Insti tut Supérieur des Sciences

Appliquées et Économiques
Département de Génie des Procédés

Procédés de séparation de l’industrie pétrochimique.

CGP241

Année académique 2019-2020

Refrigerated gas plant.

Presented by

Hiba GHANDOUR
Thursday, April 23, 2020

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 Table of contents

Table of contents.......................................................................................................................3
List of tables...............................................................................................................................4
List of figures.............................................................................................................................5
Introduction...............................................................................................................................6
I. Refrigerated gas plant..........................................................................................................7
I.1. Simulation.......................................................................................................................7
I.1.1. Results and analysis.........................................................................................................8
I.1.2. Process optimization......................................................................................................10
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

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List of tables

Table 1: Feed Composition........................................................................................................7

Table 2: General Unit Operations Used in the Gas Refrigeration Process................................8
Table 3: Molar Composition of the Sales-Gas...........................................................................9

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List of figures

Figure 1: Gas refrigeration process flow sheet..........................................................................8

Figure 2: PT diagram of the feed and sales gas.........................................................................9
Figure 3: Gas Refrigeration Flow Sheet...................................................................................10

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 Introduction

Natural gas is a highly valuable petroleum product, a fossil fuel used for electricity
generation, heating, cooking, and as fuel for certain vehicles. It is an important chemical
feedstock in the manufacture of plastics, fertilizers, and dyes. [1]

It is a highly flammable gaseous hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane and ethane.

Therefore, the dew point of the sales gas should not exceed -15°C at 6000kPa.

The purpose of this simulation is to lower the dew point of the gas by eliminating all liquid
components to ensure safe transportation.

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I. Refrigerated gas plant

This plant will convert the natural gas to a gas that verifies the required standards for
transportation called sales gas.

The refrigeration process consists of removing heat from certain process streams. It is used to
meet the hydrocarbon dew point as well as the water dew point specification for residue or
sales gas. [2]

I.1. Simulation.
A 1440 kmole/h of hydrocarbons mixture enters a separator at 15°C and 6200kPa, which will
remove the free liquids. The outlet vapor will be cooled to -20°C and then separated in a low-
temperature separator to obtain the required sales gas.

Table 1 presents the composition of the feed.

Table 1: Feed Composition.

Component Mole Fraction
N2 0.0066
H2S 0.0003
CO2 0.0003
CH4 0.7575
C2H6 0.1709
C3H8 0.0413
i-C4 0.0068
n-C4 0.0101
i-C5 0.0028
n-C5 0.0027
n-C6 0.0006
C7+ 0.0001

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Error: Reference source not found depicts the conceptual scheme of a continuous gas
refrigeration process.

Figure 1: Gas refrigeration process flow sheet.

As presented in the figure above, the process includes different units. Those units will be
mentioned and explained in Table 2.

Table 2: General Unit Operations Used in the Gas Refrigeration Process

Unit Purpose and Specifications

Separator Separates the free liquids from the gases.

Cooler Lower the Temperature of the mixture.
Pressure drop =35kPa.
Separator LTS Separates the liquid from the vapor at low
temperature.
Heater Higher the temperature to prevent water
condensation while transportation.
Pressure drop= 5kPa.

We simulated the process using the Peng-Robinson method as a fluid package.

I.1.1. Results and analysis.

The heat duty rejected from the Chiller is -4.19*106kJ/h and the one absorbed by the heater is
+2.29*106kJ/h.

The mole flow rate of the sales gas is 1257kmole/h and its molar composition is presented in
Table 3 below.

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 Table 3: Molar Composition of the Sales-Gas.
Components Mole Fraction
Nitrogen 7.31E-03
H2S 2.65E-04
CO2 2.98E-04
Methane 0.8
Ethane 0.15
Propane 2.73E-02
i-Butane 3.23E-03
n-Butane 4.07E-03
i-Pentane 7.12E-04
n-Pentane 5.71E-04
n-Hexane 6.16E-05
H2O 0
C7+* 3.87E-06

We will plot the phase envelope analysis for the feed and the sales gas to ensure that we
accomplished our target.

10000

9000 Feed

8000
Sales Gas

7000
Pressure kPa
6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
-180 -160 -140 -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20
Temperature °C.

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 Figure 2: PT diagram of the feed and sales gas.

The red curve represents the sales gas dew point and the purple one represents the feed dew
point.

We successfully lowered the dew point temperature of the gas mixture. Therefore if for any
reason the temperature of the gas mixtures varies from 10°C, it will remain at its vapor phase.

I.1.2. Process optimization.

The design was modified to reduce the operating cost represented in the chiller and heater
duties.

The gas entering the LTS will be precooled by the already refrigerated gas using a simple
weighted heat exchanger model, as presented in Figure 3. Therefore the separator’s inlet will
be precooled and the heat duty of the chiller will decrease and the outlet will be heated, hence
we can eliminate the heater.

Figure 3: Gas Refrigeration Flow Sheet.

The heat exchanger E-100 has a tube side pressure drop of 35kPa and a Shell side pressure
drop of 5kPa. The sales gas has a temperature of 10°C.

After this modification, the heat duty of the chiller became -1.89*106kJ/h instead of
-4.19*106kJ/h, and the overall heat transfer for the heat exchanger is 2.78*105kJ/C-h.

We reduce the heat absorption of the chiller by 55%.

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 ( 4.19−1.89 )
=0.5489
4.19

Conclusion

The target of the simulation is achieved. A sales gas having a temperature of 10°C
with a low dew point is produced and the process is optimized to reduce the operating cost.

We benefit from the low temperature of the vapor outlet of the LTS to cool the vapor outlet
of the separator and on the other hand heat the LTS vapor to form the sales gas needed.

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 References

[1]
https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas

[2]
http://www.gas-compressor.info/gas-processing/refrigeration-gas-processing.html