Condensate Stabilization

Condensate stabilizers are designed to reduce the vapor pressure of raw liquid condensate from a wellhead or pipeline to “stabilize” the liquid product for storage and sales. Stabilization is typically accomplished by liberating light hydrocarbons (C1 through C4s) in a medium- to low-pressure, reboiled distillation column. The overhead vapor can be utilized as fuel or returned to a plant for further processing. The remaining liquid product (C5+) can be stored or transported as a natural gasoline product or blended with a crude feedstock for further process. Some designs also allow for recovery of a separate Y-Grade NGL product.

 

The basics steps in condensate stabilization:

  • Condensate liquids are separated in a slug catcher or inlet handling system (Azota has a range or inlet liquid handling solutions, click here for more information)
  • The raw condensate is flashed down to an intermediate pressure, filtered, and preheated using the residual heat from the liquid product.
  • The liquid is then fed to a stabilizer tower with a bottom reboiler. Heat from the reboiler vaporizes the lighter components out the top of the tower while the remaining stabilized condensate collects out the bottom of the reboiler.
  • The hot condensate is cross exchanged with the incoming liquid and sent to storage or pipeline
  • The vapor overhead is burned for fuel or compressed and sent to plant for further processing.

Features

  • Standard designs for 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 bbl/day with custom designs up to 40,000 bbl/day
  • Standard packages designed for up to 1100 psig feed pressure
  • Systems can produce liquid RVP products from 8-12 psia
  • All packages are completely modularized on 1-2 skids, shipped fully assembled with all piping, valves, instrumentation, wiring, and insulation.
  • Optional add-on reflux package will allow for separate Y-Grade NGL recovery
  • Optional add-on filtration package for Saybolt color management