cMIST™: Novel, compact gas dehydration system

Shwetha Ramkumar, Edward J. Grave, Norman K. Yeh

ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company

Objectives/Scope

 

The natural gas industry is increasingly pursuing compact and lower weight processing technology to meet the technological and economic demands of offshore, onshore, remote, and challenged gas processing. Increased modularity of process equipment and process intensification require innovative solutions. This paper describes ExxonMobil Upstream Research Companyâ??s (EMURC) new inline dehydration and separation technology meant to replace conventional TEG tower and associated separator vessels to meet pipeline dewpoint specifications. Compact Mass transfer and Inline Separation Technology (cMISTâ?¢) achieves this goal with significant reductions in weight and footprint.

Methods, Procedures, Process

EMURC is qualifying cMISTâ?¢ for upstream natural gas dehydration. The results of a field demonstration are discussed to establish the effectiveness and advantages of this novel technology. The technology was demonstrated using a skid-mounted test unit in the Woodford trend area of Oklahoma, USA at an XTO Energy production facility. cMISTâ?¢ was tested under a range of field conditions to examine the dehydration capacity, operability, and reliability of the technology.

Results, Observations, Conclusions

cMISTâ?¢ relies on state-of-the-art technological advances in contacting and inline separation to achieve pipeline specification dry gas and/or prevent hydrate formation with compact equipment. The technology is highly modular to allow for simple transportation into remote, challenged, or offshore environments and provide installation configuration flexibility. One case study showed a 50% weight reduction and 80% footprint reduction for the absorption system on an offshore platform dehydrating 700 MMscfd of gas. During EMURCâ??s field demonstration and qualification program, cMISTâ?¢ achieved pipeline specification over a range of process conditions and during sustained operation. cMISTâ?¢ was demonstrated to have a broad application in gas dehydration.