Delivering 50% higher capacity than structured packing
Most gas plants that are pushing production employ the latest generation of high-capacity structured packing. Shell Turbo Trays (STT) can enable such natural gas producers to achieve up to 50% additional gas production. STT achieve this performance by revolutionising gas鈥搇iquid contacting in amine treating (using an acid gas removal unit, or AGRU) and triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration.
Compared to conventional structured packing and trays, Shell Turbo Technology innovations can potentially triple gas-processing capacity and reduce absorber costs in greenfield applications by up to 50%.
In 2015, Shell completed the testing and development phases of a new gas and liquid absorber contacting technology that could handle 50% higher capacity than the latest structured packing on the market today. Owing to their exceptional mass transfer rate and enhanced gas鈥搇iquid handling capacity, STT can process up to 300% more contaminant in the feed or up to 200% more gas in the existing column compared to conventional trays and structured packing, thus enabling assets constrained by the absorber tower to maximise solvent loading and increase processing performance without the need for additional trains or extensive modifications.
Since completing development, Shell has installed the technology at its own assets as well as select third-party sites, replacing both high-performance tray and structured packing technology. The technology is fully developed and is being assessed for deployment at several other facilities globally.
To achieve this high level of capacity, Shell took a completely new approach to gas鈥搇iquid contacting, a departure from the traditional gas 鈥渦p flow鈥� contacting with liquid 鈥渄own flow鈥� under gravity used in structured packing and conventional tray designs. With this new technology, the gas and liquid are now contacted in specifically designed contacting zones where the gas velocity is used to atomise the liquid and increases the gas鈥搇iquid contacting interface. This helps to avoid common issues 鈥� such as foaming, entrainment and flooding 鈥� that limit more conventional absorber tray and structured packing contacting technology to lower gas velocities.
The technology is best suited to significantly increasing the throughput of existing natural-gas contacting processes, such as TEG dehydration or AGRU, that are limited by the capacity of the structured packing and tray technology currently installed in the absorber unit. The technology can also decrease the absorber size on greenfield applications, particularly on floating offshore units 鈥� where weight and space are critical.
To find out more about how this technology could benefit your natural-gas treatment facility or project by replacing your current structured packing or tray system, either speak to one of our experts or download the fact sheet or white paper available below.
Are your absorber structured packing or trays limiting production capacity? Thinking about adding additional trains to solve this issue?
Shell Turbo Technologies provide a drop-in solution for natural-gas processing facilities looking to increase processing capacity without adding trains or replacing existing absorber columns. When replacing current structured packing and tray technologies, Shell Turbo Technologies have demonstrated the ability to increase natural-gas production by 20% in amine duty and by more than 50% in TEG dehydration. Moreover, 100鈥�200% higher capacity can be achieved if other process limitations outside the absorber column can be addressed.
Learn how Shell Turbo Technologies can help you significantly increase the capacity of your existing absorbers beyond the limits of your current structured packing or tray technology.
STT are a drop-in solution that improves absorber column hydraulics and mass-transfer efficiency. This enables producers to improve the efficiency and capacity of their treatment plants beyond the limits of their current structured packing or tray technology, in some cases avoiding the need to add additional trains.
White paper: Shell Turbo Technologies changing the game in gas processing
This white paper offers a detailed look at STT, an award-winning mass transfer technology to reduce greenfield capital expenditure and debottleneck existing assets beyond the limits of their current structured packing or tray technology.
Shell is currently working towards validation and qualification of the technology to extend its use to other gas-processing applications.
Fact Sheet: Shell Turbo Technologies
If you are looking to boost capacity and avoid new train additions in AGRU or TEG dehydration units beyond the limits of your current structured packing or tray technology, this technology could be a game-changer.
1 Shell Turbo Technologies is Changing the game in gas processing, January 2024.