TO THE QUESTION OF LOW-TEMPERATURE SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY EFFICIENCY

Abstract

Currently, natural gas is widely used in the energy and chemical indus- tries. It is as an inexpensive high efficiency fuel. For gas transportation pipeline transport is mainly used, which has high productivity and efficiency. However, in the process of transportation there are various complications. They are: corrosion of the pipeline and equipment, formation and deposition of hydrocarbon liquid, water con- densate and gas hydrates. In order to avoid these problems, it is necessary to carry out field treatment of the extracted raw materials. Gas and gas condensate fields are specified by high pressures within the reservoir at early stages of development. In the process of extraction, gas leaves the well with a significant pressure, of 10-15 MPa and higher. With this feature, it is advisable to treat the gas by low-temperature separation method. By throttling the flow, it is possible to obtain cold practically free due to the energy contained in the high-pressure gas streams themselves. This method is widely used and it requires a minimum of capital invest- ment. Simple service and maintenance of the equipment is also a positive factor. This article considers one of the possible options for gas and gas conden- sate treatment plans, namely the three-stage low-temperature separation used in the gas condensate field of the Urengoy field. For this technologi- cal chain, the main stages of raw materials treatment are considered and the designs of the equipment used are described. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the method and the quality of the products being treated, the results of the gas sample and gas condensate tests are presented, followed by a comparison of the required criteria (characteristic and composition of commercial gas and unstable gas condensate, dew-point temperature, heavy hydrocarbon droplet entrainment) with acceptable values. These data show that with the use of low-temperature separation technology, it is possible to achieve the required quality standards of the products being treated, but thanks to the use of energy from gas streams, the process of purification of petroleum raw materials occurs at a much lower cost.