(345a) Increasing Molecular Sieve Dehydration Beds’ Capacity and Utilization: Improving the Productivity of Existing Dehydration Assets

In 2017 Johnson Screens installed an innovative internal Shaped Support Grid (SSG™) in a gas treatment process at an LNG Plant in Trinidad. For the 7 years following the installation, the performance of the SSG and the process vessel continues to meet or exceed expectations.

Molecular sieve beds are utilized in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry for dehydration to remove water from natural gas streams. In the customer’s plant, the original supports for the molecular sieve beds on Train 4 were under-designed. Additionally, in September 2016, a restriction below one of the bed’s supports, which affected the plant’s processing capacity, was identified. In order to eliminate this production risk, the beds’ supports required upgrading. The Johnson Screens Shaped Support Grid (SSG™) was installed which increased the bed depth available within the vessel and facilitated the loading of additional molecular sieve material. Subsequently, with the additional bed volume, breakthrough testing was performed and a variable cycling design was implemented to ensure that the beds can operate successfully for at least four (4) years.