A Review of Residual Pressure Utilization of Natural Gas

Abstract

Natural gas needs to be depressurized before wellhead to gas gathering station or long-distance pipeline to users. At present, choking technique is widely used at wellhead and pressure regulating station, which will cause a lot of energy loss. Considerable economic and social benefits will be generated, if these residual pressures can be recycled. In this article, the pressure energy contained in the natural gas wellhead and pressure regulating valve station will be calculated based on exergy analysis. The technology and present situation of residual pressure utilization of natural gas are summarized. The existing problems and future research directions in the process of residual pressure utilization are pointed out through cases. At present, there are many studies on the use of residual pressure in the pressure regulating station, but there are relatively few studies in the natural gas wellhead. Residual pressure utilization technology improves energy utilization efficiency and makes an important contribution to energy conservation and emission reduction.