TECHNOLOGY

EQUATIONS FOR CALCULATING TEG CIRCULATION RATE, NUMBER OF ACTUAL TRAYS

Water content of inlet saturated gas at the given operating conditions, Amount of water absorbed, kg H2O/hr
kg/MMscm
Wact
Win = 593.335 ? exp(0.0549T) ? P–0.8146 (1) Wact,h = } (16)
24
Mole fraction of water in lean TEG
The circulation rate of TEG per kg of water absorbed, l./kg of water absorbed
(100 – xg1) / Mw
xo = }}}} (2) CTEG,l
(100 – xg1) / Mw + (xg1 / MTEG) CTEG = } (17)
Wact,h

Activity coefficient for water in TEG-water solutions, Gas superficial velocity with 80% flooding, m/sec

!§
g = –0.0585 ?xg1 + 6.2443 (3) rl – rg
VF = 0.055 } ?0.8 (18)
Water content of dried gas if it is in equilibrium with the entering lean TEG, rg
kg/MMscm
Volumetric flow rate of the gas, cu m/sec
Wo = Win ? xo ? g (4)

1 21 2
273 + T Ps
Actual amount of water absorbed, kg/MMscm V = 10.8253 ? }} ? } ? FLRATE (19)
273 + Ts P ? 103
Wact = (Win – We) (5)
Cross-sectional area of the tray tower, sq m
The maximum possible amount of water absorbed, kg/MMscm
V
Wmax = (Win – Wo) (6) Atower = }
VF (20)
Absorption efficiency, %
Diameter of the tray tower, cm

1 2
Wact

!§
ha = 100 } (7) 4Atower
Wmax dtower = } ? 100 (21)
p

The absorption factor and the number of theoretical trays: Nomenclature

A = Absorption factor
For 86% < ha< 94%: Atower = Area of the tray tower, sq m
A = 4.158 + exp(–19.17 + 23.02 ha) CTEG,l = Circulation rate of TEG, l./hr
N = 1 (8) CTEG = Circulation rate of TEG, l./kg of water absorbed
dtower = Diameter of the tray tower, cm
For 94% < ha < 98%: FLRATE = Gas flow rate, MMscmd
A = 5.79 + exp(–54.88 + 58.02 ha) K = Equilibrium constant for water in a TEG-water system
N = 1.5 (9) m = Mass flow rate of lean TEG entering the top tray, kg TEG/hr
MlTEG = Molecular mass of lean TEG
For 98% < ha < 99.85%: MTEG = Molecular mass of TEG
A = 7.21 + exp(–267.83 + 271.113 ha) Mw = Molecular mass of water
N = 2 10) N = Number of theoretical trays
Nact = Number of actual trays
Number of actual trays P = Gas pressure, MPa
Ps = Standard pressure, kPa

1 2
N T = Gas temperature, °C.
Nact = 100 } (11) Ts = Standard temperature, °C
htray V = Volumetric flow rate of the gas, cu m/sec
VF = The gas superficial velocity, m/sec
Equilibrium constant for water in a TEG-water system, Wact = Actual amount of water absorbed, kg/MMscmd
Wact,h = Actual amount of water absorbed, kg/MMscm/hr
K = 1.33 ? 10–6 ? Win ? g (12) We = Water content of the exit gas, kg/MMscm
Win = Water content of the entering gas, kg/MMscm
Molecular weight of lean TEG, Wmax = The maximum possible amount of water absorbed,
kg/MMscm
MlTEG = xo ? Mw + (1 – xo) ? MTEG (13) Wo = Water content of dried gas if it is in equilibrium with the en-
tering lean TEG, kg/MMscm
Mass flow rate of lean TEG entering the top tray, kg TEG/hr xg1 = Concentration of lean TEG, wt %
xo = The mole fraction of water in the lean TEG
m = A ? K ? FLRATE ? 1,739 ? MlTEG (14) g = The activity coefficient for water in TEG-water solution
ha = Absorption efficiency, %
The circulation rate of TEG, l./hr htray = Tray efficiency, %
rg = Density of gas, kg/cu m
m rl = Density of TEG, kg/cu m
CTEG,l = } (15) rTEG = Density of TEG, kg/l.
rTEG

The equation box contains the re-
quired equations and terms; the
nomenclature box provides definitions.
The conservative approach is used for
calculating the circulation rate of lean
TEG with the following assumptions:
• The gas volume is constant at
each point in the absorption tower.
• The gas entering the bottom tray
is 1 mole/unit time. This permits calcu-
lation from the absorption factor of the
number of moles of lean TEG entering
the top tray per unit time.
• The density of TEG and the gas
are 1.12 and 0.0416 kg/l., respectively.
• The wet gas entering the bottom
of the tower is saturated.
• The ranges of operating pressure
and temperature of the natural gas are
2-10 MPa and 20-40° C., respectively.
• The standard pressure (Ps) and
temperature (Ts) are 100 kPa (absolute)
and 15° C., respectively. The corre-
sponding number of moles in a million
standard cubic meters/day (MMscmd)
of the gas is 1,739 kmol/hr.
• The range of lean TEG varies
from 97 to 99.85%.
• The molecular mass of water and
TEG is 18 and 150, respectively.
• Flooding velocity is 80%, for cal-
culating the gas superficial velocity.

June 21, 1999 • Oil & Gas Journal 37