Environment for monitoring performance and estimating the remaining useful life of offshore natural gas dehydration units
摘要
Water can be a significant issue in natural gas production, as it can lead to corrosion and hydrate formation, which can block pipelines. This study focuses on the role of dehydration in natural gas production, particularly in offshore oil and gas production units. The study also addresses challenges in adsorption processes. An environment was implemented to monitor a Brazilian coast’s offshore natural gas dehydration unit. Bayesian inference, combined with a Wiener process-based degradation model and robust regression, was used to determine the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of the adsorbent in fixed beds. The study introduces data preprocessing for precise RUL estimation and addresses issues in non-constant sampling during breakthroughs. Additionally, a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) based on the mass balance in fixed beds provides valuable process information not accessible through current instrumentation, such as the adsorbed water volume, a critical variable for evaluating the performance of the fixed bed. Results indicate that the adsorbed water volume by the fixed bed at breakthrough is crucial for assessing the performance of the dehydration unit. Bayesian inference and logistic function obtained the best results in predicting the end of the fixed bed’s useful life. The methodologies have been successfully integrated into a real-time monitoring dashboard of a Brazilian oil and gas plant.