Gas Dehydration Using

Glycol

Manning and Thompson, Volume I

Chapter 8

Outline

• Introduction
• Process Description
• Design Methods
• Design Examples
• Troubleshooting

1
NATCO Glycol Dehydration Unit

The NATCO glycol

dehydration
process removes
water vapor from
natural gas.
Removing water
vapor prevents
hydrate formation
and corrosion, and
maximizes pipeline
efficiency.

1.4 Bscfd Glycol Dehydration Plant

2
Why Should We Dehydrate Gas?

• If left in gas, water can cause:

– Solid hydrate formation under certain conditions.
– Corrosion, especially in the presence of CO2 or H2S.
– Slugging (two-phase flow) and erosion.
– Increase in specific volume and decrease in the
heating value of gas.
– Freezing in cryogenic and refrigerated absorption
plants.

• Sales gas contracts and/or piping specifications

have a maximum water content (typically 7 lbm
per MMscf).

Methods of Dehydration

• Liquid Desiccants (glycols):

– Desiccant is substance that has an affinity for water
– Usually the choice of dehydration method is between
glycol and solid desiccants.
– Glycol dehydration is by far the most commonly used
process.

3
Methods of Dehydration

• Solid Desiccants (alumina, silica gel, molecular

sieves):
– Characterized by porous structure that contains very
large internal surface areas (200-800 m2/g) with very
small radii of curvature (0.001-0.2 mm)
– Strong affinity for water
– Capacities between 5-15% by weight
– Can dry gas to less than 0.1 ppm of water or a dew
point of –150 °F.

Methods of Dehydration

• Expansion Refrigeration:
– Also known as low-temperature extraction (LTX).
– Employs Joule-Thompson expansion (isothermal
expansion) to dry the gas and recover condensate.
– J-T expansion requires large pressure drops.
– Because of large pressures drops, LTX is used only
when the prime objective is condensate recovery.

• Calcium Chloride:
– Anhydrous calcium chloride absorbs 1 lbm H2O per lbm
of CaCl2 before becoming brine.

4
Glycol vs. Solid Desiccants

• Advantages of glycol over solid desiccants:

– Lower installed cost (Kohl and Riesenfeld, 1979)
• 50% less at 10 MMscfd
• 33% less at 50 MMscfd
– Lower pressure drop (5-10 psi vs. 10-50 psi for dry
desiccants).
– Glycol dehydration is continuous rather than batch.
– Glycol makeup is easily accomplished.
– Glycol units require less regeneration heat per pound
of water removed.
– Glycol units can typically dehydrate natural gas to 0.5
lbm H2O/MMscf

Glycol vs. Solid Desiccants

• Disadvantages of glycol over solid desiccants:

– Water dew points below -25 ºF require stripping gas
and a Stahl column.
– Glycol is susceptible to contamination.
– Glycol is corrosive when contaminated or decomposed.

5
Comparison Continued

• Advantages of solid desiccants:

– Dew points as low as –150 ºF.
– They are less affected by small changes in gas
pressure, temperature and flow rate.
– They are less susceptible to corrosion or foaming.

Comparison Continued

• Disadvantages solid desiccants:

– Higher capital cost and higher pressure drops.
– Desiccant poisoning by heavy HC’s, H2S, CO2, etc.
– Mechanical breaking of desiccant particles.
– High regeneration heat requirements and high utility
costs.

• Bottom Line:
– Glycol dehydration is by far the most commonly
process.

6
Choice of Glycol
DEG
EG
TEG TREG
TEG dew point depressions
range from 40 – 150 oF while
inlet pressures and
temperatures range from 75 –
2500 psig and from 55 to 160
oF, respectively.
• Ethylene glycol (EG)
• Diethylene glycol (DEG)
• Triethylene glycol (TEG)
• Tetraethylene glycol (TREG)
• TEG has gained almost universal
acceptance as the most cost-
effective choice because:
– TEG is more easily regenerated
– TEG has a higher decomposition
temperature of 404 ºF while DEG is
328 ºF.
– Vaporization losses are lower than
EG or DEG
– TEG is not too viscous above 70 ºF.

Flow Diagram for TEG Dehydration

(Typical of Wellhead Unit)

Remove
Water
Vapor Reboiler boils
water out of
Glycol
Remove
Liquid and
solids

Wet Glycol Needs

Preheat Rich
Reconcentration
Glycol & Cool
Lean Glycol

7
Flow Diagram for Glycol System

Skimmer Added to
Remove
Condensate

Additional Heat
Exchangers Added
to Reduce Fuel
Consumption &
Protects Glycol
Pump

Glycol Absorber with Integral

Scrubber

TEG Circulation
Rates of 1.5 to
4 gal per lbm
water removed

Absorber
Section Usually
Contains 4 to 12
Bubble Cap
Trays

Gas Glycol

50% of
All Dehydration
Problems are
Caused by
Inadequate
Scrubbing of
Inlet Gas

8
Skimmer or Flash Tank
Rich Glycol &
Condensate
• Purpose:
– Knock Condensate out of Glycol
• Operating Parameters:
Feed

– Two-Phase Separator with 5-10

minutes retention time required.
– Or Three-Phase Separator with 20-30
minutes liquid retention time.
– Optimum Conditions are 100-150 ºF
and 50-75 psig.
– Better condensate-glycol separation is
obtained with horizontal flash tanks;
vertical separators require less
platform space.

Rich Glycol
to Reboiler

Filters
• Purpose:
– Prevent pump wear, plugging of heat
exchangers, foaming, fouling of
contactor trays, cell corrosion and hot
spots on the fire tubes.
• Operating Parameters:
– Keep solids below 100 ppm
– Sock filter designed to remove 5
micron and larger particles
– Sock filters are designed for an initial
pressure loss of 3 to 6 psi and change
out at 15 to 25 psi.
– Activated charcoal filters used to
remove condensate, surfactants and
treating chemicals.

9
Glycol Pump
• Purpose:
– Returns LP lean glycol to HP contact
tower.
• Operating Parameters:
– Contains only moving parts in unit
– A spare pump should be provided
since dehydration stops when glycol
circulation stops.
– Typically a positive displacement (PD)
pump.
– Can be HP gas, HP liquid, or electric
motor driven.

Surge Tank
• Purpose:
– Reservoir to handle a complete drain-
down of TEG from the absorber-tower
trays.
• Operating Parameters:
– Should be designed to operate at half
full under normal operation.
– A gas blanket is recommended to
prevent oxygen contamination.

10
 Reboiler
• Purpose:
– Provides heat necessary to boil the
water out of the rich or wet glycol.
• Operating Parameters:
– Direct fired heaters often used
onshore.
– Indirect heating offshore.
– TEG does not undergo thermal
decomposition if temperature is kept
below 400 ºF.
– U-shaped fire tube should be sized for
6000-8000 Btu/hr-ft2.
– Water comes off as steam.

Instrumentation – Lean Design

ITEM CONTROLS LEGEND
Contactor PC on exit gas line BAL Low burner flame alarm
PI on contactor BSL Burner flame sensor
TI on contactor LC Level control
LC on contactor LAH High liquid level alarm
Reconcentrator PSV on reboiler shell LAL Low liquid level alarm
TSH on glycol in reboiler (to shutdown panel) PC Pressure control
TI on glycol in reboiler
PCV Pressure control valve
TIC on glycol in reboiler connected to TCV on fuel
PI Pressure indicator
gas to main burner
PSV Pressure shutdown valve
TSH on stack gas temperature (to shutdown panel)
SDV Shutdown valve
BSL flame sensor on burner (to shutdown panel)
PI on fuel line to main burner High level temperature
TAH
alarm
PCV on fuel line to main burner
Temperature control
SDV on fuel line to main burner (activated by TCV
valve
shutdown panel)
TI Temperature indicator
SDV on pilot fuel line (activated by shutdown panel)
Temperature indicating
Shutdown Panel LAH on glycol level in glycol flash tank TIC
controller
LAL on glycol level in glycol flash tank
High temperature
BAL on flame in main burner TSH
shutdown
TAH on glycol temperature in reboiler OR on stack
gas temperature
LAH on integral scrubber in contactor

11
Operating Temperatures

TEMPERATURE OR
PROCESS
TEMPERATURE RANGE
LOCATION
(ºF)
Inlet gas 80 – 100
Glycol into absorber 5 – 15 warmer than gas
Glycol into flash
100 – 150 (prefer 150)
separator or skimmer
Glycol into filters 100 – 150 (prefer 150)
Glycol into still 300 – 350
210
Top of still
190 with stripping gas
380 – 400 (prefer 380)
Reboiler 350 yields 98.5 wt% TEG
400 yields 99.0 wt% TEG
TEG entering pump <200 (prefer 180)

Process Operation

• Contactor or Absorber:
– Operating efficiency depends on the inlet gas flow
rate, temperature, and pressure and also the lean
glycol concentration, temperature, and circulation rate.

• Inlet Gas Flow Rate:

– Load (lbs water to be removed/hr) varies directly with
feed gas flow rate.
– Most contactors have been designed conservatively
and can handle flow rates 5 to 10% above capacity.
– Lower flow limit set by 5 to 1 turndown ratio of the
bubble caps.

12
Process Operation

• Inlet Gas Temperature:

– Inlet gas may be assumed to enter the absorber
saturated with water vapor.
– McKetta and Wehe’s correlation shows that at 1000
psia, the water content increases from 33 to 62 to 102
lb H2O/MMscf as the temperature increases from 80,
to 100 to 120 ºF.
– Pressure is not as severe: at 100 ºF, the water content
is 62, 72 and 87 lbm H2O /MMscf at 1000, 800 and 600
psia.
• Entering TEG temperature and concentration:
– The drying ability of the TEG is limited by the vapor-
liquid equilibrium of water between the gas phase and
the liquid TEG phase.

Dew Point Chart

TEG-H2O system

13
Process Operation (cont’d)

• Glycol Circulation Rate:

– The water picked up by the glycol increases with inlet
glycol concentration, decreasing glycol temperature,
higher circulation rates, and the number of contactor
trays.
– A glycol circulation rate of 3 gal/lbm water removed is
conservative but commonly used in the past.
– Recent energy conservation practices have lowered
the rate to 2 gal/lbm of water removed.

Process Operation (cont’d)

• Dehydration Temperature:
– While TEG can dehydrate natural gas at operating
temperatures from 50 ºF to 130 ºF, the preferred
temperatures range is 80-100 ºF.
– Below 70 ºF, glycol is too viscous.
– Above 110 ºF, the inlet gas contains too much water
and the drying ability of the glycol is reduced.

• Reconcentrator:
– Usually operated at atmospheric pressure.
– Temperature ranges from 350 to 400 ºF.

14
Boiling Point of TEG Solutions

Normal
range for
Reboiler

Stripping Column

• Purpose:
– Increase glycol concentrations
up to 99.6 wt% by sparging
stripping gas directly into the
reboiler.

15
Optimum Values for Glycol Analysis

Design Method

• Obtain Design Information

• Select an appropriate combination of:
– Lean glycol concentration
– Circulation rate
– Absorber trays
• Establish the required balances:
– Material
– Energy
• Size Equipment

16
Required Information

• Inlet gas flow rate, pressure & temperature

• Required water dew point or water content of
exit gas
• Inlet gas analysis or inlet gas gravity & acid gas
content

Required Information

• Other important considerations:

– Available utilities
– Safety & environmental regulations for discharging
stripper overhead

17
TEG-H2O-VLE Comparison
• Parrish et. al. (1986) compared
existing VLE data for TEG-water-
natural gas and found considerable
disagreement.
• Dehydrated natural gas leaving
absorber cannot contain less water
than that which would be in
equilibrium with entering lean glycol.
• Equilibrium is never reached.
• In practice, the water dew point of
dried gas leaving the absorber is 5-10
ºF higher than equilibrium dew point.
• Rule of thumb, dew-point depression is
60 ºF for first four trays and 7 ºF for
each additional tray.

Glycol Absorber (Contactor)

• Sizing the absorber involves
specifying:
– Type and number of trays
– The TEG circulation rate
– The column diameter
• Sizing can be done by charts such as
Sivalls (1976) or Worley (1987) or
more recently by Olbrich and Manning
(1988):
– Actual trays: 4-12
– Lean glycol conc., w/o 98.5-99.9
– Circ. rate, gal TEG/lb H2O 1.5-6
– Temperature, ºF 80 and 100
– Pressure, psia 300-400

18
Glycol Absorber Diameter
• Diameter of Absorber:
rL - rV
Vmax = K SB
rV
4Q
Q = Vmax A D=
pVmax
Vmax = maximum gas superficial velocity
(ft/hr)
Ksb = Souders-Brown coefficient (ft/hr)
= 660 ft/hr for towers 30” larger with
18” tray spacing..
rL = Glycol density (lbm/ft3)
rV = Gas density at column conditions
(lbm/ft3)

Predicted Dew Point Depression

1 & 1.5 Equilibrium Stages, 100 ºF and 600 psia

19
Predicted Dew Point Depression
2 & 2.5 Equilibrium Stages, 100 ºF and 600 psia

Predicted Dew-Point Depression

3 Equilibrium Stages – 100 ºF, 600 psia

20
Predicted Dew Point Depression
1 & 1.5 Equilibrium Stages – 80 ºF, 600 psia

Predicted Dew Point Depression

2 & 2.5 Equilibrium Stages – 80 ºF, 600 psia

21
Predicted Dew Point Depression
3 Equilibrium Stages – 80 ºF, 600 psia

Glycol Pump
• Sizing Pump:
– Use Reciprocating pump
– Assume pump efficiency of
70-80%
– Calculate temperature rise
based on converting
mechanical work into
enthalpy change.
– Can use quick estimate for
BHP = 1.2 ´10 -5 (gph ) (psig ) pump break horsepower

kW = 1.2 ´10 -5 (gph )(psig )

gph = gallons TEG per hour

22
Glycol Flash Separator
• Wet glycol is flashed at 50-100 psia and 100-
150 ºF.
• Liquid retention times are 5-10 min. for gas-
glycol.
• Liquid retention times are 20-30 min. for
gas-condensate-glycol.
• Vertical Separator:
– Height (ft) = 3.4 + (0.4) (gpm)
– Where gpm = gal TEG circulated/min
– Minimum height =4 ft
– Maximum height =10 ft
– Minimum diameter =1.5 ft
• Horizontal Separator:
– L/D ratio = 3
– Min. length = 3 ft
– Min. diameter = 2 ft

Glycol Stripping Still

• Computer programs usually consider the
stripping column as three theoretical trays:
– Reboiler
– Packed stripping column
– Reflux condenser
• Diameter of stripping column is based on the
required vapor and liquid loads at the base of
the column.
• An approximate diameter equation is
D=9 Q
where D = Still diameter (in)
Q = TEG circulation rate (gpm)

• Conservative design and field test data

dictate that the packed section should be at
least 4 ft high, and that this height be
increased to 8 ft for a 1 MMBtu/hr unit
(Sivalls, 1976)

23
Glycol Reboiler
• Duty can be calculated as:
Q r = 900 + 966 m
where Qr= regenerator duty Btu/lbm H2O
m = gal TEG/lbm H2O

• A more detailed procedure is illustrated in

the design example below.
– Design duty is calculated requirement duty
plus 5% of condenser and glycol exchanger
duties.
– Vapor disengagement area is based on 14,000
Btu/hr-ft2 heat flux across the vapor liquid
interface.
– Reboiler shell L/D ratio is 5.
– Minimum D is 1.5 ft, minimum L = 3.5 ft.

Glycol Heat Exchangers

Reflux
condenser
Lean-glycol-dry
gas

glycol-glycol

24
Glycol Heat Exchangers
• Reflux Condenser Exchanger:
– Design duty plus 5% for fouling.
– Seider-Tate correlation used for the heat transfer
coefficient.
• Glycol-glycol:
– Design duty + 5% for fouling. Entering temperatures
for the lean and rich streams known.
– Set the “approach” or lean glycol in – rich glycol out =
60 ºF to minimize preheat of the rich glycol.
– Two or more heat exchangers should be placed in
series to avoid any temperature cross.
• Lean glycol cooler:
– Lean glycol outlet temp. should be 5-10 ºF hotter than
the inlet gas to absorber. Therefore, the lean glycol is
cooled from 180-200 ºF down to 110 –120 ºF.

25