Natural gas dehydrators
The natural gas industry uses glycol dehydrators to remove water from natural gas. The main reason for this application is to enhance the properties of the raw natural gas as a saleable commodity. The dehydration process also helps to prevent corrosion and hydrate formation in pipelines.
Benzene is a non-threshold carcinogen which has been assessed as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and placed on Schedule 1, the List of Toxic Substances. This enables Environment Canada to develop risk management strategies to control benzene emissions in Canada.
A multi-stakeholder taskforce comprised of industry, government and environmental non-government organizations agreed to a process whereby the oil and gas industry committed to reductions from natural gas dehydrators, the second largest source of benzene releases to the Canadian environment, through the development and implementation of the BMPs. This report outlines the content and process to control benzene emissions from natural gas dehydrators in Canada.