Design and Operation of a High Pressure CO2 Dehydration Facility

A carbon dioxide (CO2) supply well was drilled and completed by Conoco Inc. in the Elsinore Field, Pecos County, Texas in September, 1983. The well was drilled toprovide CO2 for the Ford Geraldine (Delaware Sand) Unit, Reeves and Culberson Counties, Texas. The well tested flowing 11.5 MMCFPD of saturated CO2 at a pressure above the critical. The corrosive nature of the saturated CO2 at a pressure above the critical
necessitated a careful study of pipeline 4 g and dehydration options. Ultimately, the CO2 would have to be dehydrated, since it would be moved to the Ford Geraldine Unit through an existing unprotected steel pipeline. This paper details the design and operation of the Elsinore "73" No. 1 CO2 dehydration facility. Specific topics that will be discussed are pipelining and dehydration alternatives, molecular sieve (mol sieve) bed design, equipment and piping, metallurgy, fuel options, automation, startup and operation.