CONTROL OF METHANOL CONSUMPTION IN IFPEX-1 UNITSBASED ON AEC WEST'S SEXSMITH GAS PLANT OPERATINGEXPERIENCE

摘要

The AEC WEST Sexsmith Gas Plant employs the IFPEX-1 process, a proprietary technology developed bythe Institut Francais du Petrol (IFP), which uses methanol as a means of dehydration. This process isunique in its method of regenerating methanol; it is accomplished by stripping methanol from the coldaqueous phase with a portion of the warm wet gas. This regeneration method has an environmentaladvantage over conventional glycol processes because there are no BTEX or greenhouse emissions.Operating costs may be reduced significantly in IFPEX-1 units by: installation of appropriate controllogic, equipment and instrumentation; and monitoring of system performance. This paper correlates plantperformance data with published data on methanol distribution and recommends methods for simulatingmethanol stripping and LTS methanol distribution. Operational problems, solutions and designconsiderations for IFPEX-1 units based on AEC WEST Experience are discussed.