Year 4

Natural gas dehydration

Yousab gerges
Hassaan shaatta
Ahmed saad Ibrahim
Yasser ashour
Mohamed ayad

[DR.MAMDOUH GADALLAH]
Natural Gas Dehydration

Methods of Dehydration

There are three main methods of dehydration NG. First of them is absorption of H2O by
TriEthyleneGlycol (TEG). Absorption is done in glycol contactor (tray column or packet
bed) by countercurrent flow of wet gas (20-35°C) and TEG. TEG is enriched (by H2O)
and fl ows out in the bottom of contactor, then runs through fl ash and heat exchanger into
reboiler. In the reboiler the H2O is boiled out. Temperature inside should not exceed
208°C due to decomposition temperature of TEG. Regenerated (lean) TEG is then
recycled back through heat exchanger and additional cooling unit back into the top of
contactor. Whole method is depicted on fi g. 1 below

fig. ( 1 )

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The second dehydration method is adsorption of H2O. In this method the H2O is
adsorbed by solid desiccants, most often by mole sieve, silica gel or alumina. As a
minimum, two beds systems are used. Typically one bed is drying gas and the other is
being regenerated. Regeneration is done by preheated gas, as it is depicted on the fi g. 2
below or by depressurizing (PSA), but that is less often.

fig. ( 2 )

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Finally the last dehydration method is expansion of NG which causes Joule – Thomson
effect. The wet NG is throttled in fl ash tanks and as the consequence of the pressure
decrease the temperature decreases. Lower temperature of the gas stream leads to partial
condensation of H2O vapors. Created droplets are removed from the gas stream by a
demister inside the fl ash. Essential part of the system is injection of hydrate inhibitors
(methanol or MonoEthylenGlycol – MEG). This prevents hydrate formation and thus
plugging. In cases where is insuffi cient pressure difference between the UGS and
distribution network available, additional external cooler is required. The fi g. 3 below
shows the method.

fig. ( 3 )

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Main Comparison of each method
Each of the methods presented here has its advantages and disadvantages. Absorption by
TEG is nowadays the most widely used method. Outlet Tdew around -10°C is usually
reached and this water concentration is sufficient for pipeline distribution of NG. Indeed,
with improved reboiler design (Vacuum Stripping, Drizo, Coldfinger), the outlet Tdew is
even 2 - 3 times lower. However TEG has a problem with sulfur, and with gas
contaminated with higher hydrocarbons. The TEG in the reboiler foams, and with time it
degrades into a “black mud”. BTEX emissions (the acronym stands for benzene, toluene,
ethylbenzene and xylenes) in the flash gases and in the reboiler vent are a further
disadvantage. Adsorption dehydration can achieve very low outlet water concentration
Tdew < -50°C, and contaminated gases are not a problem. Even corrosion of the
equipment proceeds at a slower rate. However, adsorption requires high capital
investment and has high space requirements. The adsorption process runs with at least
two columns (some lines use three, four, or as many as six). Industrial experience
indicates that the capital cost for an adsorption line is 2 - 3 times higher than when
absorption is used [5]. In addition, the operating costs are higher for adsorption than
for absorption. Expansion dehydration is the most suitable method in cases where a high
pressure difference is available between UGS and the distribution connection. However,
the difference decreases during the withdrawal period and becomes insufficient, so that
an external cooling cycle is needed. A cycle for regenerating hydrate inhibitor from the
condensate separated inside the flashes is also required.

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Absorbers
Water vapor is absorbed in the glycol and consequently, its dew point reduces. The wet
rich glycol then flows from the absorber to a regeneration system in
which the entrained gas is separated and fractionated in a column and rboiler.

Absorber design aspects

1- Drying section employs 4 to 12 bubble cap/ valve trays

2- Trays spacing at least 18 inch
3- Teg circulation rate from 1.5 to 4 gal/lb water removed
4- If smaller units : 4-6 trays, teg3 gal/lb
5- If larger units : more than 8 trays, teg 2 gal /lb

Still coumns design aspects

1- Reconcentration occur in the vertical stripper or still coumn and also the reboiler
2- Still column contain stripping section from 4 to 8 ft of ceramic packing
3- Water in rich glycol leave the still column as steam
4- The temperature should be less than 400 F to avoid decomposition of Teg

TEG process operation

Recommended glycol unit operating

Absorber parameter

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 1- Inlet gas flow rate , temperature and pressure
At 100 f the effect of pressure is not significant
Inlet gas enter saturated with water vapor
Most contacors should handle 5-10% increase over maximum capcity

2- Lean glycol concentration temperature and circulation rate

Drying ability increase with concentration

Equilibrium water dew point decrease with decreasing temp

The preferred temp rang 80-100 f

Below 70 f the glycol is viscous, lead to reduce tray efficiency promotes foaming and
increase glycol loses.

Process operation still parameters

The glycol reconcentration depend on reboiler temp

Glycol losses can be minmizied by temperature control

Rate of glycol decomposition increase above 400 f

Reboiler temp rang 350-400 f

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 This graph show TEG concentration increase with temperature

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 So to avoid many operating and corrosion problem is to keep glycol clean

Major concentration problems

Low pH

Oxidation

Thermal decomposition

Salt contamination

Hc contamination

Foaming

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Choice of glycol

Four glycols have been successfully used to dry natural gas:

ethylene glycol EG

diethyleneglycol DEG

triethyleneglycol TEG

tetraethyleneglycol TREG

Why TEG is the best choice?

 TEG is more easily regenerated to a concentration of 98-99.95% in an atmospheric

stripper because of high boiling point and decomposition temperature

 TEG has an initial theoretical decomposition temperature of 404 oF, while that of
diethyleneglycol is only 328 F
 Vaporisationlosses are lower than EG or DEG
 Capital and operating costs are lower
 TEG is not too viscous above 70 F

TEG Dehydration
The purpose of a glycol dehydration unit is to remove water from natural gas and
natural gas liquids. When produced from a reservoir, natural gas usually contains a large amount
of water and is typically completely saturated or at the water dew point. This water can cause
several problems for downstream processes and equipment. At low temperatures the water can
either freeze in piping or, as is more commonly the case, form hydrates with CO2 and
hydrocarbons (mainly methane hydrates). Depending on composition, these hydrates can form
at relatively high temperatures plugging equipment and piping. Glycol dehydration units depress
the hydrate formation point of the gas through water removal.

Without dehydration, a free water phase (liquid water) could also drop out of the natural gas as
it is either cooled or the pressure is lowered through equipment and piping. This free water
phase will often contain some portions of acid gas (such as H2S and CO2) and can cause
corrosion.

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For the above two reasons the Gas Processors Association sets out a pipeline quality
specification for gas that the water content should not exceed 7 pounds per million standard
cubic feet. Glycol dehydration units must typically meet this specification at a minimum,
although further removal may be required if additional hydrate formation temperature
depression is required, such as upstream of a cryogenic process or gas plant.

Process description

Figure 1 Process description

Lean, water-free glycol (purity >99%) is fed to the top of an absorber (also known as a
"glycol contactor") where it is contacted with the wet natural gas stream. The glycol removes
water from the natural gas by physical absorption and is carried out the bottom of the column.
Upon exiting the absorber the glycol stream is often referred to as "rich glycol". The dry natural
gas leaves the top of the absorption column and is fed either to a pipeline system or to a gas
plant. Glycol absorbers can be either tray columns or packed columns.

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 After leaving the absorber, the rich glycol is fed to a flash vessel where hydrocarbon
vapors are removed and any liquid hydrocarbons are skimmed from the glycol. This step is
necessary as the absorber is typically operated at high pressure and the pressure must be
reduced before the regeneration step. Due to the composition of the rich glycol, a vapor phase
having a high hydrocarbon content will form when the pressure is lowered.

After leaving the flash vessel, the rich glycol is heated in a cross-exchanger and fed to
the stripper (also known as a regenerator). The glycol stripper consists of a column, an overhead
condenser, and a reboiler. The glycol is thermally regenerated to remove excess water and
regain the high glycol purity.

The hot, lean glycol is cooled by cross-exchange with rich glycol entering the stripper. It
is then fed to a lean pump where its pressure is elevated to that of the glycol absorber. The lean
solvent is cooled again with a trim cooler before being fed back into the absorber. This trim
cooler can either be a cross-exchanger with the dry gas leaving the absorber or an air-cooled
exchanger.

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Design of Dehydration Systems

Design procedure

 Obtain design information

 Select an appropriate combination of lean glycol concentration and circulation rate, and
absorber trays
 Establish the required material and energy balances
 Size the equipment

Required Information for Design

 Inlet gas stream condition
 Degree of dehydration
 Available utilities
 Safety and environmental regulations for discharging stripper overhead
 Inlet gas flow rate, pressure, and temperature
 Required water dew point or water content of exit gas
 Inlet gas analysis or inlet gas gravity and acid gas (H2S, CO2) content

Dew-point depression:

 Dew-point depressions increase 0.9 F for every 100 psi increase in contactor pressure
 Dew-point depressions vary little with temperature

 Linear interpolation is recommended for variation between 80 and 100 F

Absorber Column Diameter
The diameter can be calculated from the Souders-Brown correlation:

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