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So you're ready to start.Now what?

Get the right pressure vessel

  • Properly Sized.  Make sure you get that correct size pressure vessle for your application by consulting with an Ole Red sales consultant. 

  • Vertical pressure vessel with an inlet gas pipe at the top of the side wall of the vessel, and an outlet pipe at the bottom of the sidewall of the vessel and below the support tray (see below).

  • Support tray near the lower head seam capable of holding the weight of the media and pressure drop.

  • If no support tray, create a support bed consisting of "clean" or "washed" river rock (i.e. no rock-fines or small particles), graduated in size ranging from 3" rock on the bottom to 1" rock on top. The top of the bed should be level with the bottom of the lower manway.  The rock on the bottom should be large enough not to obstruct or enter the outlet gas pipe. A screen over the outlet gas pipe may be necessary to keep rocks from entering the pipe.

  • Two manways, one in the center of the top head and the other below the support tray.  The manways are a minimum of 18" wide; 24" in larger vessels. The lower edge of the bottom manway should be as close to the support tray as possible to help with cleaning out the spent media.  The manways are used for loading and unloading product.

  • Ladder and platform at the top of the vessel for workers to load the unload the product.

  • Liquid drain on the bottom of the lower head for draining any water an condensate that condenses in the vessel.

  • Gas inlet and outlet pipes on the side of the vessel; one near the top head seam, and the other below the support tray. 

  • Gas pressure probes near the top, center and bottom of the vessel

  • Pressure relief valve near the top of the vessel

  • ​Additional bed support (supplied by Ole Red): 40 mesh s/s screen, 4 mesh s/s steel screen and foam filter.

  • "Witch's hat" in the outlet piping of the scavenger.  This prevents any product going down stream in the unlikely event of a bed support failure.

  • Make sure any vessel you get is safe and certified for the intended operating conditions.  Rely on the advice of a license professional engineer as needed.

Place it in the right order: Separate, Eliminate, Dehydrate

  • Place the Ole Red vessel upstream of (i.e. before) the dehydration process. 

  • Place a gas liquid separator 20 feet upstream (i.e. before) of the Ole Red vessel.

  • All equipment should be placed on a properly designed pad for the weight and size of the equipment.

  • There should be no line heaters upstream of the sweetening vessel.

  • If the gas is substantially undersaturated, water injection may be necessary before the separator.

Loading the vessel with media

  • The media comes in bulk gas weighing either 2,000 lbs or 2,500 lbs. 

  • A crane is needed to lift the product above the top manway.

  • The bags are certified for one-lift. 

  • IMPORTANT: FOLLOW THE SAFETY LIFTING INSTRUCTIONS PRINTED ON THE BAG. NEVER LIFT A BAG DIRECTLY OVER A PERSON.  

  • ​The product is discharged from the bag through a spout on the bottom of the bag.  Extend the spout fully and into the manway before untying the spout to release the product.​

Pressuring up the vessel

  • ALWAYS DEFER TO YOUR COMPANY'S SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR STARTING AND OPERATING THE WELL.

  • If it does not conflict with your company's safety guidelines, pressure up the vessel as follows:

    • Close the outlet valve​

    • Slowly open the inlet valve to start filling the vessel with gas. Depending on the vessel size, this should take up to a couple of hours if done properly.

    • When fully pressurized, slowly open the outlet valve until the system is fully pressure, then open the valve as desired.

    • Pressuring too quickly may create a temporary breakthrough of H2S.  If this happens, and you can continue operating, the breakthrough will go away in brief amount of time.  If not, then close the outlet valve and let the gas sit for up to 30 minutes.

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