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Hydrocarbon Fractionation
Hydrocarbon Fractionation
Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) fractionation is the process used in gas processing
plants to separate hydrocarbon mixtures from natural gas into individual products such as
ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes as well as natural gasoline found in natural gas.
Separation into components is carried out by relative volatility. The ease of separation is
dependent on the relative volatility of the components within the products and the required
The size and cost of the fractionation column are determined by the degree of
separation required and the component volatility. Products with higher purity will require
more trays, more reflux and larger diameter of the column and/or reduced product. A
conventionally named for the hydrocarbon that is the distillate. The entire fractionation process
is broken down into steps, starting with the removal of the lighter NGLs from the stream. The
Debutanizer – Boils off the butanes from the heavier hydrocarbon in the NGL stream.
debutanized feed.
Figure ? Process flow diagram (PFD) of NGL fractionation