Determine compressor settling-out conditions for recycle gas loop design Pagina 1 di 4

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Determine compressor settling-out conditions

for recycle gas loop design
S. Katkar, Foster Wheeler Asia Pacific, Singapore

The recycle gas compressor (RGC) is one of the most important pieces of equipment in
hydrotreaters, hydrocrackers and catalytic reformer units. A typical reactor recycle gas loop used in a
hydrotreater unit is shown in Fig. 1. This loop consists of a reactor, a fired heater, a feed/effluent
exchanger, a product cooler, a separator drum and interconnecting piping.

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Fig. 1. Process flow of a typical recycle reactor gas loop.
Editorial comment
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Design conditions of RGC loop equipment are not only based on maximum operating conditions, but Gas production sites, processing plants,
also on settle-out conditions, which can be defined as the equilibrium pressure and temperature when storage tanks and custody-transfer systems
the compressor is tripped. These conditions are neither the compressor discharge conditions nor the are all potential sources of emissions.
compressor suction conditions, but something in between. Executive Q&A viewpoint
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Note: This reaction recycle gas loop typically includes one pressure relief valve (PRV) on the Dominion Energy is moving forward with its
separator drum to protect the entire system, provided the code requirements are met. The foremost plan to construct natural gas liquefaction
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Compressor settle-out pressure1 is also used for deciding the design pressure of the separator drum
and eliminating the applicability of the compressor failure contingency for the PRV. Metering and custody transfer
-John Apgar
American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 5212 explains the procedure to determine the design Upstream, gas producers and processors
pressure of these equipment pieces based on settle-out pressure; however, the procedure to deliver natural gas to fill growing demand for
calculate the settle-out pressure varies by engineering company. the clean-burning fuel.

Procedures in use for determining settle-out conditions and establishing design pressure for Metering and custody transfer (1)
equipment components in recycle gas loop systems are discussed here, using data from case -Laurence Hayden
With North American petroleum exploration
studies.3
and production already at a 25-year high, the
Determining settle-out conditions US Energy Information Administration (EIA)
now predicts that US crude output will exceed
The settle-out pressure and settle-out temperature are the pressure and temperature in the recycle 9.6 MMbpd by 2016, making LNG production a
gas loop system when the gas flow is suddenly stopped after the RGC is tripped. It may take 20–30 tremendously promising economic
seconds for the entire system to reach final settle-out conditions. The determination of settle-out opportunity.
conditions is an approximate estimate based on conservation of mass and the following
considerations:

• Reaction recycle gas loop end-of-run (EOR) conditions, such as temperature, molecular
weight and pressure drop, are generally more severe than start-of-run (SOR) conditions;
therefore, settle-out conditions are typically determined for the EOR case.
• The recycle gas loop is assumed to be completely isolated, with no inflow or outflow of
material streams, such as makeup and purge gas.
• Only vapor/gas volume is considered to be available during the settle-out process. Liquid
volume remains as is, and does not need to be considered.

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In Fig. 1, recycle gas from the RGC is mixed with a feedstream, which is then heated in the
feed/effluent heat exchanger and the fired heater before entering the reactor. The reactor effluent is
first cooled in the feed/effluent heat exchanger before being separated in the hot separator. Gas from
the hot separator is further cooled in coolers 1 and 2, and then finally separated in the cold separator.
Gas from the cold separator is compressed by the RGC and recycled back to mix with the
feedstream. Note: This configuration may change based on the specific purpose and technology
involved; however, a typical reactor recycle gas loop will consist of the above elements.

Depending on the availability of known data, several methods can be used to determine the settle-out
conditions. Each method involves segregating the entire system into different pressure and
temperature sections. In Table 1, Column 1 represents the sections for the reactor recycle gas loop.
Columns 2 through 6 represent information consolidated from the heat and material balance,
equipment specifications and other engineering documents.

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This method, which uses tools available in certain commercial simulation programs, can be treated as Order your Copy
the most appropriate method for determining the settle-out conditions. The simulation method
requires either complete simulation or, at minimum, information on the composition of the sections (as Today!
shown in Column 1) to generate these sections in a simulation. The steps involved in this method are
as follows:

1. Generate streams in the simulation representing each section, using pressure, temperature
and composition, as shown in Table 1. Note: Equipment temperature is considered as the
average of the inlet and outlet temperatures.
2. Adjust the mass of each stream to match the volume of that section, as per Table 1, Column
5, on a per-unit time basis.
3. Fix all of these streams together to generate a combined stream (mixture stream).
4. Generate another stream (settle-out stream) that has the same mole and heat flow as that of
the mixture stream.
5. Adjust the pressure of the settle-out stream so that the volume of the settle-out stream is the
same as the total system volume.

The adjusted pressure and corresponding temperature of the settle-out stream will represent the
settle-out pressure and temperature. Table 2 shows the results of this method.

Spreadsheet method

The simulation method may not always be the ideal choice, for several reasons:

• The proper simulation package is only available

• from a licensor
• The exact composition to generate the sections in the simulation method is unavailable
• An appropriate simulation program is unavailable.

In these cases, the spreadsheet method can be used to determine the settle-out conditions.

The spreadsheet method is based on a combined gas law. For simplicity of calculation,
compressibility is assumed to be the same as z = 1 for all gas streams. The combined gas law is
shown in Eq. 1:

(1)

The steps involved in this method are as follows:

1. Using data from Table 1, columns 2 through 5, and the combined gas law, Eq. 1 can be
applied to determine the normal volume (in Nm3) for each section. This volume is represented
by Table 1, Column 7.
2. Using normal temperature and pressure conditions (1 kgmole = 22.414 Nm3) and data from
Table 1, Column 7, the kgmole can be determined for each section. This measurement is
represented by Table 1, Column 8.
3. The mass in each section can be determined using data from Table 1, Columns 4 and 8. This
mass is represented by Table 1, Column 9.
4. An alternative way to determine the mass of each section, where compressibility values are
known, is to use an ideal gas equation as shown in Eq. 2:

(2)

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Determine compressor settling-out conditions for recycle gas loop design Pagina 3 di 4

Assuming that considerable mixing will occur during the settle-out process, there are different ways to
determine the mixture temperature and the settle-out temperature, as shown in Eqs. 3–6.

Simple average temperature:

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Weighted average temperature:

(4)

Weight and specific heat average temperature:

(5)

Molar average temperature:

(6)

Note: Eq. 4, weighted average temperature, is the most widely used method for calculating the
mixture temperature.

After determining the temperature, the pressure of the system can be altered until the present mass
of the system is the same as the system’s original mass. Table 3 shows this result, using weighted
average temperature as the settle-out temperature for all sections.

Determining the design pressure

Since it is not economical to design all equipment in the recycle gas loop to a single point of high
pressure, API Standard 521 gives a procedure to calculate design pressure for this equipment.2 As
per the API standard, the design pressure of the separator drum/RGC suction drum should be
calculated as 1.05 times the settle-out pressure, which provides an adequate margin between the
operating pressure and the set pressure of the PRV. It also gives an acceptable margin for the
compressor failure contingency.

Fig. 2. Pressure profile for the EaOR case.

Using this calculated separator design pressure as a base, and referring to the pressure increments
in the EOR case, the design pressure of other pieces of equipment can be established. Fig. 2 shows
the operating pressure for the EOR case, and the settle-out pressure and design pressure for the
recycle gas compressor loop equipment. Process engineers sometimes provide an additional margin
for new units, instead of the standard 1.05 times the settle-out pressure, to cater to future capacities.
GP

Nomenclature

F/E exchanger=Feed/effluent exchanger

PO=Operating pressure, bara

VO=Operating volume, m3

TO=Operating temperature, °K

PN=Normal pressure, bara

VN=Normal volume, Nm3

TN=Normal temperature, °K

TS=Settle-out temperature, °C

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Ti=Operating temperature of individual section, °C

mi=Mass of individual section, kg

ni=Moles of individual section, kgmole

Cpi=Specific heat capacity of individual section, kJ/kg°C

Literature cited
1
API Standard 671, “Axial and centrifugal compressors and expander-compressors for petroleum,
chemical and gas industry services, 7th ed., July 2002, and API Standard 618, “Reciprocating
compressors for petroleum, chemical and gas industry services,” 5th ed., December 2007. Per API
Standards 617 and 618, settling-out pressure is the pressure of the system when the compressor is
shut down without depressurizing of the system. Settling-out pressure must be provided by a process
engineer working with the centrifugal compressor, as this measurement is necessary for the vendor
designing the seal system. The author recommends also providing settling-out pressure for
reciprocating compressor, as this measurement is required for determining the starting torque of the
driving motor.
2
API Standard 521, “Pressure-relieving and depressuring systems,” 5th ed., January 2007.
3
Heydari Gorji, A. and H. Kalat Jari, “Calculating settle-out pressure in compressor loops,”
Hydrocarbon Processing, November 2006.

Santosh Arvind Katkar is a principal process engineer at Foster Wheeler Asia Pacific
Pte Ltd., based in Singapore. His specialty is process design, and he has 15 years of
experience in the refinery, petrochemical and chemical process industries, with leading
engineering organizations such as Jacobs Engineering Group, Fluor Corp. and Lurgi
AG. Mr. Katkar earned his MTech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in
Delhi, India, and his BTech degree from the University Institute of Chemical Technology
in Jalgaon, India.

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