Narrative for proposed Pressure Regulator sizing calculations

Problem Statement: There is a need to ensure that the ATM compressor constantly receives gas of
10MMcsfd at a pressure of 0.16 barg. As a result, one of the proposed control loops was to utilize a flow
control pressure regulator (Fisher Type EZR) to achieve this.

Sizing Methodology
The sizing methodology stated here highlights the steps used in sizing the Pressure regulator to determine
the flow limits which the valve would impose as a result of its installation on the 16” gas outlet line from
the ATM separator.
The sizing equation was obtained from the Fisher EZR Series Pressure Reducing Regulator Bulletin 71.2:
EZR (November 2015) and shown below;

The operating inlet pressure ranges of the ATM Separator is between 0.4 – 1 barg with the maximum gas
throughput at 20 MMscfd. Different cases were considered to reflect possible swings in operating
pressure of the ATM Separator and how it affects the capacity which the pressure regulator would permit
while still holding the downstream pressure constant at 0.16 barg.
The Fisher EZR catalog shows that the maximum pressure regulator size is 8 inch and for this calculation,
this valve size was considered.
 2:1 Line size to Body Size Piping with Inlet Strainer (Using Main Valve Regulating Flow Coefficients,
Table 9)
  2:1 Line size to Body Size Piping without Inlet Strainer (Using Main Valve Regulating Flow
Coefficients, Table 9)
 2:1 Line size to Body Size Piping with Inlet Strainer (Using Main Valve Wide Open Flow
Coefficients, Table 10)
 2:1 Line size to Body Size Piping without Inlet Strainer (Using Main Valve Wide Open Flow
Coefficients, Table 10)
Other parameters such as the gas specific gravity and flowing/operating temperature were obtained from
the HYSYS simulation model.

Results and Discussion

The result from the sizing calculations show that at an inlet pressure of 1 barg, the pressure regulator
would limit the flow through it to about 9.47 MMscfd for Case A, 9.58 MMscfd for Case B, 9.76 MMscfd
for Case C and 9.87 MMscfd for Case D. This implies that the maximum flow which the regulator would
permit without a strainer at its wide open position is 9.87 MMscfd.
If the inlet pressure (ATM Separator pressure) reduces to a minimum of 0.4 barg, the maximum flow rate
through the regulator is halfed (4.9 MMscfd). This poses a challenge because in the event the inlet
pressure drops to 0.4 barg or any other value lower than 1 barg, the compressor would never receive 10
MMscfd.
Case 1 Case 2
Case 3 Case 4