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Dehydration
Prepared by
Archana
Introduction to Natural
Gas
Natural gas is mixture of
hydrocarbons
Methane one carbon atom C1
Ethane two carbon atoms C2
Propane three carbon atoms C3
iso-Butane four carbon atoms i-C4
n-Butane four carbon atoms n-C4
iso-Penatne five carbon atoms i-C5
n-Pentane five carbon atoms n-C5
C6+ all compounds heavier than hexane
(C6)
Inert Compounds
Natural gas often contains inert compounds.
Nitrogen (N2)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Gas
Well
NGL
Condensate Recovery
Mercury
and
Removal
Water Removal
Nitrogen
Removal
To get it
Natural Gas
Compression
Gasoline
Mercury Removal
The limiting hydrate number, a theoretical quantity determined using the size of the g
& the size of the voids in the water lattice
Hydrate molecules can typically be represented as
Methane: .O Nitrogen: O
Ethane:.O Carbon dioxide: O
Propane: .O Hydrogen Sulfide: O
Isobutane:.O
*Normal butane does form hydrate, but it is very unstable. Paraffins higher than butane
hydrates
.
The conditions which affect hydrate formation are:
1- Primary Considerations
Gas or liquid must be at or below its water dew point or
saturation condition.
To allow water droplet condensation. No hydrate
formation is possible if free water is not present
Temperature: Low temp., at or below the hydrate
formation temperature for a given pressure & gas
composition
Pressure: High operating pressures, that may raise the
hydrate formation temperature to the operating
temperature
2- Secondary Considerations:
Mixing or agitation, or pressure pulsations, or high
velocities
Presence of small seed crystal of hydrate
Kinetics
Physical site for crystal formation such as a pipe elbow,
orifice, thermowell, or line
Salinity.
21
21
Hydrate Phase Behavior
Phase equilibrium diagram for gas-water-hydrate system
Absorption Dehydration
Adsorption dehydration (Solid-Bed
dehydration)
Absorption Dehydration
Mechanisms of adsorption:
Physical: used in gas dehydration.
Water forms an extremely thin film
that held to the desiccant surface by
forces of attraction
Chemical : it involves chemical
reaction, termed as Chemisorption
limited use in gas processing
Properties of physical
adsorbent
Large surface area for high capacity.
Surface area of commercial adsorbent
500-800 m2/gm
High mass transfer rate i.e. high rate of
removal
Easy, economic regeneration
Small resistance to gas flow. Low
pressure drop
High mechanical strength
Cheap, non-corrosive, non-toxic,
Adsorbent type
Alumina:
o Least expensive adsorbent
o Produces excellent dew point
depression
o Require much more heat for
regeneration
o Tendency to adsorb heavy
hydrocarbons
o Difficult to remove adsorbed HCs
during regeneration
Adsorbent
Gel: Silica Gel and silica-Alumina
Gel
o Can dehydrate gas to as low as
10ppm
o Greatest ease of regeneration
o Adsorb heavy HCs but release them
during regeneration
o Can handle sour gases
o Gel are useful when H2S is less than
5-6%
Adsorbent
Molecular Sieves
o Alkaline and subject to attack by acids
o Special-acid resistant available for very
sour gases
o Pore size is narrow, tend not to adsorb
heavy HCs
o Regeneration temp very high
o Can produce water content as low as
1ppm
o Can offer means of simultaneous
dehydration & desulfurization
Adsorption dehydration (Solid-Bed
dehydration)
Essential component
Inlet gas separator
Two or more adsorption tower filled with
a solid desiccant
High-temp. heater to provide hot
regeneration gas
Regeneration gas cooler to condense
water from the regeneration gas
Regeneration gas separator to remove
condensed water from the regeneration
gas
Piping, manifolds, switching valves and
Process Description
The adsorption process is cyclic
Multiple desiccant beds are used in cyclic
operation to dry the gas on a continuous
basis
For efficient desiccant performance and for
a longer desiccant life, the inlet gas
stream is thoroughly cleaned to remove
all liquids and solids
In each dehydrator three functions
performed
o Adsorbing or gas drying cycle
o Heating or regeneration
Contd....
The clean gas flows downward during
dehydration through one adsorber
Simultaneously other adsorber is being
regenerated
Gas flow is downward for dehydration in the
adsorber tower to lessen bed disturbance for
high gas velocity
Regeneration gas is sent upward through the
adsorber to ensure thorough regeneration of
the bottom of the bed
Sometimes, only the inlet(top) part of the tower
is recharged with desiccant
Desiccant bed may be rearranged or gas flow
Adsorption Regeneration
Cycle
Regeneration consists two parts
Heating
Cooling
First regeneration gas heated to a temp. of 400-600 F
& is sent to desiccant bed
Subsequently, the hot regenerated bed is cooled by
letting the regeneration gas bypass, or by completely
shutting off the regeneration gas heater
This cooling gas is sent downward through the bed, so
top of bed may adsorb any water from the gas
hot regeneration gas & cooling gas sent to
regeneration cooler to remove any adsorbed water
There are three basic sources of
regeneration gas in gas dehydration
1. Inlet gas
2. A closed cycle separated from the
stream being dehydrated
3. Dry effluent gas from the unit
Dehydration by Expansion
Refrigeration
Can be achieved in case of sufficient
pressure drop
Gas stream is cooled by adiabatic
expansion through choke
Two Techniques:
With hydrate inhibitor
Without hydrate inhibitor