Overview

Absorbent:

Liquid used to remove specific components from a gas stream. Common examples are TEG to remove water; absorption oil to recover heavy hydrocarbons from natural gas; and amines to remove carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide.

Absorption:

A separation process involving the transfer of a substance from a gaseous phase to a liquid phase through the phase boundary.

Accumulator:

A storage vessel for liquid refrigerant; also known as surge drum.

Acid gas loading:

The amount of acid gas, on a molar or volumetric basis, that will be picked up by a solvent.

Acid gases:

Impurities in a gas stream usually consisting of CO ₂, H ₂S, COS, RSH, and SO ₂. Most common in natural gas are CO ₂, H ₂S, and COS.

Adsorbent:

Solid pellets used to remove specific components from natural gas.

Adsorption:

The process by which gaseous components are adsorbed on solids because of their molecular attraction to the solid surface.

Air cooler:

Heat exchanger in which air is blown over a bundle of tubes to cool the fluid in the tubes.

Antifoam:

A substance, usually a silicone or a long-chain alcohol, added to the treating system to reduce the tendency to foam.

Associated gas:

Gas produced with crude oil and separated in a gas oil separator.

Blowdown:

Water discharged from the system to control concentrations of salt or other impurities in the circulating water (percentage of circulating water rate, or gpm).

Boiling point:

Temperature at which the vapor pressure of a...