Van Gas Technologies Offers Economical and Ecological Solutions for Natural Gas Dehydration

LAKE CITY, Pa., June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Harmful emissions are generated during natural gas dehydration as water vapor is removed from gas using traditional Triethylene glycol dehydrators. Water vapor and other impurities must be removed from natural gas, because these impurities can damage equipment and delay or stop transportation. "It is therefore necessary to employ dehydration systems," states Tyler Currie, Western Sales Manager for Van Gas Technologies. "Economical and ecology-friendly fuel gas conditioning is the focus of our business."

Traditional technology, in the form of Triethylene glycol dehydrators ("TEG dehydrators"), allows methane, volatile organic compounds, and hazardous air pollutants to be released to the atmosphere, damaging local air quality. They also require fuel gas to heat the glycol, wasting energy.

In many applications, GasDry™ brand desiccants are the sensible alternative to TEG dehydrators. Instead of producing the emissions that result from glycol dehydration, the fuel gas conditioning process using GasDry™ brand desiccants allows water vapor to be absorbed by the desiccant tablets, which, as they absorb water, begin to dissolve. The dissolved water/tablet mixture is separated from the natural gas by gravity and exits the system as a liquid, leaving only the purified natural gas. No gas emissions escape the system.

Van Gas Technologies, a division of Van Air Inc., is the family owned business that produces GasDry™ brand desiccants for the natural gas industry. Desiccant tablet technology was originally used in the 1950s for drying compressed air. About fifteen years ago, in response to requests from the natural gas industry, Van Gas Technologies developed new formulas for removing water vapor from natural gas.

"When natural gas producers and processors use GasDry™ brand desiccants, odorous and potentially toxic emissions resulting from natural gas dehydration are eliminated," says Currie.

There are both ecological and economical advantages to using GasDry™ brand desiccants for fuel gas conditioning rather than using glycol dehydration. GasDry™ brand desiccants prevent freeze-ups, water condensation, and hydrate formation, and also meet pipeline moisture specifications under certain conditions. They are safe, effective, and environmentally sound. A gas dryer using GasDry™ brand desiccants has no moving parts to repair, produces no emissions, and needs no fuel. The EPA recommends the use of desiccant dehydrators, reporting that when TEG dehydrators are replaced with desiccant dehydrators, both emissions and maintenance costs drop.

Click here to read the EPA report comparing costs and benefits of natural gas dehydration methods: http://www.vangastech.com/images/stories/pdf/gas_dehydrators_lessons.pdf.

Customers of Van Gas Technologies are quick to appreciate the company's application expertise, customer service, and technical support. GasDry™ brand desiccants and natural gas processing equipment are both manufactured at the company's plants in Pennsylvania, ensuring quality control. Van Gas Technologies' distributors are located across North America and around the world, providing customers with access to timely assistance no matter the location. The company employs a staff of application engineers, industrial engineers, and chemists. Van Gas Technologies serves all natural gas customers, from small independent producers to international companies.

"We're specialists," explains Currie. "Desiccant dehydration is what we do. We're focused and we're hands-on."

About Van Gas Technologies

Located in Lake City, Pennsylvania, Van Gas Technologies is a division of Van Air Inc., an independent family owned business founded in 1944. For more than six decades the employees of Van Air Inc. and its divisions have focused on developing, manufacturing, and supporting world-class solutions for air and gas purification.

Van Gas Technologies was formed in 2002 to promote the application of absorbent deliquescent desiccants in the natural gas industry. With an emphasis on application expertise, technical support, and customer service, Van Gas Technologies has delivered thousands of natural gas drying solutions to customers around the globe.

With extensive in-house engineering, fabrication, desiccant production facilities, and after-market support, Van Gas Technologies is an established leader in desiccant dehydration.

For more information about Van Gas Technologies, GasDry™ brand desiccants, and the company's natural gas processing equipment, please visit http://www.vangastech.com.

SOURCE Van Gas Technologies