Advanced Optimization of Natural Gas Recovery Utilizing Twister Supersonic Gas-Liquid Separation Technology

The optimization of natural gas recovery is indispensable for minimizing operational costs in the gas value chain. Natural gas is one of the most precious natural resources that generates foreign earnings to its host nation. The production and subsequent recovery of natural gas is a challenging aspect of the entire natural gas processing. Gas-Liquid Separation is one problem with natural gas utilization, as the gas is extracted with certain percentages of water and other contaminates. Conventional separation methods deployed to handle this problem often face limitations in the treatment of complex gas-liquid mixtures, mainly in high pressure and high-flow environments. This paper presents the use of the Twister Supersonic Gas-Liquid Separator, a cutting-edge technology that leverages supersonic flow dynamics and centrifugal forces to achieve superior separation efficiency. By swiftly cooling and separating gas from liquids and condensates, minimizes hydrate formation risks and mitigates flow assurance issues, enabling higher recovery rates and improved process stability. This study demonstrates how the Twister system can outperform traditional methods in terms of recovery efficiency. Numerical simulations [Aspen Hysys] and case studies [Notore Chemical Industries] are used to highlight the system’s effectiveness for optimizing gas processing operations. Notore Chemical Industries is one of the largest natural gas consumers, situated in Rivers State Nigeria. The company has several plant downtimes due to the inefficiency of the conventional separator. The inefficiency of the installed knock out drum separator to disperse the condensate from the feed supplied from Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) and deliver the required dry gas to the plant battery limit has been one of the leading causes of the plant recording downtime. This paper presents a reliable separation process using the Twister supersonic gas separator to recover high percentage of dry natural gas (Methane). Feed gas data from the plant was used and a simulation was conducted. Result indicates that Twister supersonic gas separator is more efficient than the knockout drum separator. Less methane and less condensate was produced using knockout drum separator at 0.699% and 0.092% respectively while the Twister supersonic gas separator produced methane and condensate at 95.15% and less condensate 0.0047% respectively. The results presented offer a novel approach to gas-liquid separation that can significantly support sustainable development in natural gas utilization. Key Word: Natural Gas Recovery, Supersonic Gas-Liquid Separator.