Accurate, Drift-free and Fast Detection of Hydrocarbon and Water Dew Point in Natural Gas from One Source

Hydrocarbon dew point and moisture (water dew point): two indicators for the quality of natural gas and two potential risk factors for every natural gas plant. For these two reasons, more and more gas companies are asking for a continuous monitoring of these values. In combination with Hygrophil F already established in the natural gas industry, Bartec
(Germany) has developed a new and innovative measurement system: Hygrophil HCDT. By measuring the hydrocarbon dew point and the moisture in natural gas, it monitors the quality of the gas and at the same time reliably protects the plant.
The measurement system Hygrophil HCDT consists of the display unit Hygrophil F 5673, the moisture sensor L1660 and the HCDT sensor. Both are installed in a specially developed sample system and enables the very precise, drift-free and fast detection of the hydrocarbon and water dew point: The chilled mirror method is an approved and precise
standard technique to detect the dew point. So far, it has mostly been applied for calibration and research purposes.
The precision of the HCDT sensor is +/- 0,5°C. A measured value
drift can be excluded as platinum temperature sensors are considered to be drift-free and neither movable nor easily wearing out sensor components have been integrated. This is why the sensor does not require a cyclical recalibration. Another advantage of the Bartec design over conventional technology is the fact that particles carried along in the gas have no influence on the measurement.
The condensation range for hydrocarbons is 2mm x 1mm, which shows that the construction shape of the HCDT sensor could be drastically reduced. This in turn has the result that heating and cooling processes at
the Peltier element can be carried out very quickly, which makes the measurement itself very fast. It goes without saying that the same attributes apply to the well-proven fibre-optical principle for the moisture measurement.