Fuel Gas Conditioning
Fuel Gas Conditioning Skids – Everything You Need to Know
April 8, 2023 Welcome
Fuel gas is a critical driver for diverse industrial and commercial processes; however, it can damage the machinery that requires it to function if not properly purified. Fuel gas conditioning is an effective strategy for ensuring that the gas delivered to industrial processes is free of impurities that may damage sensitive machinery and stall productivity.
Fuel Gas Conditioning: An Overview
Before we can discuss fuel gas conditioning, we must define what constitutes fuel gas to begin with. Fuel gas refers to fuels that maintain a gaseous form under ordinary conditions. Fuel gas is largely naturally sourced and typically comprised of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, or a mixture of both.
What Is Fuel Gas Conditioning?
Fuel gas conditioning is a process where unrefined natural gas undergoes various physical separation processes to eliminate various impurities typically contained in it. A fuel gas conditioning system will remove condensate and particulate contaminations, leaving a clean gas stream ready for use in various industrial applications.
Why Is Fuel Gas Conditioning Needed?
There are various reasons why fuel gas should be conditioned. Highlighted below are some of the most important reasons for eliminating impurities from natural gas.
- Pipeline longevity as transporting purified gas drastically reduces the corrosion rate of gas conduits.
- Conditioned fuel burns cleaner and more efficiently when compared to impurified forms.
- The fuel gas conditioning process ensures greater compatibility of the cleaned gas with the machinery they power.
- Sensitive machinery components will avoid corrosion-related damage from exposure to unfiltered natural gas.
Fuel Gas Conditioning Skids in Oil & Gas
Fuel gas conditioning systems are sometimes required to be mobile to facilitate easier and faster storage and transport. Mounting gas conditioning equipment on skids is an effective way to maintain operational flexibility, as these systems can be quickly transported to areas where they are required.
Now we have established some of the benefits of skid mounted fuel gas conditioning system, we will now describe the integral components.
Components
The key components of a fuel gas conditioning skid include the following.
- Gas scrubbers and filters
- Gas superheaters with integrated dewpoint controls
- Bulk solid and liquid separators
- Valves and instrumentation panels
- Temperature and pressure control systems
- Power control systems
Process Description
Fuel gas conditioning follows a carefully ordered sequence of steps. The gas conditioning process begins with natural gas, or any other fuel gas type, being channeled through knockout drums where liquid contaminants are eliminated.
Sometimes the dried gas is heated to prevent hydrate formation, which can occur at low processing temperatures and higher pressures. Pressure lowering is an alternative method to gas heating to prevent hydrates.
At the next stage of the process, the fuel gas is passed through a filtration unit to remove solid particles and liquids still retained in the gaseous mixture. Finally, the dried gas is passed through a dewpoint suppression system. This stage applies heat to the conditioned gas as it passes through the exit nozzles, preventing the formation of moisture from pressure loss across exit valves.
Throughout the fuel gas conditioning process, operators can calibrate their equipment according to their unique purity requirements. Temperature and pressure control systems can also be closely monitored to ensure maximum process efficiency.
Benefits
The major benefits of operating fuel gas conditioning skids are outlined below.
- Increased flexibility to operational demands as operators can simply relocate the system to any desired site.
- Reduced need for repeated dismantling and recoupling whenever the operational site is changed.
- Lowered operational budget due to elimination of constant equipment reinstallation/reconfiguration and maintenance expenditures.
- Reduced emission of pollutants after burning of the fuel gas.
- Increased longevity of machinery operating conditioned fuel gas due to reduced corrosion-related deterioration.
- Greater efficiency of fuel gas due to impurity removal and gas optimization on demand.
Improve Your Facility with IFS/DXP Fuel Gas Conditioning Skids
Fuel gas optimization is a critical step in natural gas processing for various industrial applications. At IFS, we offer state-of-the-art gas conditioning skids and packages.
Our equipment is guaranteed to optimize the fuels you feed into your industrial processes. IFS fuel gas conditioning skids ensure your equipment operates efficiently and cost-effectively while improving its operational lifespans.
Contact us today for a quote!
