4. Dehydration

4.1 Purpose of dehydration

Whatever its origin, natural gas always contains water, whether it comes directly from the reservoir or is introduced during various processing operations such as deacidification. The presence of water causes a number of problems for operators, depending on the temperature and pressure conditions prevailing in a plant. Water vapour can form hydrates, solidify or condense, leading to corrosion or operability problems. To avoid these phenomena, it is necessary to reduce the water content of the gas using an appropriate treatment technique