Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 1

Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

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© 2003 AspenTech. All Rights Reserved.
EA1031.31.05
09 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG.pdf
2 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Workshop
At the wellhead, reservoir fluids generally are saturated with water. The
water in the gas can present some problems:

• formation of solid hydrates can plug valves, fittings or pipes

• the presence of water along with H2S or CO2 can cause corrosion
problems
• water can condense in the pipeline causing erosion or corrosion
problems

Generally, a dehydration unit is used in gas plants to meet a pipeline

specification. There are several different processes available for
dehydration: glycols, silica gel, or molecular sieves.

The natural gas industry commonly uses tri-ethylene glycol (TEG) for
gas dehydration where low gas dew point temperatures are required,
such as in the design of offshore platforms in the Arctic or North Sea
regions or for other cryogenic processes.

In this example, the water dewpoint spec for the dry gas is -10°C
(-14°F) at 6200 kPa (900 psia).

Learning Objectives
Once you have completed this section, you will be able to:

• Model a typical TEG dehydration unit

• Determine water dewpoint for a gas.

Prerequisites
Before beginning this section you need to be able to add streams,
operations and columns.

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Process Overview
4 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Column Overview
TEG Contactor
Figure 1

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 5

TEG Regenerator
Figure 2

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6 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Building the Simulation

Defining the Simulation Basis
For this case, you will be using the Peng Robinson EOS with the
following components: N2, H2S, CO2, C1, C2, C3, i-C4, n-C4, i-C5, n-C5,
H2O, and TEG.

Starting the Simulation

Adding the feed streams
1. Add a Material stream for the inlet gas with the following values:

In this cell... Enter...

Name Inlet Gas
Temperature 30°C (85°F)
Pressure 6200 kPa (900 psia)
Molar Flow 500 kgmole/h (10 MMSCFD)
Component Mole Fraction
N2 0.0010
H2S 0.0155
CO2 0.0284
C1 0.8989
C2 0.0310
C3 0.0148
i-C4 0.0059
n-C4 0.0030
i-C5 0.0010
n-C5 0.0005
H2O 0.0000
TEG 0.0000

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 7

2. Add a second Material stream for the TEG feed to the TEG Contactor
with the listed values.

In this cell... Enter...

Name TEG Feed
Temperature 50°C (120°F)
Pressure 6200 kPa (900 psia)
Don’t forget to enter the
mass fractions! Std Ideal Liq Vol Flow 0.5 m3/h (2 USGPM)
Component Mass Fraction
H2O 0.01
TEG 0.99

The values for the stream TEG Feed will be updated once the Recycle
operation is installed and has calculated.

Mixer Operation
The composition of the natural gas stream has been provided on a
water-free basis. To ensure water saturation, the gas is mixed with water
prior to entering the Contactor.

Add a Mixer to mix the Inlet Gas and Water to Saturate streams.

In this cell... Enter

Connections
Name Saturate
Inlets Inlet Gas
Water to Saturate
Outlet Gas + H2O
Parameters
Automatic Pressure Assignment Equalize All
Worksheet
Water to Saturate, Flowrate 0.5 kgmole/h (1.1 lbmole/hr)
Water to Saturate, Composition 100% Water
Water to Saturate, Temperature 30°C (85°F)

What is the vapour fraction of the stream Gas+H20? (It should be less than
1.0 to ensure saturation) _____________________________________________

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8 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Separator Operation
Any free water carried with the gas is first removed in a separator
operation, FWKO.

Add a Separator and provide the following information:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name FWKO TK
Inlets Gas + H2O
Vapour Outlet Gas to Contactor
Liquid Outlet FWKO

How much water is removed by the Separator? __________________________

What is the hydrate temperature of Gas to Contactor?____________________

Contactor Operation
The TEG Contactor can now be simulated.

Add an Absorber column operation with the following specifications

and run the column.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name TEG Contactor
No. of Stages 8
Top Stage Inlet TEG Feed
Bottom Stage Feed Gas to Contactor
Ovhd Vapour Dry Gas
Bottoms Liquid Rich TEG
Pressures
Top 6190 kPa (897 psia)
Bottom 6200 kPa (900 psia)

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 9

Valve Operation
The Rich TEG stream is flashed across the valve, VLV-100. The outlet
pressure will be back calculated.

Add a Valve with the following values:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Inlet Rich TEG
Outlet LP TEG

Heat Exchanger Operation

Regen Feed is heated to 105°C (220°F) in the lean/rich exchanger, L/R
HEX, before entering the Regenerator.

Add a Heat Exchanger with the following values:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name L/R HEX
Tube Side Inlet Regen Bttms
Tube Side Outlet Lean from L/R
Shell Side Inlet LP TEG
Shell Side Outlet Regen Feed
Parameters
Tubeside Delta P 70 kPa (10 psi)
Shellside Delta P 70 kPa (10 psi)
Worksheet
Regen Feed, Temperature 105°C (220°F)
Regen Feed, Pressure 110 kPa (16 psia)

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10 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Regenerator Operation
The TEG Regenerator is simulated as a Distillation Column. The TEG
Regenerator consists of a condenser, a reboiler and one ideal stage.

1. Add a Distillation Column to the case.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name TEG Regenerator
No. of Stages 1
You can turn off the Column
Input Experts in Tools/ Feed Regen Feed
Preferences on the Condenser Type Full Reflux
Simulation tab by
Ovhd Vapour Sour Gas
unchecking the 'Use Input
Experts' box. Bottoms Liquid Regen Bttms
Condenser Energy Cond Q
Reboiler Energy Reb Q
Pressures
Delta P Cond 2 kPa (1 psia)
Condenser 101 kPa (14 psia)
Reboiler 103 kPa (15 psia)
Specs
First Spec - Column Temperature
Stage Condenser
Spec Value 102°C (215°F)
Status Active
Second Spec - Column Temperature
Stage Reboiler
Spec Value 205°C (400°F)
Status Active
Third Spec - Reflux Ratio
Spec Value 1.0 Molar
Status Estimate
Fourth Spec - Draw Rate
Draw Sour Gas
Spec Value 1 kgmole/h (0.02 MMSCFD)
Status Estimate

2. Set the Damping Factor (on the Solver page) to Adaptive. This will
result in much faster convergence for this column.
3. Run the Column.

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 11

Mixer Operation
TEG is lost in small quantities, so a makeup stream is required to ensure
that the material balance is maintained.

1. Add a Material Stream.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Name Makeup TEG
Temperature 15°C (60°F)

Don’t forget to enter the Component Mass Fraction

mass fractions! H2O 0.01
TEG 0.99

2. Add a Mixer with the following information:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Inlets Makeup TEG
Lean from L/R
Outlet TEG to Pump
Parameters
Automatic Pressure Assignment Equalize All
Worksheet
Std Ideal Liq Vol Flow, TEG to Pump 0.5 m3/h (2 USGPM)

What is the flowrate of Makeup TEG? __________________________________

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12 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Pump Operation
A pump is installed to raise the pressure of the TEG before it enters the
Contactor.

Add a Pump with the following information:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Inlet TEG to Pump
Outlet Pump Out
Energy Pump Q
Worksheet
Pump Out, Pressure 6275 kPa (910 psia)

Heat Exchanger
A second heat exchanger is added to cool the TEG returning to the
Contactor.

Add a Heat Exchanger with the following information.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Tube Side Inlet Pump Out
Tube Side Outlet TEG to Recycle
Shell Side Inlet Dry Gas
Shell Side Outlet Sales Gas
Parameters
Tube Side Delta P 70 kPa (10 psi)
Shell Side Delta P 35 kPa (5 psi)
Worksheet
TEG to Recycle, Temperature 50°C (120°F)

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 13

Recycle Operation
The Recycle installs a theoretical block in the process stream. The feed
into the block is termed the calculated recycle stream, and the product
is the assumed recycle stream. The following steps take place during the
convergence process:

• HYSYS uses the conditions of the assumed stream and solves

the Flowsheet up to the calculated stream.
• HYSYS then compares the values of the calculated stream to
those of the assumed stream.
• Based on the difference between the values, HYSYS modifies the
values in the assumed stream.
• The calculation process repeats until the values in the calculated
stream match those in the assumed stream within specified
tolerances.

In this case, the lean TEG (TEG Feed) stream which was originally
estimated will be replaced with the new calculated lean TEG (TEG to
Recycle) stream and the Contactor and Regenerator will be run until the
recycle loop converges.

1. Double-click on the Recycle icon. On the Connections tab select the

connections from the drop-down boxes.

Figure 3

Recycle Button

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14 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

2. Switch to the Variables page on the Parameters tab. Complete the

page as shown in the figure below. The tolerances for Flow, Enthalpy
and TEG Composition need to be tightened.

The TEG concentration is Figure 4

very high so it is necessary
to tighten the tolerances,
especially on composition,
to ensure accurate
solutions.

What is the hydrate temperature of Sales Gas? __________________________

How does this compare with the hydrate temperature of Gas to Contactor?
____________________________________________________________________

Hydrate Formation Utility

There are three ways to attach utilities to streams in HYSYS.

• Click on the Tools menu and select Utilities. The Available

Utilities view appears.
• Press CTRL U and the Available Utilities view appears.
• Double-click on a stream. On the Attachments tab, select
Utilities. Click the Create button and the Available Utilities view
appears.

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 15

Attach a Hydrate Formation Utility to Stream Sales Gas

In the Available Utilities view, select the Hydrate Formation Utility and
click on the Add Utility button. If the utility is not already associated
with a stream, then the Hydrate Formation Utility view appears. Click
the Select Stream button and select the stream Sales Gas. Switch to the
Performance tab. Here you will see the Equilibrium Phase reported as
Vapour Phase. With the Hydrate Formation Utility in HYSYS v3.0 and
newer, you must ensure that the Equilibrium Phase reported on the
Performance tab matches the Hydrate Calculation Model chosen on the
Design tab.

In this case, the default Hydrate Calculation Model is Symmetric, which

is only applicable to Liquid phase calculations. Thus, you should switch
the model to Vapour Only, as shown here:

Figure 5

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16 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

Now, you will note that the Equilibrium Phase reported on the
Performance tab is Vapour phase, which matches the Hydrate
Calculation Model chosen, as follows:

Figure 6

Save your case!

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 17

Analyzing the Results

One of the criteria used to determine the efficiency of a dehydration
facility is the water dewpoint of the dry gas. This can easily be checked
by finding the temperature at which water will just begin to condense.
First, all traces of TEG must be removed from the stream being tested
The Component Splitter
does not do a flash to because TEG affects the H2O dewpoint. This is accomplished by the use
separate components. The of a Component Splitter. The resulting stream is then cooled and its
separation is specified by outlet temperature is varied by an Adjust operation to find the point at
the user.
which water just forms.

1. Add a Component Splitter with the following values:

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Component Splitter icon Name Remove TEG
Inlet Sales Gas
Overhead Outlet TEG Only
Bottoms Outlet Water Dewpoint
Energy Split Q
Parameters
TEG Only, Temperature 10°C (50°F)
TEG Only, Pressure 6155 kPa (893 psia)
Water Dewpoint Temperature -10°C (-14°F)
Water Dewpoint Pressure 6155 kPa (893 psia)
Accept defaults 'Use Stream Flash Specifications'
'Use Stream Pressure
Specifications'
Splits
Stream TEG Only, TEG 1.0
Stream TEG Only, all other 0.0
components

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18 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

2. Add a Separator to remove the condensed water.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Feed Water Dewpoint
Vapour Outlet Gas Out
Liquid Outlet XS H2O

An Adjust operation will vary the temperature of Water Dewpoint until

the dewpoint specification is met for the stream Gas Out.

Add an Adjust operation to manipulate the temperature of the Water

Dewpoint stream until the flow of the XS H2O stream is just greater than
0, a value of 0.01 kg/h works well here.
Adjust Button
The resultant temperature of the Water Dewpoint stream will then be
the dewpoint of that stream.

In this cell... Enter...

Connections
Adjusted Variable Water Dewpoint
Variable Temperature
The tolerance must be small
Target Variable
here as the target value is
close to 0, but an XS H2O Object XS H2O
flow of 0 means that the Variable Comp. Mass Flow - H2O
dewpoint has not been
reached yet. Target Value
Source User Supplied
Target Value 0.01 kg/h (0.022 lb/h)
Parameters
Method Secant
Tolerance 0.005 kg/h (0.011 lb/h)
Step Size 5°C (10°F)

3. Click the Start button to run the Adjust operation.

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 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG 19

Exploring the Simulation

Exercise 1: Stripping Gas
The addition of stripping gas (slipstream from Sales Gas) will enhance
the ability of the Regenerator to remove water from the rich TEG. A Tee
operation is used to split Sales Gas into 2 streams.

• Strip Gas flow = 50 kgmole/h (110 lbmole/hr)

The stream pressure is 6155 kPa which is too high for the Regenerator.
Use a Mole balance to transfer the flow and composition of Strip Gas to
SG to Regen. Specify the following parameters for SG to Regen:

• T = 70°C (160°F)
• P = 110 kPa (15 psia)

SG to Regen enters as a feed to the Regenerator Reboiler. Does the TEG

concentration in Regen Bttms increase?
____________________________________________________________________

Hint: You should ignore the adjust, as the sales gas will now exceed the
dewpoint specification easily.

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20 Natural Gas Dehydration with TEG

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