Abstract
Historically deliquescing desiccants had limited applications due to poor desiccant quality, integrity, equipment design problems, operational difficulty, and limited drying ability. Advances in formulation, material blending, tableting, and equipment design have expanded the application range of deliquescing desiccants. Desiccants are now used to dry sales gas, fuel gas, sour gas, "peak" gas, and for hydrate control. The operational simplicity of deliquescing desiccants offer many advantages over traditional drying methods such as triethylene glycol, including: no VOC or BTEX emissions, no ground contamination, no fire hazard, low capital expense, and low maintenance. Used for hydrate control in gathering systems, desiccants offer an inexpensive method to dry gas to meet pipeline dew point specifications. Desiccants have advantages for drying sour gas both for hydrate control and pipeline sales. Vessels can be over-sized to extend service interval to only several times per year, reducing employee exposure to hydrogen sulfide. Desiccant drying of fuel gas yields increased revenues by using suction gas, not sales gas for compressor fuel. Desiccant dehydration is well suited for remote, unmanned locations, where operators can schedule maintenance and service weekly or even monthly. This reduces total operating costs and labor requirements.
