Tutorial 5: Separation Columns 10 marks Recovery of natural gas liquids (NGL) from natural gas is a common procedure in the

e gas processing industry. Recovery is done to produce transportable gas free from heavier hydrocarbons, meet sales gas specification and to maximize liquid recovery (when liquid products are more valuable than gas). HYSYS can model diffrent column configurations. In this NGL plant the following three columns will be modeled: De-Methanizer, DeEthanizer and De-Propanizer. A. Learning Objectives Add columns (Absorber and distillation) Add extra specifications to columns B. Building the Simulation 1. 2. Start a new case using Peng Robinson EOS as a fluid package and adding components: N2, CO2, C1, C2..C8 and enter the simulation. Add a material stream with the following data: Name Pressure Component N2 CO2 C1 C2 C3 i-C4 3. Feed 1 2275 kPa Mole Fraction 0.0025 0.0048 0.7041 0.1921 0.0706 0.0112 Temperature Flowrate Component n-C4 i-C5 n-C5 C6 C7 C8 -95oC 1590 kgmol/h Mole Fraction 0.0085 0.0036 0.0020 0.0003 0.0002 0.0001

Add a second material stream with the following data: Name Pressure Component N2 CO2 C1 C2 C3 i-C4 Feed 2 2290 kPa Mole Fraction 0.0057 0.0029 0.7227 0.1176 0.0750 0.0204 Temperature Flowrate Component n-C4 i-C5 n-C5 C6 C7 C8 -85oC 215 kgmol/h Mole Fraction 0.0197 0.0147 0.0102 0.0037 0.0047 0.0027

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4.

Add a energy stream (select the red arrow from the legend template) and enter the following information: Name: Ex Duty Energy Flow: 2.1 x 106 kJ/h

The De-Methanizer is modeled a reboiled absorber operation with two feed streams and an energy feed stream which represents a side heater on the column. 5. Add the reboiled absorber (F12, Prebuilt Columns, Reboiled Absorber). Enter the following column information: Column Name Optional Feed Stream / Feed Stage Ovhd Vapour Product Bottoms Liquid Product DC1 Feed 2 / 2 Top Stage Feed Optional Feed Stream / Feed Stage Reboiler Energy Stream C. Tray Numbering Feed 1 Ex Duty / 4

DC1 Ovhd DC1 Btm

DC1 Reb Q Top Down

For the optional feed streams make sure the two streams are being fed to the correct column stage. Select Next. 6. Enter a Top Stage Pressure estimate of 2275 kPa and Reboiler Pressure of 2310 kPa and select Next. Enter a temperature estimate for the Top Stage as -88oC and Reboiler temperature estimate of 27 oC. Select Next. No information is supplied for the Boilup Ratio so select Done. HYSYS will open up the column property view. Select the Design tab and Monitor. Activate the Ovhd Prod Rate and specify a value of 1338 kgmol/h. Deactivate the Btms Prod Rate and Boilup Ratio if they are active. This should give zero degrees of freedom. Select Run to converge the column. If there is no convergence, ask the TA.

7.

1. What is the mole fraction of methane in DC1 Ovhd.?

It is not always practical to have flow rate specifications. These specifications can result in columns which cannot be converged or produce streams with undesirable properties. An alternative approach is to specify either component fractions or component recoveries in the column product streams.

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8. 9.

In the Design tab select Specs. Press the Add button and select Component Fractions from the list that appears. Press the Add Specs button. In the display window that appears enter the following information and close the window: Name: Stage: Flow Basis: Comp Fraction 1 Mole Fraction Phase: Vapour Spec Value: 0.96 Components: Methane

10. Select Monitor from the Design tab. The column shows zero degrees of freedom even though you just added another specification. This is due to the fact that the specification was added as an estimate, not as an active specification. Deactivate the Ovhd Prod Rate and activate the Component Fraction of methane. Once the column has converged you can view the results in the Performance or Worksheet tab. 2. What is the flowrate of the overhead product, DC1 Ovhd in kgmol/h

11. Install a pump (F12, Rotating Equipment, Pump). The pump is used to move the De-Methanizer bottom product to the De-Ethanizer. Enter the following information: Inlet: Outlet: DC1 Btm DC2 Feed Energy: P-100-hp

In the worksheet, enter a pressure of 2792 kPa for stream DC2 Feed. The De-Ethanizer column is modeled as a distillation column with 14 stages. It operates at a pressure of 2760 kPa. The purpose of this column is to produce a bottoms product that has a ratio of ethane to propane of 0.01. 12. Install a distallation column (F12, Prebuilt Columns, Distillation) and enter the following information. Name Feed Stage/ Stage Ovhd Vapour Product Bottom Product Condenser Duty DC2 DC2 Feed / 6 DC2 Ovhd DC2 Btm DC2 Cond Q No. of Stages Condenser Type Ovhd Liquid Product (Distillate) Reboiler Duty 14 Partial DC2 Dist DC2 Reb Q

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Enter the following pressures, temperature estimates and column specifications and press Run: Condenser P Condenser Delta P Reboiler P Condenser T 2725 kPa 35 kPa 2792 kPa -4oC Reboiler T Ovhd Vapour Rate Distillate Rate Reflux Ratio 95oC 320 kgmol/h 0 kgmol/h 2.5 (molar)

3. What is the flowrate of C2 and C3 in DC2 Btms in kgmol/h?

4. What is the ratio of C2/C3?

13. In the Design tab, select Specs. Press the Add button and select Component Ratio from the list of specifications. Enter the following information on the display window which appears. Name: Stage: Flow Basis: C2/C3 Reboiler Molar Phase: Liquid Spec Value: 0.01 Components: ethane, propane

14. Select Monitor and deactivate the Ovhd Vap Rate and activate C2/C3 specification. 5. What is the flowrate of DC2 Ovhd in kgmol/h?

15. Add a valve (F12, Piping Equipment, Valve). A valve is required to reduce the pressure of the stream DC2 Btm before it enters the De-Propanizer. Enter the following information: Inlet: DC2 Btm Outlet: DC3 Feed

Enter a DC3 Feed pressure of 1690 kPa. The final column to be added is the De-Propanizer. It is modeled as a distillation column with 24 stages. The purpose of this column is to produce an overhead product that contains no more then 1.5 mole percent i-C4 and n-C4 as well as a concentration of propane in the bottoms product that should be less then 2 mole percent.

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16. Add a distillation column with the following information: Name Feed Stream/ Stage Ovhd Liquid Product Reboiler Duty DC3 DC3 Feed/ 11 DC3 Dist DC3 Reb Q No. of Stages Condenser Type Bottom Product Condenser Duty 24 Total DC3 Btm DC3 Cond Q

Enter the following pressures, temperature estimates and specifications and run the column: Condenser P Condenser Delta P Reboiler P Condenser T 1585 kPa 35 kPa 1655 kPa 38oC Reboiler T Distillate Rate Reflux Ratio 120oC 110 kgmol/h 1.0 (molar)

6. What is the mole fraction of C3 in the overhead and bottoms product?

17. Create two new Component Fraction specifications for the column: Specification 1: Name: Stage: Flow Basis: iC4 and nC4 Condenser Molar Phase: Liquid Spec Value: 0.015 Components: i-butane, n-butane

Specification 2: Name: Stage: Flow Basis: C3 Reboiler Molar Phase: Spec Value: Component: Liquid 0.02 propane

18. Deactivate the Distillate Rate and Reflux Ratio specification and activate the iC4 and nC4 and C3 specification. 7. What is the flowrate in kgmol/h of the distillate and bottoms products?

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C. Column Sub-Flowsheets (Read Only) The column is a special type of sub-flowsheet in HYSYS. Sub-flowsheets contain equipment and streams, and exchange information with the parent flowsheet through the connected streams. From the main environment, the column appears as a single, multifeed, multi-product operation. The column sub-flowsheet provides a number of advantages: Optional use of different Fluid Packages- HYSYS allows you to specify a unique fluid package for the column sub-flowsheet. This may be useful in instances when a different fluid package is better suited for the column or column does not use all the components in the main flowsheet and by decreasing the number of components you may speed up convergence. Isolation of Column Solver- The column sub-flowsheet allows you to make changes and focus on the column without recalculation of entire flowsheet. Ability to solve multiple towers simultaneously- The column sub-flowsheet uses a simultaneous solver whereby all operations within the subflowsheet are solved simultaneously. The simultaneous solver permits the user to install multiple interconnected columns within the subflowsheet without the need for recycle blocks. The column sub-flowsheet can be accessed by pressing the Column Environment button on the Column Property View. You can return to the main environment by pressing the Parent Environment button.

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