Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Hydrate Formation and Inhibition in Offshore Natural Gas Processing -- Chapter 3.MEG Loops in Offshore Natural Gas Fields -- Chapter 4.Thermodynamics of Glycol Systems -- Chapter 5.MRU Processes -- Chapter 6. Energy Consumption and CO2 Emission of MRU Processes -- Chapter 7.Thermodynamic Efficiency of Steady State Operations of MRUs -- Chapter 8.Exergy Analysis of Chemical Processes -- Chapter 9.Exergy Analysis of MRU Processes in Offshore Platforms -- Chapter 10.Influence of Design Parameters on Exergy Efficiencies of MRU Processes -- Chapter 11.Energy Performance versus Exergy Performance of MRU Processes -- Chapter 12.Concluding Remarks.

This book addresses several issues related to hydrate inhibition and monoethylene glycol (MEG) recovery units (MRUs) in offshore natural gas fields, from fundamentals to engineering aspects and from energy consumption assessment to advanced topics such as exergy analysis. The assessment of energy degradation in MRUs is critical in offshore rigs, and the topic of exergy theory has by no means been completely explored; it is still being developed. The book presents a comprehensive, yet concise, formulation for exergy flow and examines different approaches for the reference state of MEG and definition of the reference environment so as to obtain an effective exergy analysis with consistent results. It also provides new and useful information that has a great potential in the field of exergy analysis application by assessing energy degradation for three well-known MRU technologies on offshore rigs: the Traditional Atmospheric Distillation Process; the Full-Stream Process; and the Slip-Stream Process. The book then elucidates how the main design parameters impact the efficiency of MEG recovery units and offers insights into thermodynamic efficiency based on case studies of general distillation-based processes with sharp or not too sharp cut, providing ranges for expected values of efficiencies and enhancing a global comprehension of this subject. Since MEG recovery is an energy consuming process that invariably has to be conducted in a limited space and with limited power supply, the book is a valuable resource for those involved in design, engineering, economic evaluation and environmental evaluation of topside processing on offshore platforms for natural gas production.