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VENEZUELANEXTRACTIONPLANTEXPANDINGTO1BCFDRATINGOil&GasJournal

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VENEZUELANEXTRACTIONPLANT
EXPANDINGTO1BCFDRATING
12/03/1990
HenryJimenezGomez
CorpovenS.A.
SanJoaquin,Venezuela
ModificationofthetwoprocesstrainsatCorpoven'sSanJoaquin,Venezuela,extraction
plantwillincreaseeachtrain'ssustainedcapacityto500MMscfdand1bcfdtotalplant
capacity.
TheSanJoaquin1000project,setforcompletionin1991,willrepresentanincreasein
NGLproductionof8,000b/d,withagrossrevenueof$25million/yearforCorpovenS.A.,a
subsidiaryofPetroleosdeVenezuela.
TheSanJoaquinextractionplantcurrentlyconsistsoftwoidenticalprocesstrains,each
designedtohandle400MMscfdofrichgas.Originaldesignalsoprovidedforfuture
conversionfor70%ethanerecoverywiththeinstallationOfCO2removalunitsfortheinlet
gas.
Becauseactualinletgashasbeenmuchleanerthandesign,andexcesscapacityhas

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existedinsomevesselsresultingfromconsiderationsforthe70%ethanerecoverycase,
truecapacityoftheplantisconsiderablyhigherthandesign.
Inaddition,streamtestshaveshownpeakprocessingcapacityapproaching500
MMscfd/train.

EASTERNCRYOGENICCOMPLEX

InNovember1989,Venezuela'seasterncryogeniccomplexcompleteditsfourthyearof
operation.ThecryogeniccomplexconsistsoftheSanJoaquinextractionplant,the
fractionationplantandmarineterminalatJose,andinterplantpipelines.
DesignoftheSanJoaquinextractionplantwasasfollows:

Capacityof800MMscfdintwoidenticalprocesstrains,eachtrainhandling400
MMscfdviatwoturboexpandersoperatinginseries.
Inletgascompositionof74.88mol%methaneand6.01MOI%CO2with3.08gpm
C3+.
Propanerecoveryof90%intheinletgasstreamandprovisioninthetowersand
othervesselstohandleflowsforthe70%ethanerecoverycase.
ThiscaserequiresadditionalCO2removalunitsfortheinletgas,severalheatexchangers,
andpipelinemodifications.Thisfutureexpansionwilldependprimarilyonthedevelopment
ofVenezuela'spetrochemicalindustry.
Changesingasfromfieldsusedasdesigncriteriaanddevelopmentofnewgasfields
resultedinasubstantiallyleanerinletgas:78.44mol%methaneand7.10mol%carbon
dioxidewith2.30gpmC3+.
Today'sconfigurationincludestwoturbocompressorspertraincapableofhandling250
MMscfdeachwithethanerejectionforactual94%ofpropanerecovery.
Thisadditionalavailablecompressioncapacityisthemainjustificationforincreasinggas
flowandprocessingcapacityoftheextractionplant.
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Inadditiontothefactthatleanerinletgasimpliedapotentialincreaseingasprocessing
capacity,Corpoven'smanagementinitiatedaprogramin1988tofindthisnewgas
processinglimit.
Duringthedevelopmentofthisproject,gasflowtotheextractionplantwasincreaseda
littleatatime,andtheeffectsofeachincrementwereevaluatedwithrespecttoproduct
recovery,pressuredrops,andotherparameters.Thetestwasconductedsimultaneously
inbothprocesstrainsoveraperiodofseveralmonths.
Resultsshowedtheactualsustainedprocessingcapacityoftheextractionplanttobe
approximately900MMscfd.Thetestalsorevealedthefirstprocessbottlenecktobethe
glycolcontactorsattheinlettoeachprocesstrain.
Atthispoint,Corpoveninitiatedaplantoeliminatetheremainingbottleneckthatwould
permittheplant'ssustainedprocessingcapacitytobeincreasedtoatleast1bscfd.

GASSEPARATION,DEHYDRATION

TheprocessdescriptionisshowninFig.1.
Inletgasfromslugcatchersoutsidethebatterylimitsispressurecontrolledintofour
scrubbersattheinlettotheextractionplant.Theseinletscrubbersarethreephase
separatorsthatoperateat100F.and990psig.
Anyfreewaterseparatedfromthegasstreamsisdrainedfromthebottomofthe
scrubbers.Separatedcondensateispressuredtothestabilizationsectionoftheprocess
trains.
Vaporsfromthescrubberscombineinacommon30ftheaderandflowtothetwoprocess
trains.Flowthrougheachtrainisdeterminedbythespeedoftheresiduegascompressors
associatedwiththattrain.
Feedgasfromtheinletgasscrubberscombineswithagasstreamfromthestabilizer
overheadcompressors,flowsthroughafilterseparator,andentersthebottomoftheglycol
contactor.
Asgasflowsupwardsthroughthecontactoragainstacountercurrentof98%triethylene
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glycol(TEG)solution,itisdehydratedtoawaterdewpointofapproximately20F.The
dehydratedgasleavestheTEGcontactorat110F.and980psig.
Dehydratedgasleavingthecontactoriscooledto54F.infourheatexchangersoperating
inparallel.
Onestreamiscooledto45F.byexchangewithcoolresiduegas.Anotherstreamis
cooledto45F.byexchangewithcondensedliquidfromthehighpressureexpanderoutlet
separator.
Thethirdandfourthstreamsarecooledto62F.,onebyprovidingreboilheattothede
ethanizersidereboiler,andtheotherbyexchangewithcondensedliquidfromthehigh
pressureexpanderinletseparator.
Streamsthenrecombineandflowtothehighpressureexpanderinletseparatorwherethe
condensedliquidseparatesfromthevapor.Thisseparatoroperatesat54F.and970psig.
Thecondensedliquidflowsfromtheseparatorunderlevelcontrolandisheatedto90F.
byexchangewiththewarmgasstreamfromtheTEGcontactor.Vaporliquidmixturefrom
theexchangerflowstothestabilizerfeedflashtank.

HIGHPRESSUREEXPANSION

Gasfromtheexpanderinletseparatorflowsthroughthehighpressureexpander,whereits
pressureisreducedto710psiganditstemperatureto27F.Energyextractedfromthe
expanderisusedtodrivethehighpressureexpandercompressor.
Anexpanderbypass(JouleThomsonvalve)isprovidedsothattheplantcanbeoperated
whenthehighpressureexpanderisdown.
Liquidcondensedintheexpanderisseparatedfromthegasinthehighpressureexpander
outletseparator.Thisseparatoroperatesat27F.and710psig.
Liquidflowsfromtheseparatorandisheatedto85F.byexchangewiththewarmgas
streamfromtheTEGcontactor.Vaporliquidmixturefromthisexchangeralsoflowstothe
stabilizerfeedflashtank.Gasfromtheoutletseparatorflowstothemolecularsieve
dehydrationunit.
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Gasfromthehighpressureexpanderflowsthroughafilterseparator,thenthroughthe
molsievedehydratorswherethewatercontentisreducedtolessthan0.1ppm(volume).
Thesystemconsistsoffouradsorptiontowersthreeareinserviceatanytimewhilethe
fourthisbeingregenerated.Thedehydratedgasfromthebedsflowsthroughadustfilter
wherefinemolsievedustisremoved.
Gasfromthemolsievedehydratorsiscooledto43F.inthreeheatexchangersoperating
inparallel.Onestreamiscooledto30F.byexchangewithcoldresiduegas.
Theothertwostreamsarecooledto55F.byexchangewithcondensedliquidsinthede
ethanizerhighpressureandlowpressurefeedpreheaters.Streamsthenrecombineand
flowtothelowpressureexpanderinletseparator.Thisseparatoroperatesat43F.and
690psig.

LOWPRESSUREEXPANSIONDEETHANIZATION

Liquidfromtheseparatorisheatedto4F.byexchangewiththegasleavingthe
dehydratorsandisthenfedtothedeethanizeronTrayNo.12.Gasfromtheseparator
flowsthroughthelowpressureexpanderwhereitspressureisreducedto170psigandits
temperatureto116F.
Energyextractedfromtheexpanderisusedtodrivethelowpressureexpander
compressor.
Anexpanderbypass(JouleThomsonvalve)isalsoprovidedforthelowpressure
expander.
Liquidcondensedintheexpanderisseparatedfromthegasinthelowpressureexpander
outletseparator.Thisseparatoroperatesat116F.and170psig.Vaporfromtheseparator
providesrefrigerationtothedeethanizerrefluxcondenser.
Liquidispumpedthroughthedeethanizerlowpressurefeedpreheaterwhereitisheated
to9F.byexchangewithgasleavingthedehydrators,thenflowstothedeethanizerof
No.5.
Thedeethanizercontains28valvetraysandoperatesat172psig.
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Thecolumnhasonesidereboilerandonebottomreboiler.
Reboilheatforthesidereboilerisprovidedbyinletgas.Gasfromresiduegas
compressorsisusedtoprovideheattothebottomreboiler.Apartialcondenserisusedto
providerefluxtothecolumn.
Coldgasfromthedeethanizeroverheadcombineswithgasfromthelowpressure
expander,Thiscombinedresiduegasstreamprovidesrefrigerationtotheinletgas,as
discussedpreviously.
Liquidbottomproductfromthedeethanizerispumpedtothepipelinethatdeliversthe
NGLproducttotheJosefractionationfacility.

COMPRESSIONCONDENSATESTABILIZATION

Residuegaspressureisboostedto190psiginthelowpressureexpandercompressor
andto220psiginthehighpressureexpandercompressor.Thegasisthenrecompressed
to950psigintwogasturbinedrivencentrifugalcompressorsoperatinginparallel.
Dischargeoftheresiduegascompressorscombineswiththeresiduegasfromthesecond
trainandflowstoCorpoven'sgasdistributionpipeline.
Thestabilizationsystemservestoremovewaterandlighthydrocarbonsfromliquids
condensedinthehighpressuresectionsoftheplant.Thesecondensedliquidsflow
throughacommonlinetothestabilizerfeedflashtank.
Operatingat69F.and410psig,thistankisathreephaseseparatorinwhichany
entrainedwaterorglycolcanberemovedfromthesystem.Gasfromtheflashtankflows
tothestabilizeroverheadcompressor,whiletheliquidisfedtothetopofthestabilizer
column.
Thestabilizercontains21valvetraysandoperatesat389psig.Reboilheatisprovidedby
ahotoilsystem.Thestabilizeroverheadvaporcombineswiththevaporfromtheflash
tank.Thisvaporiscompressedto995psiginthestabilizercompressor.Gasfromthe
overheadcompressoriscooledto120F.andreturnedtotheinletgasstreamupstreamof
theTEGcontactor.StabilizerbottomliquidsarepumpedtotheNGLproductpipelinealong
withthedeethanizerbottomliquids.
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MODIFICATIONSINLETSECTION

Toanalyzetheresults,letuslookattheplantstartingfromthefrontend:
Excesscapacityavailableattheinletscrubbersis170MMscfd.Theinletscrubberscan
thereforeeasilyhandle150MMscfdtobringthetotalto1bscfd(Table1).
FromcalculationsitwasfoundthattheElTocoSantaAna20in.lineinletscrubberand
theSantaRosa20in.lineinletscrubber,currentlysizedat102in.,canmoveamaximum
of375MMscfdeach.Hence,ifanincreaseinthecapacityistocomefromthe20in.
pipelines,seriousconsiderationsmustbegiventoparallelingorunloadingeitherofthese
inletscrubbers(Table2).
Therefore,anadditionalinletscrubbershouldbeinstalledinordertoallowmorethan1
bscfdgasflowavoidingahigherpressuredropatthefrontend.

MODIFICATIONSGLYCOLSECTION

Theinletfilterseparatorisextremelycrucialforthesuccessfuloperationoftheglycol
contactorintermsoffoamingtendencyprevention.Itcannotberemovedfromoperationor
bypassed.
However,currentlyitisseenthatitwilldeveloppressuredropproblemsbecauseofhigh
flows.TheSanJoaquin1000projecthasplanstoinstallaparallelfiltertoalleviatethis
situation,anditwillalsoprovideanexcellentbackuptotheexistingfilter.
Forhighervolumes,however,bothfiltersmustbeinoperationforonetrain.
Theglycolcontactorat500MMscfdwillpresentasignificantentrainmentandglycolloss
problemasaresultofcarryoverfromhighgasvelocitiesinthecontactor.
Thetoweriscapableofhandlinguptoamaximumflowof440MMscfdafterwhichserious
glycollosseswilloccur.Thiscontactorhasbeenevaluatedwithdatafromprominenttray
manufacturers.Therecommendationofthisevaluationwasthatvaporfloodwasexcessive
andfreeflowvaporareaisinsufficient.
Reconfiguringtheexistingcolumnbyretrayingwithstructuredpackingorothertypesof
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devicesnormallyhelpsifliquidfloodingproblemsexist.Liquidfloodingisnotseento
accountforthissituation.Therefore,theinternalsofthetowerswillnotbechanged.
Inordertoalleviatethisbottleneckeffectively,aparalleladditionalcolumnsizedfor100
MMscfdwillbeaddedtotheexistingcolumn.Thiscolumnwillhelpslowgasvelocitiesin
bothcolumnssothatmoreefficientmasstransferisperformedwithgoodgasdehydrated
andminimumglycolcarryoverandentrainment.
Thedustfilterseparatorlocatedafterthemolsievebedshasexcessivepressuredropat
higherflows.Anidenticalfilterseparatorwillbeinstalledinparallelwiththeoriginalone,
andbothfilterswillbeoperational.
Whenfilterelementsneedtobechanged,however,thereisnoneedforaplantshutdown.
Thiswillprovideflexibilityaswellasensurethatexcessivepressuredropdoesnot
jeopardizethelowpressureexpander'sperformance.

TURBOEXPANDERSECTION

Sincetheexchangersintheoriginalplantarenotuniformlyoversized,imbalancesexistin
thesurfacearearequirementsforaheattransferpoint.Forextractionofmaximumcooling
fromtheresiduegas,awaymustexisttoforcetheinletgastoflowinacertaindirection.
Thisisnormallyachievedbyatrimvalvelocatedintheinletgaslinesaftertheflowsplits.
Currently,thesevalvesarenotinstalledforcoolingafterthemolsievebed.Theyprovide
betterflowcontrolongasflowsplits,bothinthecriticalcoldgas/gassection.
InletgasbeingfedtotheSanJoaquinplantisbecomingleanerastimepassesCO2
contentwillriseto7.1mol%.Theeffectivenessofthehighpressureexpanderhadbeen
evaluatedwhichledtotheconclusionthatitdoesnotcontributetoanysignificant
productionoftheliquids(Table3).
Thelowpressureexpanderasitiscurrentlybeingoperatedrepresentsaserious
bottlenecktohigherflowvolumeoperations.Thehighpressureexpandermustbe
convertedtooperateinparallelwiththelowpressureexpander.And,atthelocationofthe
highpressureexpander,aJouleThomsonvalve,ahighstressoperationvalve,mustbe
installed.

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Inordernottobottlenecktheplant,anotherJouleThomsonvalvemustbeplacedin
paralleltothecurrentvalve.
Theexpanderwillbemodifiedastwo50%operationunits(Fig.2).Therestoftheplantwill
becapableofhandlingthenewflowvolumes.
Theresiduegascompressorsareadequatetohandlethelowersuctionpressure
presentedtothemcausedbythelossofhorsepowerfromthehighpressureexpander.
Andtheyshouldbeabletoprocessallthegasathighervolumesandlowersuction
pressures(Table4).

MODELPREDICTIONS

TheSanJoaquinplantwassimulatedwiththeoriginaldesignconditions.Themodel
predictedtheactualNGLyieldsandCO2freezinglevelsverywell.
Thismodelthenwasusedtosimulateincreasedflowsflowingthroughtheplant.Theplant
wassimulatedextensivelywithvariouscompositionsandvaryinglevelsofCO2intheinlet
gas.
Analysisindicatedthattheplantiscapableofrecoveringmorethan90%ofthepropane
containedintheincomingfeed.Table5showstheresultoftherecoveries.
Thechiefprobleminrecoveringmorethan90%isrelatedtotheCO2contentoftheinlet
gas.AstheCO2contentrises,thefreezingbecomesproblematic.
Themainadvantageforthelowpressureexpanderconfigurationisthepossibilityof
handling400MMscfd/trainevenincaseofatemporaryfailureofonelowpressure
expander.
Thetotalproject,themajordebottleneckmodificationstobedoneontheinletfacilities,
glycol,andturboexpandersectionsasdescribed,willbecompletedbyearlynextyear.
Thisprojectisbeingdevelopedinthreephasespertraintoreduceplantshutdownsandin
accordancewiththedeliverytimeoftheadditionalkeyequipment.
Totalcostoftheprojecthasbeenestimatedatcloseto$12millionandwillrepresentan
additionalNGLproductionof8,000b/d,withacurrentmarketvalueof$25million/year.
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Withthecompletionofthissecondproject,Corpovenwillhaveimprovedthedesignofthe
originalplant,whichwasstartedinNovember1985,byincreasingpropanerecoveryfrom
90%to94%andgasprocessingcapacityfrom800to1bcfd.

Copyright1990Oil&GasJournal.AllRightsReserved.

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