Cost and profitability analysis of natural gas dehydration installations

Water vapor is one of the most undesirable components in natural gas (NG), because it can cause several problems, including corrosion of gas transport pipes and equipment, as well formation of hydrates decreasing the transmission capacity of the pipeline. Therefore, before the distribution NG needs to undergo dehydration processes to meet the transport and quality parameters specified by the distributors. The most common method of NG dehydration is the adsorption method using glycol, based on the column technology. The article compares two gas dehydration installations with similar efficiency, located in Poland, differing in the glycol regeneration system. In the first installation, a regeneration system with an electric heating cartridge was used, whereas in the second, a regeneration system with the use of heat from a boiler powered by gas from its own source was employed. A comparison of the operating and energy costs of two installations incurred in 2017-2019 is presented. In the three-year settlement, the operating and energy costs of the electrically-fed glycol regeneration system were more than 2.5-times higher, compared to the gas installation. Using the SPBT index, it was calculated that the change of the regenerator power source will pay off after less than 4 years.