Successful Demonstration of Relieving CO2-Solid-Forming Streams through a Pressure Relief System

PresentationThe demand for natural gas, considered the cleanest burning hydrocarbon fuel available, is expected to rise significantly over the foreseeable future. However, natural gas produced from many major reservoirs can contain significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and must be treated before it can be used as an environmentally acceptable fuel. These treatment processes often require high-pressure operations forming highly concentrated CO2-rich streams. Pressure protection for these systems has been challenging to date because of the potential for solids generation upon pressure let down and the consequent potential for plugging that the solids present. ExxonMobil has completed successful field demonstrations relieving dehydrated, CO2-rich liquid and vapor streams forming up to 40 wt% solids in relief lines. The results of these field demonstration tests as well as learnings from design of CO2-solid-forming relief systems are discussed in this paper