ESL-IE-84-04-145

PROPER DESIGN SAVES ENERGY FOR

MOLECULAR SIEVE DEHYDRATION SYSTEMS

John Barrow
Ray Veldman
Coastal Chemical Company

The molecular sieve system is a signif

icant energy user in the cryogenic gas
plant. Designing and operating the
system properly can save thousands of
dollars in fuel each year. A poorly
designed energy saving system can
result in poor plant operation, freeze
ups, and lost plant production.

HEAT
PRODUCT
e>-<l

FIGURE 1
TURbO EXPANDER PLA1~T

The molecular sieve system is a batch

process. One tower dehydrates while
the other tower is being regenerated by
heating. Energy can be conserved in
several ways.

REGENERA TION CONFIGURATIONS

Res idu e

Molecular sieve is the desiccant usu

ally chosen to remove water vapor ahead
of the natural gas processing cryogenic
plant. The molecular sieves are needed
to dry the gas to less than 0.1 ppmv.
Concentrations of water higher than 0.1
ppmv can cause ice to form and plug
lines in the cryogenic plant. These
plants typically operate from -100 to
-lBOF.

.,:Lo

...-::-;c"-----,--,,,O-'-.rL-'..-'-'O-=-"-''-'-------..,

PI,lnl

FIGURE 2

liASE CASE FOR OPTIHUAnON STUDY

TABLE I

The molecular sieve .system is a signif

icant energy user in the plant. One
bed is adsorbing while the other bed is
heated then cooled. At the end of the
cycle the beds are switched. The bed
which was adsorbing is switched into
heating to remove the water or regen
erate the bed. To effectively remove
the water from the sieve requires
heating the bed higher than 450F (nor
mally 550F) with a slip stream of gas
taken from somewhere in the plant. A
slip stream of dry effluent from the
bed in adsorption is one source of re
generation gas, while residue gas is
another choice. In either case the

INLET CONDITIONS

FLOw

TEMPERATURE . ..........
PRESSURE .... _ ...... _. _ .

"'ATER CONTENT

50 HHSCPD
100'P

615 psla
90 Ib "zO/mmsc f

DEHYOKATOR VESSE1.S

HUMBER

of

8E1>S ............

DIAMETER (I. D. ) ......

8EO HEIGHT
.
5.S. HEIGHT
_._ ...
PRESSURE DROP ...........

CYCLES
------':DSOR8 ..............
HEAr . ..................

COOL. .

2
5.5 ft
12.0 ft.
14. a ft

3,0 psi

8 hr.

5 hr.

3 hr.

REGENERATION CAS

FLOW

PRESSURE .... _... _

_.
HOT GAS INLET ............

MAX IHUH OUTLET . ...........

HOLECUl.AR SI EVE

TyPE
SiZE

.
_

WE IGHT I DEHYDRATOR

.
.

itA molecular sieve

1/8"
13,ISO lbs

833
Proceedings from the Sixth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference Volume II, Houston, TX, April 15-18, 1984

ESL-IE-84-04-145

l~st

comp nies design for 8 hour

cycles. When waste heat is not use. 8
hours may not be the best time chos n.
Fig 3 shows he correct cycle time
(proportion 1 to pounds required) a a
function f operating co t and capi al
inv stment. Larger beds require m ie
sieve and a higher cap' tal investment,
but save energy through fewer regenJ
erations.
simple quick look t tile
probl m, show' that the slight inCrjaSe
in capit 1 inv stment (Larger beds) is
a good en rgy s ving ide and that
e
optimum is 10-12 hour cycles. The n
gineering hous and project engine
should spend the time to decide on he
most en rgy efficient system to bui d.

slipstream is heated, then used to heat

the sieve bed.
From the bed, the gas
is cooled and water is condensed at the
regeneration gas scrubber.
From the
regeneration as scrubber the gas is
returned to the molecular sieve inlet
(for dry effluent regeneration) or to
Lhe sales gas line (for residue regen
eration) .
(Figs. 1 & 2)
Regeneration requires about 7,200 BTU's
p r pound of water removed. This ex
pense can be eliminated or greatly re
duced in several different ways. Re
ducing the amount of water removed via
molecular sieve, utilizing waste heat
recovery, and operating the system in
an energy efficient manner are, all
way that less energy can be used to
operate a mole ular sieve system.

A glycol unit is an economical way 0

dehydrate natural gas but will only
dehydrate to a lev 1 of 1 to 7 poun s
of water per mmscf. A glycol unit ses
less energy because the he t of ab
sorption of water into glycol is no as
high as the heat of absorption of ,ter
onto molecular sieve. Putting a glycol
unit an a molecular siev system i
series will allow removal of wat r
0
less than 0.1 ppmv and use less ene gy.
The economics, how ver, are disap
pointing (Table II) as th extra
capital investment takes 5-7 year
0
payout. H wever, a retr fit of a I
cryogenic pL 1 t to an exist'ng older
plant which already has a glycol un t
may utilize the old glycol unit eco
nomically.

The compressors whichrepressure the

gas after the cryogenic plant are usu
ally driven by gas turbines or gas
engines. Heat from the xhaust can be
r cov red a d used to heat the regen
eration gas stream. There are many gas
to gas exchangers which can be used in
this service. Utilizing compressor
waste heat essentially eliminates the
energy xpense. However, it can also
present th op rator with some dif
ficult problems.
Some plant operators
have been reluctant to build a gas to
as exchanger because a leak would
certainly m an a fire when the high
pressur regener tion gas would be
m'xed with an exhaust gas containing
oxy en. One solution to this p~ublem
is 0 heat a salt bath with compres
sor exh ust then heat the regeneration
gas with the salt.

Internall insulating the molecular

sieve b ds will s ve 20- 0% of the
required energy. The economics sho a
f th
2 to 3 year pay b ck peria.
refractory lining is correctly in
stalled this idea will w rk we l . f
the insulation is installed incor
rectly, wet gas will channel down t e
walls and f eeze ups will be a consfant
problem.
The reg neration system which u es r
sidue gas regener tion can be driv I by
dropping the entire residue gas str am
pressure across a control valve
and forcing a slip stream of gas
thraug the rege eration loop.
New r
plants are using a small com ressor to
pump the lips ream and save horesp?wer
in the re ompressors.
This idea may be
suitable for retrofit to existing
plants.

Waste heat recovery has resulted in

operating probl ms for some plants when
they run at redu ed rates.
If the
waste heat units were designed so that
all compressor exhausts were needed to
maintain both the volume and the tem
perature of the required regeneration
s ream, and one compressor is down due
to low throughput, the operator has the
rollowing choices. He can accept a
ege ration stream flowing at the cor
r ct rate and
lower temperature, or
he can c oose
rate lower than design
at the carre t tempera ure. Since most
sie e syst ms are designed at minimum
t mperature and minimum regeneration
gas rate, either choice results in poor
r gen rati ns and freeze-ups.
An aux
illary burner in the gas to gas ex
changer could solve this problem.

Another energy savings idea is he

addition of a third be
This woul
allow the regener tion gas to be pre
heated as the bed DaIs, saVing n rgy.
A brief review f the e onomi~s shows
hat the energy sa ed pays for the in
vestment i. 5 to 7 year.

We tested the economics for the fol

lowing ideas using a 50 rnmscfd system
described by Table I.

834
Proceedings from the Sixth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference Volume II, Houston, TX, April 15-18, 1984

ESL-IE-84-04-145

The single largest waste of energy

results froQ operating with cycles
times which are too short. We fre
quently find plants which are operating
on 8 hour cycles (which is design) but
now process significantly less gas, or
gas which has been dehydrated in the
field.
The only way to operate at the
maximum possible cycle time is to run
frequent breakthrough tests.
These
tests are simply made, the operators
put the bed switching mechanism on
manual and switch the bed when the
plant I:1oisture monitor shows an in
crease in the water content of the gas
leaving the bed.
Installing a new
probe before the test assures that
breakthrough will be easily observed
and that the plant will not freeze up.
Sellers of molecular sieves sometimes
do these tests for free.
If a break
through test shows that 24 hours on
adsorption is possible and you oper
ate on only 8 hour cycles, the excess
energy bill can be very high.

UTILIZE WASTE HEAT

TABLE I I

USES COfIPRESSOR EXHAUST AS

A HEAT SOURCE
REQUIRES THE INSTALLATION OF
AN AUXILLARY BURNER
WITHOUT
PROBLEMS OCCUR WITH
TURNDOWN (MULTIPLE
RECOMPRESSORS)
REGENERATION GAS VELOCITY
OR TEMPERATURE NUST DROP
WITH THE SHUT DOWN
OF 1 ENGINE

This paper has presented a brief over

view on how to save energy in a cryo
genic plant.
If your next cryogenic
plant cannot use waste heat for the
regeneration gas, the ideas presented
should be evaluated.
If waste heat is
used, be sure that the design is
flexible enough to allow good oper
ations at processing rates well below
design.

OPTUIUl'1 CYCLE TUIE

GRAPHICAL SOL~TION

Il

1Z

10

PRESENT
VALUE ~ '"
INCREMENTAL
o
o
CAPITAL
COST b 0

\0

\2.

I~

\(,

2.0

FIGURE J
CYCLE TIME PRUPORTIONAL
TO SIEVE QUANTITY

835
Proceedings from the Sixth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference Volume II, Houston, TX, April 15-18, 1984