We’ve spoken about the benefits of Innopipe, our inline gas separator and piggable drip system that removes 99% of liquids from pipelines.
Below, we’ll discuss a case study illustrating just how Innopipe benefits natural gas producers.
The problem:
One of Canada’s largest gas production companies had both amine and glycol carry-overs liquids from their process towers. In glycol dehydration towers, Industry practice accepts a loss of ~3 lb /MMSCF (2 × 10-4 kg/Nm3 ), but in this case, much greater losses became a significant cost. As a rule, skid manufacturers recommend conventional treated gas after-scrubbers, but often these are not installed, or don’t function well, and on top of that cause an undesired pressure drop with commensurate additional compressor boosting requirements.
The result:
The producer installed Innopipe systems downstream of the towers and was able to save 60% of budgeted vessel costs versus conventional vessels. The maintenance team could easily install during a scheduled plant turnaround due to our quick delivery capability. Vessels were delivered within 8 weeks after drawing approval. The producer resumed high volume gas production but is now able to recover any glycol and amine carry-overs. Pressure loss across the Innopipe units is insignificant with no additional boost required.
Refineries see gas compositions with a lot of contaminants which require costly additional equipment for recovery. Replenishing otherwise lost specialty chemicals has an immediate impact on the bottom line. Protect screw, vane, and other compressors from liquid carryover and/or remove lube oil lost downstream.
Innopipe Works For Multiple Applications
The Innopipe inline gas separator and piggable drip system is effective in numerous applications. It can be used for general liquid removal from gas streams, preventing black powder corrosion by removing corrosion-causing liquids and eroded black powder entrained in liquids. It also provides liquids protection for compressor engine inlets and removes liquids before causing problems at lower, colder river crossings and other low points in pipelines.
In variable topography, where liquids can collect in low areas and cause slug formation, it helps manage slug flow within a pipeline gathering system and allows producers to deal with liquids in a predictable, manner that is less susceptible to environmental changes such as fall cooling.
DocBoss offers slug catcher abilities, as it offers slug reduction and slug control benefits. Two slug-related applications that Innopipe offers pipeline owners include in hilly topographies where liquids can collect in low areas, causing slug formation; and in managing slug flow within a pipeline gathering system.
The system is also suitable for cavern storage liquid removal and filling. Innopipe also can be dedicated as a solid removal system for entrained solids in the collection vessel. Furthermore Innopipe can remove compressor lube oil, protecting downstream equipment and allowing for lube oil recovery. Additionally, it is useful in production and well test separators where it helps in reducing size, pressure drop, and equipment weight, resulting in smaller skids, lower setup/transport costs, and a small footprint that can be installed in many existing layouts.
The Innopipe system is also deployed to remove liquids before ultrasonic gas meters, ensuring accurate measurement and reducing fouling/maintenance intervals. Innopipe will also remove steam condensate from steam lines, removing water prior to injection, reducing water loss, and decreasing surface heat duty requirements of surface steam generation equipment.
If your operations team wants to mitigate upsets in processing plants caused by liquid carryover, resulting in less gas or liquid phase recycle time, increased uptime, and lower operations costs, contact us.
Next Steps
Ready to learn more about why Innopipe makes sense for you?
Contact OilPro directly at 1-403-215-3373 or by email at [email protected] to learn more about Innopipe or visit our dedicated www.innopipe.com website to get started.