ExxonMobil announced the development of cMISTTM technology, which dehydrates natural gas using a patented absorption system inside pipes and replaces the need for conventional dehydration tower technology. cMIST reduces the size, weight and cost of dehydration, resulting in reductions of surface footprint by 70% and the overall dehydration system's weight by half, which has significant added benefits on offshore applications. cMIST technology relies on a proprietary droplet generator to break up conventional solvent into tiny droplets that become well dispersed in the gas flow thereby increasing the surface area for the absorption of water from the gas. This is followed by an inline separator that coalesces the water-rich glycol droplets and moves them to the outside wall of the pipe for effective separation from the dehydrated natural gas. The water-rich glycol is regenerated using a conventional system and is sent back to the droplet generator to be used again. The droplet generator uses the energy from the flowing natural gas to create droplets of the right size.

The company also announced that it has licensed cMIST technology to the Chemtech division of Sulzer to facilitate deployment across the oil and gas industry.