Gas Processors Association Europe

Bernt Henning Rusten, StatoilHydro, Norway

The phase envelope for hydrocarbon mixtures is extensively used within process design to obtain specifications for both gas and liquid products. A correct prediction is essential when the operating conditions for separators are to be decided. Malfunctioning scrubbers and incorrect thermodynamic models in process design may lead to off-spec gas products or/and capacity limitations.

Four thermodynamic models have been evaluated for their ability to calculate hydrocarbon dew points. Hydrocarbon dew point measurements have been performed in the laboratory and the experimental data are compared to simulated phase envelopes based on chromatographic gas analysis.