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Department of Petroleum Engineering and Petroleum Geosciences Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
Abstract
An approach for removal of water from natural gas by using low temperature separation (LTS) method is presented here. Two types of LTS methods: Joule-Thomson valve and Turbo-expander were considered. Initial gas composition, temperature and pressure were used for doing a steady state simulation of dewatering process under process engineering program Hysys. Hysys made all the analysis by using the provided input data and some necessary assumptions and the simulation output were used to compare Joule-Thomson valve and Turbo-expander technically and thermodynamically. The composition of dry natural gas (in mole %) was obtained from Troll after processing at on-shore process plant Kollsnes. Hysys mixed this gas with water in a fictitious mixer in order to make it saturated with water which was considered to be the inlet stream for LTS units. Hysys helped to estimate the cooling and dewatering capacity, efficiency, advantages and disadvantages of Joule-Thomson valve and Turbo-expander. On the basis of the above simulation, an attempt was made to choose a suitable LTS type dehydration method from small to medium to large scale in a wide range of pressure and temperature condition, technically and thermodynamically efficient, easy to operate, at a reasonable installation, operating and maintenance cost.
Acknowledgements
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Professor Jon Steinar Gudmundsson. I am very grateful to him for his support, guidance, assistance, patience and enthusiasm. I am especially grateful to Mr. Anwar Hossain Bhuian (PHD student) for his valuable remarks and comments during the entire project. I would like to thank Salako Abiodun for providing prompt support and technical knowledge in working with Hysys simulator. I appreciate my wife for her great support during the time of creating the project report, and much longer than that. Last but not least thanks to my friends and colleagues who helped me in making numerous improvements not only to its wording but to its technical content.
Nomenclature
cp cv H P, P1, P2 Q, q R s, s1, s2 T U V w JT Specific heat of gas at constant pressure, Specific heat of gas at constant volume, Enthalpy of gas, Pressure of gas, Heat flow, Molar gas constant, Entropy of gas, Temperature of gas, Internal energy of gas, Volume, Work done by the gas, Coefficient of Joule-Thomsons effect.
List of contents
1 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Objective ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Data Type.................................................................................................................. 1 2 Literature Review .......................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Absorption................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Adsorption................................................................................................................. 3 2.3 Gas Permeation ......................................................................................................... 4 2.4 Low Temperature Separation.................................................................................... 5 2.4.1 Joule-Thomson Valve ........................................................................................ 5 2.4.2 Turbo expander: ................................................................................................. 7 2.4.3 Thermodynamic description of Joule-Thompson Process:................................ 8 2.4.4 Thermodynamic description of Turbo Expander (Isentropic) Process:........... 10 2.4.5 Comparison between J-T Process and Turbo Expander Process ..................... 11 3 Data Analysis and Results........................................................................................... 12 3.1 Hysys Simulation Package...................................................................................... 12 3.2 Joule-Thomson Method .......................................................................................... 13 3.3 Turbo Expander Method ......................................................................................... 13 4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 27 4.1 Joule-Thomson Method .......................................................................................... 27 4.1.1 Advantages of Joule-Thomson Method ........................................................... 27 4.1.2 Limitations Joule-Thomson Method................................................................ 28 4.2 Turbo Expander Method ......................................................................................... 28 4.2.1 Advantages of Turbo Expander Method.......................................................... 28 4.2.2 Limitations of Turbo Expander Method .......................................................... 28 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 29 6 References..................................................................................................................... 30
List of figures
Figure 2.1: Simplified flow diagrams for a glycol dehydration unit Figure 2.2: Dehydration by adsorption Figure 2.3 Gas Permeation Modules Figure 2.4 Typical LTS system without hydrate inhibitor Figure 2.5 Typical LTS system with hydrate inhibitor Figure 2.6 Typical Turbo Expander Figure 2.7 Effect of Joule-Thompson Coefficient Figure 2.8 Isenthalpic and isentropic cooling Figure 3.1 Process flow diagram of Joule-Thomson Method Figure 3.2 Process flow diagram of Turbo Expander Method Figure 3.3 Enthalpy-Entropy diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.4 Pressure-Entropy diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.5 Pressure-Temperature diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.6 Temperature-Enthalpy diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.7 Temperature-Entropy diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.8 Pressure-Enthalpy diagram of Joule-Thomson method Figure 3.9 Pressure-Entropy diagram of Turbo-Expander method Figure 3.10 Pressure-Temperature diagram of Turbo-Expander method Figure 3.11 Temperature-Enthalpy diagram of Turbo-Expander method Figure 3.12 Temperature-Entropy diagram of Turbo-Expander method Figure 3.13 Enthalpy-Entropy diagram of Turbo-Expander method ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 3 5 6 7 8 9 11 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24
Figure 3.14 Polytropic efficiency at different pressure in turbo expander Figure 3.15 Polytropic efficiency at different temperature in turbo expander Figure 3.16 Energy production at different pressure in turbo expander Figure 3.17 Energy production at different temperature in turbo expander Figure 3.18 Water removal in Joule-Thomson and turbo expander methods Figure 3.19 Water removals in Joule-Thomson and turbo expander methods
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 25 25 26 26 27
List of tables
Table 1.1 Table for gas composition Table 1.2 Table for normalized gas composition data Table 3.1 Thermodynamic properties for Joule-Thomson method (At different temperature) Table 3.2 Thermodynamic properties for Joule-Thomson method (At different pressure) Table 3.3 Outlet gas composition in Joule-Thomson method (At different temperature) Table 3.4 Outlet gas composition in Joule-Thomson method (At different pressure) Table 3.5 Thermodynamic properties for Turbo Expander method (At different temperature) Table 3.6 Thermodynamic properties for Turbo Expander method (At different pressure) Table 3.7 Outlet gas composition in Turbo Expander method (At different temperature) Table 3.8 Outlet gas composition in Turbo Expander method (At different temperature) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18
1 Introduction
Natural gas needs to be dried before pipeline transport, because the water molecules present in gas in both vapor and liquid state form hydrates which cause flow restrictions, pressure drops, lower the heating value of gas and corrode pipelines and other equipments. Several methods are used world-wide to dry gas, including absorption method, adsorption method and low temperature separation (LTS) method. 1.1 Objective Two methods are used in LTS: Joule-Thompson (J-T) expansion through valve or choke and expansion through turbine. Here my aim was to compare the two LTS methods with focus both technically and thermodynamically on their advantages and disadvantages in gas dehydration plants. 1.2 Methodology We need composition of gas to analyze any gas dehydration process because gas properties are highly influenced by the composition of gas. Gas composition (mole fraction) data of Troll (1), Norway were taken from the Home Page of Professor Jn Steinar Gudmundsson in order to start the analysis of LTS methods. HYSYS simulator was the main tool of my analysis. Gas composition and some other relevant assumptions were the main inputs for HYSYS. Natural gas coming from subsurface reservoirs is saturated with water but here we started with dry gas. To avoid this problem, we introduced a fictitious mixer at the beginning of HYSYS which made the gas saturated with water. Then HYSYS analyzed that gas to give me the desired output data. 1.3 Data Type Mole fraction in percent of Troll (1) gas, Norway is given below: Table 1.1 Table for gas composition Component Troll (1) Methane 93.070 Ethane 3.720 Propane 0.582 Iso-Butane 0.346 N-Butane 0.083 C5+ 0.203 Nitrogen 1.657 Carbon-dioxide 0.319
Total
99.98
(1) After processing at Kollsnes (on-shore processing plant), average for Nov, 2000. Kollsnes is one of the largest systems in the world. Kollsnes receives the gas from Troll A, the largest gas field in Norway.
Since total summation of mole fractions must be 100%, these data were normalized into following table: Table 1.2 Table for normalized gas composition data Component Methane Ethane Propane Iso-Butane N-Butane C5+ Nitrogen Carbon-dioxide Total Mole % 93,1024 3,7041 0,5806 0,3504 0,0801 0,2002 1,6618 0,3204 100 %
2 Literature Review
The water present in natural gas may, depending on the temperature and pressure prevailing in an installation, condense and cause the formation of hydrates, solidify, or favor corrosion if the gas contains acid components. To avoid such situations, natural gas must be dehydrated (Rojey A. et. al.., 1997). Four types of processes are currently being used which are: a) Absorption, b) Adsorption, c) Gas Permeation and d) Low Temperature Separation. 2.1 Absorption The most common method for dehydration in the natural gas industry is the use of a liquid desiccant contactor-regeneration process. In this process, the wet gas is contacted with a lean solvent (containing only a small amount of water). The water in the gas is absorbed in the lean solvent, producing a rich solvent stream (one containing more water) and a dry gas. In case of absorption based natural gas dehydration processes the gas is dried by countercurrent scrubbing with a solvent that has a strong affinity for water. The solvent is usually a glycol, although other liquid desiccants are met which are calcium chloride, lithium chloride, zinc chloride, etc. The dehydrated gas leaves at the top of the column. The glycol leaving the bottom is regenerated by distillation and recycled. Before
undergoing the actual dehydration process any free liquids in the natural gas stream are removed. A separator should be included upstream of the contactor to separate any hydrocarbon liquids and free water. The separator could be a two-phase or three-phase separator depending on the amount of free water expected.
Figure 2.1: Simplified flow diagrams for a glycol dehydration unit (reprinted from unpublished diploma thesis of Artur Ryba, 2005) 2.2 Adsorption Separation processes by adsorption uses a solid phase with large surface area, which selectively retains the components to be separated. The adsorbents are generally characterized by a micro porous structure which affords a very large specific surface Adsorption processes are generally applied when a high purity is required for the processed gas. Adsorbents are naturally unsuitable for continuous circulation, owing to mechanical problems and also due to the risks of attrition (erosion of adsorbent particles due to friction and collisions during movement). This is why adsorbents are normally used in fixed beds with periodic sequencing. The flow scheme of a dehydration operation by adsorption in a fixed bed is shown in Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2: Dehydration by adsorption (reprinted from Rojey A. et. al., 1997) The process is conducted alternately and periodically, with each bed going through successive steps of adsorption and desorption. During the adsorption step, the gas to be processed is sent on the adsorbent bed which selectively retains the water. When the bed is saturated, hot natural gas is sent to regenerate the adsorbent. After regeneration and before the adsorption step, the bed must be cooled. This is achieved by passing through cold natural gas. After heating, the same gas can be used for regeneration. In these conditions, four beds are needed in practice, two beds operating simultaneously in adsorption, one bed in cooling and one bed in regeneration (Rojey A. et. al., 1997). The desorption step is carried by different methods, such as: a) Lowering the pressure, sometimes even under vacuum b) Sweeping by an inert natural gas to lower the partial pressure of the component to be desorbed c) Sweeping by a displacement agent, which, by being adsorbed, allows more effective desorption than with a simple evolution gas d) Heating, in which the temperature rises, facilitates desorption in a fixed-bed operation. The most widely used adsorbents are: Activated Alumina, Silica Gel and Molecular Sieves (Zeolites). 2.3 Gas Permeation In the process of dehydration by permeation, the dried natural gas is going through a membrane leaving particles of water and impurities on its surface. Industrial applications of dehydration by gas permeation are currently very limited. However, many investigations have demonstrated the potential value of such a process which, in comparison with a glycol dehydration unit, could prove to be more economical and more compact, which is extremely important for offshore production. These advantages only appear clearly in the case of single-stage operation without recycle or recompression of the permeate.
For the separation to be effective, the membrane must be very permeable with respect to the contaminant to be separated, which passes through the membrane driven by pressure difference, and it must be relatively impermeable to methane. The permeability of methane must be accepted to avoid an excessively large membrane area nevertheless means a significant loss of methane in the permeate. Membrane separation processes require large membrane areas, which are generally expressed in thousands of square meters. The membrane surface is dependent on the amount of gas permeating through it. Compact permeation modules with a high membrane area are therefore needed (Rojey A. et. al., 1997). The most widely used industrial modules belong to two types are (Figure 2.3): a) Modules with plane membranes wound spirally around a collector tube b) Modules with a bundle of hollow fibers
Figure 2.3 Gas Permeation Modules (Reprinted from Rojey A. et. al., 1997) 2.4 Low Temperature Separation In LTS type dehydration process, the pressure of incoming gas is reduced by using choke or expander in order to reduce temperature. This temperature drop makes the water in the gas condense and come out in liquid form from gas. Two methods are used in LTS: (a) Joule-Thomson Valve (b) Turbo Expander
2.4.1 Joule-Thomson Valve The Joule-Thompson Expansion (Constant Enthalpy) systems use the refrigeration effect that results from a pressure drop taken on a high pressure well stream. This expansion occurs across a choke and the resulting refrigeration effect is dependent on the temperature of the upstream side of the choke, the pressure differential across the choke, and the amount of liquid formed. For obtaining the maximum removal of liquids from the gas stream for a given pressure differential and sales-gas pressure, the lowest possible temperature within reasonable limits should be attained in the separator. This in turn means the lowest possible temperature upstream of the choke. Two basic methods commonly used for dehydration purpose are: (a) LTS without hydrate inhibitor, (b) LTS with hydrate inhibitor. (a) LTS without hydrate inhibitor The basic unit for low-temperature separation without hydrate inhibitor includes essentially a choke, separator, and heat exchange coils. It is assumed that the inlet well stream contains a minimum amount of free water and is of sufficient temperature to prevent formation of hydrates upstream of the choke. The complete system is shown in figure 2.3. The well stream flows through the coil in the low temperature separator where it is slightly chilled, then to the inlet high pressure liquid separator where free liquids are separated from the gas. The gas then flows through the gas-gas heat exchanger, through the choke and into the low-temperature separator. The cold gas flows from the separator, through the gas-gas heat exchanger, and into the sales gas line. The liquids from the of the low temperature separator are dumped to some form of stabilization before going to storage.
Figure 2.4 Typical LTS system without hydrate inhibitor (Reprinted from Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Third Printing) (b) LTS with hydrate inhibitor The formation of hydrates can be prevented by changing the character of the water in such way that it will not form hydrates with natural gas. This is accomplished through the use of a substance known as Hydrate Inhibitor. The most commonly used inhibitors are glycols and alcohols. A typical system is shown in figure 2.5. The inhibitor is injected between the inlet high pressure separator and the regenerative heat exchanger. The inhibitor mixes with free water for cooling and prevents hydrate formation.
Figure 2.5 Typical LTS system with hydrate inhibitor (Reprinted from Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Third Printing) The low temperature separation system with hydrate inhibitor eliminates the formation of hydrates and allows the gas to be cooled below the hydrate temperature before expansion. This results in an increase in the amount of condensate removed from the well stream. The operating costs are higher than the system without inhibitor, but the increased recovery will normally be more than offset this. 2.4.2 Turbo expander: The turbine expansion low temperature dehydration system differs from choke expansion is that the turbine turns a shaft from which a work is extracted. A typical turbo-expander process is shown in figure 2.6.
Figure 2.6 Typical Turbo Expander (Reprinted from Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Third Printing) The gas enters through an inlet separator with any liquid separated at this point being introduced to a low point in the stabilizer tower. The gas then goes through heat exchange with the cold gas leaving the stabilizer. Another separator is installed if sufficient liquid is formed in the gas-gas heat exchanger with the liquid being introduced at an intermediate point in the stabilizer. The cold gas then flows to the expander where the pressure is reduced and low temperature is achieved. The gas and liquid mixture leaves the expander and flows to the separator that normally is on the top of the stabilizer column. Sales gas flows back through the exchanger and may be compressed in the direct connected centrifugal compressor before being put into the sales gas line. Since extremely low temperatures are achieved in a typical turbo expander plant, dehydration is normally the first step though some plants do use alcohol injection. The gas frequently is expanded below sales gas pressure and then recompressed to make use of the work that must be extracted from the shaft of the turbine (Bloch H. P. and Soares C., 2001). A fairly recent development in gas processing, the turbo expander process, is one of the simplest and easy of operable. The favourable operating characteristics allow the plant to run unattended through long periods and its simplicity and relatively low investment cost make it an attractive option (I. Ross and T. Robinson, 1981). 2.4.3 Thermodynamic description of Joule-Thompson Process: Consider a sample of gas initially at P1, V1 and T1 was forced into a system at constant pressure P1. The gas came out of the system at P2, V2 and T2. The system is insulated such that q=0. The work has two terms, work done on the system to force the gas through the
system and the work done by the system on the surroundings as it came out the other side of the plug. The total work is: w = P1 (0 V1 ) P2 (V2 0 )
= P1V1 P2V2 Since q =0, the change in internal energy of the gas is, U= q+w = 0+P1V1-P2V2 = P1V1-P2V2 The enthalpy is then given by, H= U+(PV)= P1V1-P2V2 +P2V2- P1V1= 0 So Joule-Thompsons effect (Throttling process) is a constant enthalpy process. Co-efficient of Joule-Thompsons effect, JT can be defined as, T JT = P H H P T T = H P H T P H P T JT = cP (www.chem.arizona.edu/~salzmanr/480a/480ants/jadjte/jadjte.html, 12.12.2005)
Figure 2.7 Effect of Joule-Thompson Coefficient (Reprinted from Equipment Modules, Volume-2)
The coefficient of J-T effect is important in the cooling operation of gas for the purpose of liquefaction or dehydration. It tells whether a gas cools or heats on expansion. It turns out that this coefficient is a decreasing function of temperature and it passes through zero at the Joule-Thompson inversion temperature. In an expansion dp<0, whether dT is
positive or negative depends on the sign of JT. It can be seen that if JT is positive then dT negative upon expansion so that the gas cools. On the other hand, if JT is negative then dT is positive so that the gas warms upon expansion (Campbell J. M., 1994).
s 2 s1 = c P
T1
T2
P dT R ln 2 T P1
0 = cP
T1
T2
P dT R ln 2 T P1
The final form used depends on the approximation made for the temperature dependence of the specific heats. Assuming that the specific heats are accurately approximated by constant values eliminates the integrals in the above equations. The constant specific equations are: T v R cP v1 R cP T v 0 = cv ln 2 + R ln 2 2 = 2 = v T v T1 v1 2 s 1 s 1 s
P T T P 0 = c P ln 2 R ln 2 2 = 2 T T1 P1 1 s P1 Where, the subscript s indicates that the process occurs at constant entropy. The power on each expression is rewritten in terms of k = cP/cv by noting that cP-cv = R, so R/cP = (k-1)/k. Thus we get, T2 v = 1 k 1 T 1 s v2 s
T2 T 1 P = 2 s P1
k 1 k
R cP
These equations are specified relations that are used for an ideal gas undergoing ideal process if the specific heats are considered to be constant. If the specific heat can not be assumed as constants then the temperature dependence of the specific heats must be included. The variable specific heat solution for an ideal gas undergoing an isentropic P process is obtained as: s 2 s1 = 0 = s 0 (T2 ) s0 (T1 ) R ln 2 . (Holman J.P., 1988) P1
Figure 2.8 Isenthalpic and isentropic cooling (Reprinted from Chemical Engineers Handbook, Perry)
operations. The energy stream property view contains of fields allowing user to define stream parameters, view objects to which the stream is attached and specify dynamic information. The main parameter for energy streams is heat flow (Aspen Tech, 2003). Separator is a unit with one or multiple feeds, one vapor and one liquid product stream. The separator divides the vessel contents into its constituent vapor and liquid phases. Every separator may be provided with some common features like for example the geometry of the vessel and heat loss model which accounts for the convective and conductive heat transfer that occurs across the vessel wall. The user can choose between various heater types, which determine the way in which heat is transferred to the vessel operation (Aspen Tech, 2003). In both Joule-Thomson and Turbo Expander processes, the gas is allowed to expand and consequently a certain temperature drop is obtained which is very useful to separate water from gas. Hysys simulator can be used to analyze the processes if sufficient inputs are provided. In my analysis, the inputs were gas composition, gas flow rate, temperature, pressure and few assumptions. There is a provision of using hypothetical component with proper input of some of its properties say molecular weight, liquid density or boiling point. Aspen tech recommended hypothetical component is minimum C7+. But in my analysis, C5+ was hypothetical component and its boiling point was assumed 96oC. Initial gas flow rate was assumed 1000 Kgmole/hr. Then Hysys analyzed the inputs and gave a series of output data such as outlet temperature, pressure, composition, molar enthalpy, molar entropy, heat flow etc.
entire process at varied conditions of inlet temperature and pressure to get the desired outputs such as outlet temperature, molar enthalpy, molar entropy and apart from JouleThomson method certain amount of energy was recovered. This energy recovery was calculated in terms of heat. All the inputs and outputs are given in following tables and some figures were plotted by using those data.
Table 3.1 Thermodynamic properties for Joule-Thomson method (At different temperature)
Table 3.2 Thermodynamic properties for Joule-Thomson method (At different pressure)
Table 3.3 Outlet gas composition in Joule-Thomson method (At different temperature)
Table 3.4 Outlet gas composition in Joule-Thomson method (At different pressure)
Table 3.5 Thermodynamic properties for Turbo Expander method (At different temperature)
Table 3.6 Thermodynamic properties for Turbo Expander method (At different pressure)
Table 3.7 Outlet gas composition in Turbo Expander method (At different temperature)
Table 3.8 Outlet gas composition in Turbo Expander method (At different temperature)
Enthalpy-Entropy Diagram
1,92
1,91
HS Curve
1,9
1,89
1,88
1,87
1,86
1,85
1,84 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158
PS Curve
Pressure, P, bar
Pressure-Temperature Diagram
190 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
PT Chart
Pressure, P, bar
Temperature, T, C
Temperature-Enthalpy Diagram
120
TH Curve
100
Temperature, T, C
80
60
40
20
Temperature-Entropy Diagram
120
TS Curve
100
Temperature, T, C
80
60
40
20
0 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158
Pressure-Entropy Diagram
200
180
160
PS Curve
140
Pressure, P, bar
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
Pressure-Entropy Diagram
200
180
160
PS Curve
140
Pressure, P, bar
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
180
PT Curve
160
140
Pressure, P, bar
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 0 10 20 30 40 o 50 60 70
Temperature, T, C
TH Diagram
120
TH Curve
100
Inlet Temperature, T, C
80
60
40
20
0 1,856
1,857
1,858
1,859
1,86
1,861
1,862 4
1,863
1,864
1,865
TS Curve
100
Inlet Temperature, C
80
60
40
20
0 146
147
148
149
150
151 o
152
153
154
Enthalpy-Entropy Diagram
1,865
1,864
HS Curve
1,863
1,862
1,861
1,86
1,859
1,858
1,857
1,856 146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
74
efficiency-P curve
73,8
Polytropic efficiency,%
73,6
73,4
73,2
73
72,8
72,6
Pressure, P, bar
73,3
efficiency-T curve
73,25
73,2
Polytropic Efficiency,%
73,15
73,1
73,05
73
72,95
72,9 0 20 40 60 80
o
100
120
140
Temperature, T, C
500
Q-P curve
Energy production, Q, KW
400
300
200
100
Pressure, P, bar
450
T-Q curve
400
Energy production, Q, KW
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 0 20 40 60 80
o
100
120
140
Temperature, T, C
J-T Method
Pressure, P, bar
Figure 3.18 Water removal in Joule-Thomson and turbo expander methods (At different pressure)
J-T Method
9
Temperature, T, C
Figure 3.19 Water removal in Joule-Thomson and turbo expander methods (At different temperature)
4 Discussion
Joule-Thomson and Turbo Expander methods were analyzed to compare their dehydration performance, operating efficiency and thermodynamic properties. These could finally give a conclusion on selecting a proper method for gas dehydration.
5 Conclusion
Gas composition was the key data to start this simulation. Here Troll normalized gas composition (in mole fraction) data were used. Some input data such as inlet molar flow, pressure and temperature were assumed to specify the systems. Each system needed some assumption before they were simulated by Hysys. Hysys can calculate varieties of chemical, physical and thermodynamic properties by using some input data. Here Hysys generated outputs were enthalpy, entropy, outlet gas composition, energy recovery, efficiency etc. which were essential for describing any process for gas dehydration. Among many available dehydration processes, Joule-Thomson and Turbo Expander type processes were compared from both technical and thermodynamic point of view. Both Joule-Thomson and Turbo Expander methods are LTS type processes. Natural gas is expanded in these processes and consequently a rapid temperature drop is achieved. Due to this cooling, some water condenses out from water saturated gas. In Joule-Thomson method, gas passed through a choke type valve where its pressure dropped rapidly. A temperature drop was achieved immediately due to isenthalpic Joule-Thomson effect. The turbo expander is a mechanical device that produces work by expanding the feed gas stream from its initial high pressure to a lower pressure level. In the ideal case the expansion is isentropic. As mechanical work is produced the enthalpy of the gas is decreased. In reality the expansion can not completely approach the isentropic case but produces a high percentage of the ideally possible work. The expansion and reduction in enthalpy lowers the temperature of the gas which results in partial condensation of water. By contrast expansion across a valve is isenthalpic producing no work. Resulting temperatures are not as low as those achieved by the expander and less condensation of water takes place. A Joule-Thomson valve could be installed in parallel with the expander. This could be used during start-up and times of maintenance on the turbo expander. They might also be operated in parallel if there is too much gas for the expander. The performance of the combined Joule-Thomson and Turbo expander type processes can be studied in future because it may offer better water removal with a safe and uninterrupted operation.
6 References
(1) Ryba A., Reduction in emissions and energy use at makowice natural gas dehydration facility, Unpublished Diploma Thesis, 2005. Bloch Heinz P., Soares C., 2001, Turboexpanders and process applications, Gulf Professional Publishing, PP 3-6, 19-21. Bradley H. B., Petroleum Engineering Handbook, Third edition, Society of petroleum engineers, P 14-1, P 14-3, P 14-5, P 14-6, P 14-7, P 14-8. Campbell J. M., Lilly L. L., Maddox R. N., Gas conditioning and processing Volume-2: The equipment modules, Seventh edition, Campbell Petroleum Series, PP 252-258. Dorsett L. R., 1989, LTX: Reapplication of Proven Technology, SPE 19080, PP 1-3. Holman J.P., 1988, Thermodynamics, Fourth edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, PP 160-162, 195. General Information About Hysys, Aspen Technology Inc, 2004, www.aspentech.com, Perry R.H., 1984, Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook, Sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, P 12-49, P 12-50, P 12-51. Rojey A., Jaffret C., Cornot-Gandolphe S., Durand B., Jullian S. and Valais M., 1997, Natural Gas Production processing and Transport, Editions Technip, PP 252-276. Rose I., Robinson T., 1981, Offshore gas conservation utilizing a turbo-expander based refrigeration extraction cycle, OEB1 SPE 10391.1, PP 3-7. Maddox R. N., Bretz E., 1976, Turbo-Expander Applications in Natural Gas Processing, Journal of Petroleum Technology, PP 611-613. http://www.chem.arizona.edu/~salzmanr/480a/480ants/jadjte/jadjte.html (12.10.2005). http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~jsg/undervisning/naturgass/GasCompositionExamples.pdf (18.09.2005). http://www.rwe-dea.com/en/172.htm (10.09.2005).