conditions of the plant and highlights the post-installation operational conditions of the plant.  Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), operational data and mechanical computation provide evidence to the improvements achieved through the combined engineering effort. 

The full paper will be presented utilizing the following topical areas to review the case study. 

• Pre-install plant data
• Current situation
• Options available
• Resolution
• Installation challenges
• Williams post plant processing data