Twister BV today announced the market introduction of the Twister SWIRL Valve, a new gas processing product that improves the separation of two-phase flow across a pressure reduction valve, such as a choke valve, Joule Thomson (JT) valve or control valve. This significantly improves the separation efficiency of downstream separators.
It is expected that the SWIRL Valve will be effective in flow debottlenecking of existing separator trains, while also minimising liquid carry-over and/or gas carry-under, reducing chemical losses and enabling significantly higher liquid recovery.
The improved separation efficiency of the Twister SWIRL Valve can be used to increase the flow capacity of existing JT-LTS plants, reduce the pressure drop required for JT cooling or lower the hydrocarbon dew point, and also to reduce glycol carry-over. SWIRL Valves can be applied to all JT expansion gas flows.
The Netherlands-based Twister BV Company was launched by Shell Technology Ventures in April 2000 and has significant experience of natural gas processing technology development, plant delivery and operational support. Their main product line is the Twister Supersonic Separator, which produces gas at supersonic velocities, extracting water and hydrocarbon liquids.
Compared with conventional technologies, the Twister process requires no chemicals and reduces exposure to hazardous gas emissions. It has no moving parts, permits near instant start-up and allows considerable cost reduction, particularly for offshore installations.