Oil and gas heat exchangers

Natural gas dehydration is the process of removing associated water from the wet gas stream. Dehydration of natural gas is essential to avoid methane hydrate formation which can plug valves and other equipment downstream, and condensed water in gas pipelines that can cause corrosion and restricted flow. Tranter’s gasketed and welded plate heat exchangers are employed in TEG dehydration skids in heat recovery, cooling and overhead condensing of the TEG. Our designs are efficient and compact, making them perfect for gas dehydration skids where available space and weight are limited.

Natural gas sweetening or acid gas removal is the process of removing acidic gases such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and mercaptans to make the gas suitable for transport, storage and sale. Gas sweetening is commonly done by amine absorption, where Tranter’s gasketed and welded plate heat exchangers are used as heat recovery in the lean/rich amine interchanger/pre-heater to reduce the amount of steam needed for the reboiler, improving the total economy of the plant. Our heat exchangers also provide excellent temperature control as lean amine coolers, thermosyphon reboilers and stripper overhead condensers.  

Natural gas and separated gases from the crude oil stabilization need to be compressed for storage, pipeline transportation or other use. As natural gas is compressed heat is generated that must be dissipated to cool the gas stream, and liquids from wet gases need to be condensed and separated. Tranter’s shell & plate heat exchangers offer many benefits as gas compression inter coolers, after coolers and vapor recovery units over traditional shell and tubes or printed circuit heat exchangers. Highly efficient plate technology results in smaller footprint, lower weight and less fouling tendencies compared to shell and tubes, and the shell and plate heat exchangers offers significant OPEX and CAPEX savings compared to printed circuit heat exchangers that easily clogs from compressor oil carry-over. Tranter’s gasketed plate and frame heat exchangers are employed for compressor lubrication oil cooling on the compressor skids or compressor stations, providing compact footprint and trouble-free operation.

A closed loop of cooling medium, normally water or water/glycol mixture is used for all the different cooling duties in oil and gas processing plants. The cooling medium is cooled by seawater in gasketed plate and frame heat exchangers to avoid using corrosive and erosive seawater inside the process. Tranter’s plate and frame heat exchangers are optimal for large cooling medium cooler duties, capable of handling close temperature approaches and large volumes with minimum plot space requirements.