SPEC Oil & Gas

The nutshell filters have a simple process. Oily water enters the vessel where it passes through the nutshells under pressure. The oil and solids get trapped within the filters and the clean water exits the bottom of the vessel. To remove the oil and solids from the filter media, a backwash process is used. The backwash process consists of fluidizing the bed, removing the contaminated water, allowing the filter to settle and finally rinsing the filters to remove any contaminates that may still be present. The process uses at least two filters: one filter online and the second filter is being regenerated and on standby. Depending on your process requirements, SPEC can deter­mine the appropriate number of filters required to provide the most optimized design. SPEC designs and manufactures nutshell filters that provide the following advantages: Efficient design Skid mounted packages Pecan and walnut shell blend High solids removal efficiency Process water used for backwash eliminating need for clean water source ASME coded vessels Can deliver as low as 5 ppm oil in water concentration

The fractionation process is used to separate the bulk natural gas liquid into component products: ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline (C5+) or any combination of these. A series of fractionation towers exploit the relative volatility of the individual products for separation. SPEC engineers design the process to ensure the final products match our customers’ requirements. Heat is introduced at the bottom of the tower which causes the more volatile components to be driven to the top of the vessel. Simultaneously, liquid reflux enters from the top of the fractionation tower driving the less volatile components to the bottom of the tower. Trays installed within the tower ensure that the vapor and liquid phases are continuously in contact allowing for the desired separation. As a result, the less volatile product has been isolated (will not be 100% pure but will be within the acceptable limits). The first product to be removed is ethane followed by propane, butane and finally natural gasoline. Depending on the degree of separation sought will determine the number of towers that are required.

Inlet Filter Separators Adsorbtion Towers (Usually a minimum of two are used: one adsorbing and one regenerating) Regeneration Gas Heater Regeneration Gas Cooler Regeneration Gas Cooler and Separator Lots Piping, Switching Valves and instrumentation Based on the client’s preferences and the overall process schematic, there are several variations on the process flow. However, the basic principle of operations starts with the wet gas entering the adsorption tower at the top which contains the molecular sieve dessicant. The gas exist the bottom of the vessel dry. While one tower is adsorbing, the other tower is regenerating. For regeneration, gas is heated up to 550 ˚F and is sent to the tower in regeneration to extract the water from the molecular sieves. As the saturated gas leaves the top of the vessel, it is cooled in a condenser and then the condensed water is separated in separator. The two towers switch between adsorbing and regenerating usually on a fixed cycle. Depending on the process conditions and overall schematic, SPEC can offer specific solutions for your Molecular Sieve requirements.

SPEC offers custom packaged high speed reciprocating compressor and rotary screw compressors for your gas compression requirements. Working with the industry leading compressor and engine manufacturers, SPEC’s custom solutions meet the demanding requirements of today’s clients. In addition, SPEC offers electric or engine driven compressor packages as well as NACE compliant units for sour service.

SPEC can take your gas analysis to design the Amine system suitable for your specific process requirements. The equipment can be totally mounted on skid and pre-packaged in our fabrication facilities to reduce on-site installation time and cost. Natural Gas often contain carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and other sulfur compounds which may require removal if their concetrations are above the acceptable limit. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are known as acid gases because in the presence of water they form carbonic acid and sulfuric acid, respectively. When H2S and other sulfur compounds concentrations in the natural gas exceed acceptable limits, the natural gas is considered to be a “sour gas” and requires removal. The process of removing the H2S and other sulfur compounds is known as gas sweetening. The key factors for gas sweetening are: Meet Sulfur Content Regulations Corrosion Prevention Increases The Heating Value Of The Natural Gas H2s Can Be Lethal In Small QuantitiesThe sour gas passes through an inlet scrubber to remove contaminants before coming in contact with AMINE which helps ensure proper performance of the AMINE. The scrubbed sour gas enters the absorber tower where it comes in contact with the down-flowing AMINE. Trays or structured packing inside the absorber provide adequate contact are for the AMINE to absorb the sour gases. As a result, the concentration of sour gases in the upward flowing, natural gas decreases, or becomes sweater, while the lean, downward flowing AMINE absorbs the sour gases. The sweet gas exits the absorber at the top while the AMINE containing the sour gas, or rich AMINE, exits at the bottom of the absorber. The rich AMINE exits the buttom of the absorber and passes through a flash tank to remove any hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon condensates from the rich AMINE. From the flash tank, the rich AMINE passes through a richlean AMINE exchanger preheating the rich AMINE before it enters the AMINE stripping tower. The heat from the reboiler allows for the acid gasses to dissociate from the AMINE. The acid gasses exit the top of the still column while the lean AMINE exits from the buttom. The removed acid gases are condensed and cooled in the reflux condenser. The condensed steam is separated in the reflux accumulator and send back to the still column while the acid gases are vented or sent back to the still column while systems. The lean AMINE passes through the richlean AMINE exchanger cooling it down. The cooled AMINE is pumped to absoreber pressure prior to entering the absorber where the entire repeats itsel.

ater during processing and transportation Increased the heating value of the natural gas Corrosion prevention Commonly used techniques for gas dehydration include the use of liquid and dry desiccants to achieve the required water concentrations of the gas stream. Except for cryogenic applications, The Glycol Dehydration process is the application of choice. Two types of glycol dehydration are commonly used in the Oil and Gas Industry: Ethylene Glycol (EG) and Triethylene Glycol (TEG). The basic operation of both systems are similar however the choosing which application better suites your process is subject to variable such as operating temperature.Water saturated natural gas passes through an inlet scrubber to remove contaminants before coming in contact with glycol which helps ensure optimal performance and longevity of the glycol. The scrubbed wet gas enters the contactor tower where it comes in contact with the down-flowing glycol. Trays or structured packing inside the contactor provide adequate contact area for the gylcol to absorb water from the natural gas. As a result, the upward flowing natural gas becomes dryer or leaner, while the lean, downward flowing gylcol becomes water saturated or rich. The lean gas exits the contactor at the top while the rich glycol exits at the bottom of the contactor.

When higher recovery of ethane and propane is required than HCDPC packages can attain, cryogenic plants are required. In the gas industry, cryogenic temperature typically refers to temperatures below -45°C. SPEC provides the following methods for achieving cryogenic temperatures:Molecular Sieves are used to dry the gas below 1 ppm prior to the turbo expansion process. Depending on the gas composition, a GasGas exchanger is used for initial cooling of the incoming dry gas. If the gas has a richer composition, mechanical refrigeration may be required. The cooled gas is then sent to a cold separator. From the cold separator, a J-T Valve and Turbo expander work in parallel. The J-T Valve handles the bottoms and the top gas heads to the Turbo expander. Both Liquids are then sent to a De-methanizer tower for the removal of methane at the top and NGL at the bottom.

SPEC Horizontal double barrel andor Vertical filter separators are designed to provide efficient liquidsolid removal and high gas capacities. The coalescer filter section removes bulk liquid and solid particles and also coalesces fine liquid droplets into larger ones. These larger droplets are then removed in the second Double Pocket (DP) Vane] section. SPEC utilizes high capacity DP Vanes to increase the separator’s throughput and thus minimize the separator diameter. The double barrel configuration allows you to maximize the gas flow in the upper barrel without re-entrainment while the liquid drops into the lower barrel. SPEC offers standard coalescing filters that can be replaced periodically or designs that can be cleaned and reused. BENEFITS High gas capacity with a compact vessel Low maintenance No plugging of the DP Vane High efficiency Debottle neck existing equipmentASME Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 1 and stamped with ASME “U” symbol. Element Support Plate and bottom drains completely drain the vessel for inspection, cleaning, and element change outs. Designed with quick open closure for easy access to change filter elements. Standard Design pressure, 1440. Design temperatures are -20°F to 130°F for stock vessels.

The primary applications for Water Bath Heaters include: • Heating Natural gas prior to pressure reduction manifolds to prevent freezing of expansion valve • Hydrate prevention • Heating of process fluid upstream of separation units to enhance separation efficiency • Heating of crude oil to maintain temperature above the paraffin pour point The heater consists of three main components: the shell, the firetube, and the process coil. These components are carefully designed for each standard size as well as for our customized packages.Fuel (Fuel Gas or Fuel Oil) is burned within the horizontal “U”-shaped firebox immersed in the lower portion of the water bath. Heat released by the burning fuel is quickly transmitted through the firetube wall to the water bath, maintaining it at the desired temperature. The fluid to be heated (wellstream, natural gas, oil, water, etc.) flwos through the process coil of the heater which is immersed in the upper portion of the water bath. Heat is transmitted from the hot water bath through the tube-wall to the fluid inside the process coil. The heater temperature controller maintains the water bath temperature at the desired level by controlling the firebox fuel gas supply. A temperature of 87 ˚C is considered the maximum temperature for operation. It is preferred to operate the heaters less than 87 ˚C when inlet condition andor outlet temperature requirements allow. Operating the bath temperature at the minimum temperature required to give hydrate protection in either the pipeline or separator not only saves fuel, but provides maximum liquid recovery in the downstream equipment.

The barrel is the section of the pig trap, from the pig trap valve up to and including the end closure which is required to launch and receive pigs. It consists of three parts: Major barrel: An enlarged section of the barrel used for loading or retrieving pigs Reducer: A between major and minor barrel Minor barrel: A section of the barrel between the pig trap valve and the reducer. The major barrel is equipped with a quick open closure end. This allows for more efficient loading and unloading of the pigs. A kicker line is required to connect the major barrel with the bypass line to enable diversion of the fluid through the barrel to launch or receive a pig. For a launcher the kicker line is connected to the major barrel as close as possible to the end closure and for a receiver as close as possible to the reducer.