Introduction natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases and a vital component of the worlds supply of energy. Glycol dehydration is a key component of the overall process that cant be skipped over. Principles and practices kindle edition by mokhatab, saeid, poe, william a. Unless gases are dehydrated, liquid water may condense in pipelines and accumulate at low points along. Ill discuss another major form in a later post but ive always. The glycol dehydration unit is a reliable, efficient system for removing water from natural gas well streams in order to meet typical pipeline and process. Lng dehydrationdrying of natural gas absorption and refrigeration with hydrate inhibition is the most common dehydration process used to meet pipeline sales specifications. Two subsea natural gas treatment processes, namely natural gas dehydration and acid gas removal, are discussed in details with respect to the advantages and challenges in the implementation of. Produced gas is saturated with water, which must be removed for gas transmission glycol dehydrators are the mostcommon equipment to remove water from gas 36,000 dehydration systems in natural gas production, gathering, and boosting most use triethylene glycol teg glycol dehydrators create emissions methane, vocs, haps from reboiler vent. One of the problems with some of this natural gas is that it is in remote areas where there is little or no local use for the gas. Thanks to the recent shale boom in north america, natural gas is in a surplus and quickly becoming a major international commodity. The dominant components of the natural gas, particularly methane, have the ability to form hydrates if the temperature and pressure allows hydrates to form.
Tegi t i b ti tteg is most common in absorption systems meg is most common in glycol injection systems. Comparison of methods for dehydration of natural gas stored in. Poor dehydration requires further, more detailed investigation dew points below spec. It is said to be applicable if water removal demand is not too big and the plant is on the low capacity side. Comparison of three methods for natural gas dehydration. Several natural gas dehydration methods and range of. First, co2 and h2s removal stage which is constructed to assure that co2 would not exceed 50 ppm in the natural gas feed. Natural gas dehydration lessons learned from the natural gas star program conocophillips the colorado oil and gas association, and the independent petroleum association of mountain states producers technology transfer workshop durango, colorado september, 2007 epa. Rarely covered in formal engineering courses, natural gas hydrates are a common problem and reallife danger for engineers worldwide. In the transmission of natural gas further condensation of water is problematic.
This course will give you a basic understanding of the operation of a glycol dehydration system. Pdf on oct 31, 2012, michal netusil and others published natural gas dehydration find, read and cite. When i read several literatures related to natural gas dehydration, the. Click download or read online button to get natural gas hydrate book now. Gas dehydration field manual presents different methods of gas dehydration, focusing on the differences between adsorption and absorption.
Dehydration of natural gas is needed to remove the water that is associated with natural gases in vapor form. If there is no water present, then it is impossible for a hydrate to form. However, natural gas found at the wellhead, although still composed. Handbook of natural gas transmission and processing. More than 90 percent of these systems 34,000 treat natural gas at flow rates averaging less than 10 mmscfd, the range in which a membrane process is more cost effective than glycol dehydration.
Glycol dehydration troubleshooting guide oil and gas. With this in mind, national strategic reserves are created. Dehydration of natural gas is the removal of the water that is associated with natural gases in vapor form. Although dehydration historically has been a fairly inexpensive step in the upgrading of natural gas to pipeline quality, costs are increasing. Liquid desiccants have found an extremely wide use for the dehydration of natural gas, and the bulk of this discussion will be centered upon glycols as utilized in gas dehydration.
This treatment consists of dehydrating the natural gas, which is accomplished by lowering the dew point temperature of the gas at which water vapor will. The sample calculations, equations and spreadsheets presented herein were developed using examples published in the engineering data book as published by gpsa as a service to the gas processing industry. The equipment that extracts this liquid gold is expensive and sensitive to liquids. Glycol dehydrators, part of natural gas dehydration systems, remove water vapor from gas streams to prevent the formulation of hydrates and corrosion in pipelines. Dehydration is necessary to ensure smooth operation of gas transmission lines prevents the formation of gas hydrates and reduces corrosion. As an introduction, the book provides different concepts and theories that describe the gas processing industry. With all units optimally specified during the process, the lean teg inflow rate was varied with the water content in. Natural gas phase behavior the natural gas phase behavior is a plot of pressure vs temperature thatdetermines whether the natural gas stream at a given pressure andtemperature consists of a single gas phase or two phases. Water also can cause corrosion in the presence of acid gas component in natural gas. It can increase pressure drop in the line and often leads to corrosion problems. Glycol dehydration is a liquid desiccant system for the removal of water from natural gas and natural gas liquids ngl.
Frost on exterior of tower gas temps below 30 degrees farenheit clogge trays or packing in tower unusually loud noise partially plugged trays or packing high pressure or high velocity gas tower may be undersized dew points dew points above spec. All information and calculation formulae has been compiled and edited in cooperation with the gpa midstream association. The required outlet concentration of water in natural gas is equivalent to the dew point. Design glycol units for maximum efficiency vincente n. If the composition of co2 exceeded that limit it would freeze in the liquefaction process pipelines.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Dehydration is the process by which water is removed from natural gas. Optimization of natural gas dehydration using triethylene glycol was carried out using aspen hysys process software and regression analysis. Natural gas is considered dry when it is almost pure methane, having had most of the other commonly associated hydrocarbons removed. If there is only a small amount of water present, then the formation of hydrate is less. The natural gas industry has recognized that dehydration is necessary to ensure smooth operation of gas transmission lines.
Secondly, ng storage enables the maximum capacity of distribution lines to be exploited. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading handbook of natural gas transmission and processing. Natural gas is considered the dominant worldwide bridge between fossil fuels of today and future resources of tomorrow. Final report novel membranes for natural gas dehydration. It is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful of all energy.
General selection chart of natural gas dehydration method 1, with modification bonus. Contents vii disadvantages 43 plunger pumps 43 advantages 43 disadvantages 43 comparisonofhydrate prevention methods 43 overview 43 heaters 44 chemical injection 44 downholeregulators 44 summaryof hydrate prevention methods 45 hydrateinhibition 45 hammerschmidt equation 45 determinationoftotal inhibitor required 47 procedurefor. The petroleum industry spends millions of dollars every year to combat the formation of hydratesthe solid, crystalline compounds that form from water and small moleculesthat cause problems by plugging transmission lines and damaging equipment. Gas dehydration is widely used in natural gas treatment plant as a common process, because water and hydrocarbon can form hydrates ice formation which may block valve and pipelines. Glycol dehydration cannot get to these low water levels mole sieves used for this.
There are two basic reasons why ng storage is important. One of the most common methods for removing the water from produced gas is glycol. The existing methods for gas dehydration in the field fall. The water content of the gas can be calculated using the. Gas dehydration field manual defines the various methods of gas dehydration and discusses the differences between adsorption and absorption. Comparison of natural gas dehydration methods 1,2 general overview of applicability of each dehydration method is shown in figure below.
It discusses the various designs and operations in a gas processing facility. This is a common method used for preventing hydrate formation. When large gas volumes are transported, dehydration is the most efficient and economical means of preventing the hydrate formation in the trunk pipeline. Gas dehydration chapter 11 based on presentation by prof.
This stage is directed more to co2 removal since the bolivian natural gas contains. A great deal of the vapor and liquid that is caught up in the natural gas. Updated and more practical than ever, natural gas hydrates, third edition helps managers and engineers get up to speed on all the most common hydrate types, how to forecast when they will appear, and safely mitigate their removal. All raw natural gas is fully saturated with water vapor when produced from an underground reservoir. The natural gas used by consumers is composed almost entirely of methane. At the same time, the petrochemical industry with its new plastic materials quickly increased production. S natural gas reserves totaling 239 tcf, as stranded gas 1 2. Modelling of natural gas sweetening and dehydration processes. Calcium chloride is often mentioned as a desiccant. For the same inlet data, emah 11 performed simulations of a natural gas dehydration process in aspen hysys and aspen plus using different equilibrium models in order to. The phase behavior for natural gas with a given composition is typicallydisplayed on a phase diagram, an. Optimization of natural gas dehydration using triethylene. Water vapour needs to be removed from natural gas streams to meet gas specifications and to avoid corrosion and hydrate formation in process equipment and pipelines.
In order to achieve such speci cations, the raw gas must pass through a series of puri cation steps, which compose the socalled natural gas chain. Betsy casada sunday, july 23, 2017 the presence of waterwater vapor in natural gas causes hydrates solid, icelike crystals of hydrocarbons and water that form under high pressure in well streams with a low temperature which in turn cause freezing and blocking of pipelines, valves and other. The raw natural gas extracted from production wells contains many impurities that must be removed in order to achieve the speci cations of the liqui ed natural gas lng andor the pipeline gas. Glycols typically seen in industry include triethylene glycol teg, diethylene glycol deg, ethylene glycol meg, and tetraethylene glycol treg. Nearly 50 percent worldwide natural gas reserves of 6,254. The theme of natural gas ng dehydration is closely linked with storage of natural gas. When other hydrocarbons are present, the natural gas is wet. Gas dehydration field manual ebook by maurice stewart. Known for being highly flammable, gas hydrates are a preventable threat that can costs millions of dollars in. This paper compares three methods for natural gas dehydration that are widely.