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This Tip of the Month shows how a Short Cut Method (SCM) after one Performance Test Run (PTR) may be used to estimate the life of a Type 4A molecular sieve dehydrating a water-saturated feed of natural gas. The results of the proposed SCM have been compared with the rigorous manual calculations (May 2015 Tip of the Month) and the computer-generated calculations (June 2016 Tip of the Month) and good agreements were obtained. To learn more about this tip and past Tips of the Month, visit JMC Tip of the Month. [Keep reading]

In general, gas viscosity is used in fluid flow pressure drop calculations, detailed heat exchanger calculations, and droplet settling calculations for separation. It is also used for trouble shooting and equipment sizing. In this Tip of The Month (TOTM), several options/methods for estimating viscosity of lean sweet natural (hydrocarbon) gases as a function of pressure, temperature, and relative density (composition) were reviewed [1- 4]. These methods were graphical charts or empirical correlations covering wide ranges of pressure (0.10 to 20 MPa, 14.5 to 2900 Psia), temperature (0 to 200 °C, 32 to 392 °F), and relative density (0.60 to 0.80). Using ProMax [5] a series of generalized charts presented to show the behavior of gas viscosity with pressure, temperature, and relative density (composition) and can be used to determine gas viscosity. Example charts are shown on page 2 To learn more about this Tip and past Tips of the Month, visit JMC Tip of the Month. [Keep reading]

The compatibility or scaling tendency of effluent production waters with reservoir formation waters in the oil field will be a major factor in determining the feasibility, as well as long term planning of produced water re-injection into a specific reservoir and defining engineering solutions for the injection system and specific compatibility of the designated mixed waters. A specific computer software can be used to evaluate the experimentally measured chemical analyses of effluent waters and formation water with a primary goal of determining the tendency of scale formation. The scaling tendency for the commingling of individual effluent waters with a defined formation water at reservoir temperatures and pressures may also be predicted. These data provide a fundamental basis to justify, or discard, the mixing of produced waters 1) by each other, 2) with available waters from other sources, 3) or in case of re-injection, with formation water at the reservoir conditions. Salman et. al. investigated the scaling tendency for four Gathering Centers (GC) of an oil field in the State of Kuwait [3]. Attention was given to the scaling tendency of CaCO3 and BaSO4 for various acceptable mixing proportions of a specific effluent water with formation water. To demonstrate the steps involved, this tip of the month reports the summary of results by Salman et. al.’s computer scaling study for four Gathering Centers [3]. In a follow-up tip, we will focus on scaling during rich MEG feed regeneration [1, 2]. To learn more about this Tip and past Tips of the Month, visit JMC Tip of the Month. [Keep reading]

The July 2016 tip of the month (TOTM) considered the presence of methanol in the sour gas stream and determined the quantitative traces of methanol ending up in the sweet gas, flash gas and acid gas streams. To achieve this, the tip simulated a simplified MDEA gas sweetening unit by computer. That tip also studied the effect of feed sour gas temperature, methanol content, and the rate of replacing condensed reflux with fresh water on the sweet gas methanol content. For the two feed sour gas temperatures of 32.2 and 43.3 °C (90 and 110 °F) the tip studied three inlet gas methanol contents of 50, 250, and 500 PPMV. In each case the tip varied rate of freshwater replacement from 0 to 100 % by an increment of 20%. The simulated results are presented graphically. To improve methanol removal efficiency from the feed sour gas stream, the July 2016 TOTM was revisited, and the following modifications were incorporated. 1. Because the feed gas contains methanol, a known polar compound, we used ProMax simulation software with “Amine Sweetening – Polar PR” instead of “Amine Sweetening – PR” property package to perform all the simulations. 2. In July 2016 TOTM the “Water Draw” stream removed a specified fraction of the condensed reflux, and the “Fresh Water” stream added the same amount of fresh water to the return reflux at the top of regenerator column. A better alternative where the amount of water draw is supplied by the amine makeup tool of ProMax was used. 3. The effect of feed gas pressure on the methanol removal by amine sweetening process for pressures of 600, 800, and 1000 psig (4200, 5600, and 7000 kPag) was investigated and reported. [Keep reading]

The U.S. recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 which “doubles down” on environmental justice and renewable energy [1]. The newly created Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit (CEITC) is available for any investment in qualified electric generators and storage facilities that are placed in service after December 31, 2024, that have a life cycle greenhouse gas emissions rate of zero or less. Renewables, wind and solar generators, do not have a net-zero greenhouse gas emission level if one considers their cradle to grave life cycle; from the sourcing of the raw materials to transportation to the site, construction and maintenance activities required. In addition, there are many physical realities with wind and solar generation that have negative environmental and social impacts that are often overlooked or disregarded as a necessary evil in the quest for net-zero. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reported in their 2022 State of Reliability Report, that “Electricity and natural gas interdependencies are no longer emerging risks but require immediate attention, including implementation of mitigating approaches”. Natural-gas-fired generators are now necessary balancing resources for reliable integration of the growing fleet of variable (intermittent) renewable energy resources and can be expected to remain so until new storage technologies are fully developed and deployed at scale to provide balancing. Given the trend on electrifying the gas gathering, processing and transmission facilities, reliable electric power supply is critical to ensure uninterrupted delivery of natural gas to these back-up generators. This is particularly important in areas where renewable generation resources have high penetration rates [2]. The current technology for baseload battery storage is cost prohibitive at the capacities required to maintain grid viability. The recent trend is to provide some nominal amount of battery backup (4 hours) for intermittent generation sources, but that is clearly not sufficient in extreme weather events or outages that last more than 4 hours. Thus, the need for fossil-fueled thermal power generation peak shavers for the foreseeable future. [Keep reading]

Continuing July 2022 tip of the month, this tip demonstrates applications of the models developed based on the experimental VLE and VLLE data measurements presented in the Gas Processors Association (GPA) research report RR-242. The models will be used for estimation of solubilities of a mixture consisted of Benzene, Toluene, and Ethylbenzene in loaded amine solution with CO2 and/or H2S. This is important because all BTEX components, both soluble and absorbed, in the contactor will be removed from the solution in the flash drum and regenerator, the emissions will be essentially equal to the amount absorbed. Correctly estimating the quantity of absorbed BTEX and understanding the factors that affect absorption levels is critical to ensure the proper mitigation methods are provided to meet the required emission limits. [Keep reading]