Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has successfully tested a two-stage centrifugal compressor for offshore production.
The company said that a test loop designed and built at SwRI was used to evaluate the compressor’s performance under wet gas conditions for a major energy producer.
Compressors, in general, are designed for dry gas applications.
However, natural gas production often includes the presence of liquids.
The company claims that the ability to separate liquids from the gas is advantageous, especially if the liquid is a useful commodity.
Conventional separation is practical for land-based applications, but can be difficult when production is offshore due to space and weight constraints.
The objective of the test program was to validate the client’s design of a dry gas extraction system for use in a wet gas environment.
Testing was conducted at an inlet pressure of 300psia, with liquid volume fractions up to 5%.