A case study for cost-effective design of relocatable deep dewpoint control gas plant

Abstract

Australia has significant smaller-capacity gas fields, in relatively remote areas. An economically viable design for the Australian market is a small to mid-size gas plant to produce pipeline-quality gas and recover attractive amounts of liquid products (NGLs) for export by truck. Such a plant has minimal equipment, is highly modularised to be cost-effective for remote locations with high labour costs, can be relocated, and can be implemented in a substantially shorter time frame than conventional projects. For the North and South American markets, we have developed a deep dewpointing process that combines high NGL recovery with simplicity of design, yet is flexible enough to accommodate a range of compositions and flow rates. This design is well suited for standardisation of small to medium-size gas plants where feed gas compositions may vary and capacity increases are not well known. A short implementation schedule provides first-to-market economic benefits. We have developed 3rd Generation ModularisationSM that is proven to significantly reduce a plant’s footprint compared with more traditional modularisation practices. This new approach makes it possible to design a gas processing facility as transportable modules that can be built in the most cost-effective location, are low cost to install and may be relocated in the future. This has been demonstrated in a recent project completed in 2015 for Shell in Canada. This paper presents the solution for the Australian market that combines the benefits of high gas liquids recovery with low investment, delivered in compact relocatable modules that enable very flexible field development strategies.