Line Heater

As the pressure of process fluid is cut from high to lower pressure, the Joule-Thomson effect (also referred to as the “JT effect”) can cause an extreme drop in the fluid’s temperature. This can quickly result in hydrates freezing in the line, blocking flow and shutting in the pipeline until the frozen hydrates are thawed or removed. A line heater is used in order to prevent this freezing. A line heater is a horizontal vessel used to heat up the well stream. The heater uses supply gas to run the burner fire and heat the fire tube. The fire tube runs along the bottom of the vessel and heats the surrounding liquid, often referred to as a “water bath.” Meanwhile, the process fluid runs through a series of coils above the fire tube. The coils are also submerged, allowing the process fluid inside to absorb heat from the vessels water bath. This raises the temperature of the well stream to prevent freezing.