NATURAL GAS DEHYDRATION
NATURAL GAS DEHYDRATION
GAS DEHYDRATION
WHAT IS GAS DEHYDRATION?
The removal of particulate water and water
vapor from a produced gas stream.
Why Dehydrate
Water in pipelines causes corrosion
Water reduces pipeline efficiency
Water reduces accuracy in measurement
Water can form hydrates and cause plugging
Types of
Dehydration
Adsorption
Branded desiccants (Silica Gel, Alumina)
Molecular Sieve
Absorption
Diethylene Glycol
Triethylene Glycol
Nonregenerable Dehydration (Calcium
Chloride)
Absorption
A hygroscopic liquid is
used to contact wet gas
and remove the water
vapor.
TEG is the most common hygroscopic liquid used.
Glycol Dehydration
Glycol is a hygroscopic liquid.
Which simply means GLYCOL has the ability to absorb
water physically.
Glycol Comparison
Diethylene Glycol Triethylene Glycol
Lower Cost Higher Cost
328°F Thermal 404°F Thermal
Decomposition Decomposition
474°F Boiling Point 550°F Boiling Point
92% - 94% 92.8% - 99.5%
Regeneration Regeneration
Higher Operating Cost Lower Operating Cost
Higher Capital Cost Lower Capital Cost
Parameters of a Dehydration
Fixed
Minimum and Maximum gas capacity at a given
pressure and temperature
Gas composition
Minimum and Maximum heat input into the
regenerator
Fire Tube surface area
Vapor capacity of the still column
Liquid and gas capacity of the inlet scrubber
Parameters of a
Dehydration
Variable
Glycol circulation rate
Glycol concentration
Dehydrator Sizing
Involves specifying the following:
Glycol gas contactor diameter
Number of absorber trays (which establishes the
tower’s overall height)
Glycol circulation rate
Lean glycol concentration
Reconcentrator heat duty
Dehydrator Sizing
Water Content of Natural Gas
Temperature Differences
Dehydrator Sizing
Water Content of Natural Gas
Pressure Differences
Dehydrator Sizing
Water Removal
Principles of
Operation
o After the liquid (free) water has been removed from the gas stream by
separation, 25 to 120 lbs of water per MMSCF of gas remain, depending on
the T & P of the gas.
o The warmer the inlet gas and the lower the pressure, the more water vapor
the gas stream will contain (see figure in previous slide).
o Normally, between 20 to 115 lbs of water per MMSCF of gas must be
removed before the required dew point of the gas is met.
Natural Gas Dehydrator
Natural Gas Dehydrator
Natural Gas Dehydrator
Contactor Tower
Glycol Cooler
Reboiler
Dry Gas
Outlet Inlet Scrubber
Surge Tank Wet Gas Inlet
High Pressure
Filter
Excess Separated Condensate Outlet
Gas Outlet
Three Phase Gas, Glycol &
Condensate Separator Wet Glycol from Absorber (High Pressure)
Wet Glycol to Reboiler (Low Pressure)
Condensate Outlet Dry Glycol from Reboiler (Low Pressure)
Dry Glycol to Absorber (High Pressure)
Inlet Scrubber
First stage of liquid
removal for the
dehydration process
In some instances in
place of scrubber a
microfiber filter separator
is used when solid is
excess
Eliminates free liquids
and solids from gas
stream
Requires liquid level
controller and high
pressure dump valve
Used with pre-contactor
Filter separator is usually vertical and is used to
Mist Eliminator remove liquid and solid impurities.
Absorber with Integral Scrubber
• Lower capital cost than separate
scrubber.
• Requires liquid level controller and
high pressure dump valve
• Reduces footprint of dehydrator
• Can not be used with pre-contactor
• Mist eliminator
Natural Gas Dehydrator
Dry Gas Out
Dry glycol
Absorber Reboiler
(Contactor)
Wet Wet glycol
Gas
In Pump
Dry glycol
Heat exchanger
surge tank
Wet glycol
Absorber or Contact
Tower
Vessel where glycol
and natural gas
make contact
Concurrent flow
Gas flows up
Glycol flows down
Packed type
Structured Packing
Pall Ring Packing
Tray type
Bubble Cap
Nutter Valve
Absorber with Scrubber
• Gas temp 60°-135° F
• Pressure 100 – 2600 psi
• Inlet glycol should be 10° F higher
than inlet gas
– Lower temp than gas will cause
foaming
– Higher temp might increase glycol
loss
• 5 psig maximum pressure drop
between inlet and outlet
• Liquid seal must be established
– Glycol circulation established on
tray type tower
– Gas flow should be gradually
increased
Absorber with Scrubber
• pH of Glycol should be 7.0 – 7.5
• Absorber must have an adequate
glycol/gas heat exchanger
• Gas flow must be kept in turn
down range or “channeling” may
occur
• Mist pad or mist extractor should
be used
• Glycol loss should be .1 gal per
MMSCF
• Tower should be level and secure
Centrifugal Separator
Some installations incorporate a
glycol knockout drum (centrifugal
separator) which recovers any
glycol that has escaped with the gas
through the mist extractor.
Surge or Storage Tank
Holding tank for the dry or lean
glycol before it goes to the
glycol pump
Level must be maintained for
pump head pressure
Can be separate vessel or
integral to the reboiler.
Individual surge tanks may have
glycol/glycol heat exchanger
internally
Integral surge tanks have panel or
tube type glycol/glycol exchangers
Reflux Condenser
In some processes the Reflux Condenser
is used.
From the glycol gas contactor the cool
wet glycol passes through a coil (reflux
condenser) in the top of the reboiler still
column.
The coil cools the vapors leaving the still
column and condenses the glycol vapors
to liquid.
The glycol liquid droplets gravitate back
down the still column to the
reconcentrator.
The water remains as a vapor and
continues on out the top of the still
column.
The cooling coil is commonly called the
reflux condenser.
Reboiler
Vessel where water is “cooked”
out of the glycol
Temp range 375°- 400° for TEG
Fire tube heat flux
6000-8000 BTU/Hr. per Sq./Ft
Fire tube must be free of deposits
salt
tar or coke
Stripping Gas Methods
sparger style
spillover style
Stahl column
Temperature Control dead band
should be as small as possible
Pressure should be at a minimum
Still Column
Still Column (where wet or
“rich” glycol is injected for
water removal)
Packed with ceramic
saddles
225°F Ideal Temperature
Temperatures below 218°F
will cause reboiler to flood
Temperatures above 250°F
will cause excess glycol loss
out vent.
Glycol Pump
Pump piping should be
correctly sized
A High pressure filter
MUST be used and
maintained
Charcoal filters used for
high condensate wells
Inlet strainer MUST be
installed and maintained
Pump should be secured
on a level surface
3 Phase Glycol/Gas/Condensate
Separator
Separates any liquids that
might get carried over with
the glycol such as
condensate or compressor
oils
Used to reclaim some of the
gas that would ordinarily
lost through the still column
Flash separator pressure
should be kept as low as
possible to prevent pump
stalling
Effect of Operating
Variables
Glycol Selection
Inlet Gas Temperature
Lean Glycol Temperature
Glycol Reconcentrator Temperature
Temperature at Top of Still Column
Contactor Pressure
Reconcentrator Pressure
Contractor Pressure
Glycol Concentration
Glycol Circulation Rate
Number of Absorber Trays
SYSTEM DESIGN
Sizing Considerations
Inlet Microfiber Filter Separator
Packing
Glycol Gas Contactor Amount of Stripping Gas
Contactor Diameter Filters
Tray Design Glycol Pumps
Tray Spacing Still Emissions
Number of Trays Special glycol dehydration systems
Downcomers Drizo (wt.-2) Process
Glycol Circulation Rate Cold Finger Condenser Process
Lean Glycol Concentration Example 2-3: Glycol Dehydration
Glycol-Glycol Preheater
Glycol-Gas Cooler
Glycol-Glycol Heat Exchanger
Gas-Glycol-Condensate Separator
Reconcentrator
Heat Duty
Fire Tube Sizing
Reflux Condenser
Stripping Still Column
Diameter Size
Incomplete use book
Solid Adsorbent
Dehydration Unit
Process Overview
Solid-bed dehydration is the process where a
solid desiccant (adsorbent) is used for the
removal of water vapor from a gas stream to
meet water dew points less than -40 F.
Dehydration of a gas (or a liquid hydrocarbon)
with a dry desiccant is an adsorption process in
which water molecules are preferentially held
by the desiccant and removed from the gas
stream.
Adsorption involves a form of adhesion
between the surface of the solid desiccant and
the water vapor in the gas.
Water forms a thin film that is held to the
desiccant surface by forces of attraction, not
by chemical reaction.
Process Overview
Desiccant in this process is a solid,
granulated dehydrating medium with a
large effective surface area (large number
of small pores) per unit weight.
Typical desiccants might have as much as 4
million square feet of surface area per
pound.
Commonly used desiccants include:
Alumina
Silica gel
Molecular sieves (mol sieves)
Many grades and qualities of each of these
substances are commercially available.
Properites of Solid Desiccants
(Campbell, 2000)
Enlargement of a molecular sieve
particle
Principles of Adsorption
The achievement of equilibrium on a small surface
displays the following pattern:
Some passing molecules will condense on the surface (physical
as opposed to chemical absorption).
After some finite time the molecule may acquire sufficient energy
to leave and be replaced by another.
After sufficient time, a state of equilibrium will be reached
wherein the number of molecules leaving the surface will equal
the number arriving.
The number of molecules on the surface is a
function of:
The nature of the adsorbent
The nature of the molecule being adsorbed (the adsorbate)
The temperature of the system and concentration of the
adsorbate over the adsorbent surface
Process Reversal
Adsorption is encouraged by low temperatures and high
pressures.
Desorption (its reversal) is encouraged by high temperatures and
low pressures.
Principles of Adsorption
The feed gas entering the bed from the
top and the upper zone becomes
saturated first, where equilibrium between
the water partial pressure in the gas and
the water adsorbed on the desiccant is
established and no additional adsorption
occurs. This zone is called the equilibrium
zone (EZ).
With the adsorption going on, the EZ will
grow and more and more water will be
adsorbed. The length of the absorber bed
across which the concentration of the
adsorbate is reduced from inlet to outlet
conditions is known as the mass transfer
zone (MTZ). This is simply a zone or
section of the bed where a component is
transferring its mass from the gas stream
to the surface of the solid desiccant.
Mass Transfer Zone (MTZ)
At the inlet of the bed and for a certain distance
into it, the adsorbent is saturated to essentially
equilibrium value with the adsorbable component
in the fluid, such as water in natural gas.
(Equilibrium Zone)
At the outlet of the bed, the adsorbent is
unsaturated and the water content of the gas is
in equilibrium with the unsaturated activated
adsorbent.
The MTZ is defined as the zone between these
two zones, where the concentration of the water
in the natural gas is falling.
MTZ lengths can be obtained experimentally for
various materials and systems and used in
graphical correlations for design purposes.
Schematic view of Mass
Transfer Zone (MTZ).
As the flow of gas continues, the
MTZ moves downward through
the bed and water displaces the
previously adsorbed gases until
finally the entire bed is saturated
with water vapor. When the
leading edge of the MTZ reaches
the end of the bed, breakthrough
occurs (see Figure 7-14). At this
time, the adsorber vessel should
be switched to the regeneration
mode.
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Gas Dehydration / Molecular
Sieves
Mass Transfer Zone (MTZ)
MTZ is a function of the following factors:
Adsorbent
Adsorbent particle size
Fluid velocity
Fluid properties
Adsorbate concentration in the entering fluid
Adsorbate concentration in the adsorbent if it is not
fully reactivated
Temperature
Pressure
Past history of the system
Principles of Operation
The adsorption process is a batch process,
with multiple desiccant beds used in cyclic
operation to dry the gas on a continuous
basis.
The number and arrangement of the
desiccant beds may vary from two towers,
adsorbing alternatively to many towers.
Three separate functions or cycles must
alternatively be performed in each
dehydrator tower:
Adsorbing or gas-drying cycle
Heating or regeneration cycle
Cooling cycle (prepares the regenerated bed for another
adsorbing or gas-drying cycle)
Simple Schematic of a two-
tower solid desiccant
dehydration system
solid
desiccant dehydration
system.
System Components
Essential components of a solid
desiccant dehydration system are:
Inlet gas stream microfiber filter separator
Two or more adsorption towers (contactors) filled with a
solid desiccant
High-temperature heater to provide hot regeneration gas
to reactivate the desiccant in the towers
Regeneration gas cooler to condense water from the hot
regeneration gas
Regeneration gas separator to remove the condensed
water from the regeneration gas
Piping manifolds, switching valves, and controls to direct
and control the flow of gases according to the process
requirements
Process Description
Wet inlet gas first passes through an efficient
microfiber inlet filter separator where free liquids,
entrained mist, and solid particles are removed.
Free liquids may damage or destroy the desiccant bed.
Solids may plug the bed.
If the dehydration unit is downstream of an amine
unit, glycol unit, or compressors, a microfiber filter
inlet separator is highly recommended upstream of
the adsorber towers.
At any given time, one of the towers will be on
stream in the adsorbing or drying cycle while the
other is in the process of being heated or cooled.
Several automatically operated switching valves
and a controller route the inlet gas and regeneration
gas to the right tower at the proper time.
Process Description
The tower being regenerated is:
Heated for 5 to 6 hours
Cooled for the remaining 2 to 3 hours
As the wet gas flows downward through the tower on
the adsorption cycle, each of the adsorbable
components is adsorbed at a different rate.
The water vapor is immediately adsorbed in the top
layers of the desiccant bed.
Some of the light hydrocarbon gases and heavier
hydrocarbons moving down through the bed are also
adsorbed.
Heavier hydrocarbons will displace the lighter ones in
the desiccant bed as the adsorbing cycle proceeds.
As the upper layers of desiccant become saturated
with water, water in the wet gas stream begins
displacing the previously adsorbed hydrocarbons in
the lower layers.
Process Description
For each component in the inlet gas stream, there
will be a section of bed depth, from top to bottom,
where the desiccant is saturated with that
component and where the desiccant below is just
starting to adsorb it.
The depth of bed from saturation to initial
adsorption is the mass transfer zone (MTZ).
MTZ is simply a zone or section of the bed where a
component is transferring its mass from the gas
stream to the surface of the desiccant.
As the flow of gas continues:
The MTZs move downward through the bed and
water displaces all of the previously adsorbed gas
until, finally, the entire bed is saturated with water
vapor.
When the bed is completely saturated with water
vapor, the outlet gas is just as wet as the inlet gas.
Process Description
Towers must be switched from the adsorption cycle to
the regeneration cycle (heating and cooling) before
the desiccant bed has become completely saturated.
One regeneration-gas supply scheme consists of
taking a portion (5 to 15%) of the entering wet gas
stream across a pressure-reducing valve that forces a
portion of the upstream gas through the regeneration
system.
In most plants, a flow controller regulates the volume
of regeneration gas used.
Regeneration gas is sent to a heater where it is
heated to between 400F and 600F and then piped to
the tower being regenerated.
Initially, the hot regeneration gas must heat up the
tower and the desiccant.
The water begins vaporizing when the effluent hot
gas temperature reaches between 240F and 250F.
Process Description
The bed continues to heat up slowly as the water is being
desorbed or driven out of the desiccant.
After all the water has been removed, heating is
maintained to drive off any heavier hydrocarbons and
contaminants that would not vaporize at lower
temperatures.
The desiccant bed will be properly regenerated when the
outlet gas (peak-out) temperature has reached between
350F and 550F.
After the heating cycle, the desiccant bed is cooled by
flowing unheated regeneration gas until the desiccant is
sufficiently cooled.
All of the regeneration gas used in the heating and cooling
cycles is passed through a heat exchanger (normally an
aerial cooler) where it is cooled to condense the water
removed from the regenerated desiccant bed.
This water is separated in the regeneration gas separator,
and the gas is mixed with the incoming wet gas stream.
This entire procedure is continuous and automatic.
Performance
Advantages:
Can achieve very low dew points (less than 1
ppm)
High contact temperatures are possible
Adaptable to large rate and load changes
Disadvantages:
High initial cost
Batch process
Experiences high-pressure drop through the bed
Desiccant is sensitive to poisoning with liquids or
other impurities in the gas
Molecular Sieves Adsorber / Internal
Arrangement
Molecular Sieves Adsorber / Internal
Arrangement
1” Ceramic Ball ( 52 CF )
Upper Screen
( 20 Piece )
6”
Molecular Sieve Charge
( 80,200 lb )
Dimensions:
144” I.D
20’ S/S
1/8” Ceramic Ball ( 26 CF )
1/4” Ceramic Ball ( 26 CF )
3”
3”
Lower Screen
4-D1A/B/C Dimensions
