Application of improved molecular sieve dehydration unit in shale gas dehydration

During the process of shale gas development, dewatering is usually carried out in the gas collecting station, and the process is mostly with triglycol dehydration. However, the single well development of remote shale gas needs to be dehydrated before entering the pipeline network. In view of the characteristics of single well, such as small gas production capacity and unstable working conditions, if triglycol dehydration process is adopted, there will be problems such as increase of investment and operation cost, and unstable operation of the device. Through the characteristics analysis of Chongqing Shale Gas Company Zu 202 Well, comprehensive comparison of the advantages and disadvantages about the molecular sieve and the triglycol dehydration unit were carried out, and the integrated innovations of technology and equipment were carried, then the new idea of using molecular sieve for wellhead gas dehydration was proposed, and the skid-mounted molecular sieve dehydration unit with the capacity of 120, 000 m³/d was developed, which had asuccessful application in the field. The results showed that the device could meet the demand of dehydration and save the investment and energy consumption. In addition, the device had many highlights in the pertinence and applicability, and it had made beneficial attempts in the aspects of automation and informatization, which could provide a reference for the design of similar natural gas dehydration system with molecular sieve.