Improving Gas Dehydration With Preinhibited Glycol

01 November 2017

Topics

Corrosion
Processing systems/design

OTC 189114

gas dehydration
glycol
triethylene glycol
Nigeria

The complete paper discusses the natural-gas-dehydration performance of dehydration units in two
different plants using a preinhibited glycol/antifoam/pH adjuster blend vs. neat glycol with periodic
injection of antifoam and pH-adjuster inhibitors. The insights made with this new preinhibited-glycol-
blend approach present an opportunity for significant reduction in both operating and capital costs
for existing and future gas-processing plants as well as a decrease in corrosion rates with prolonged
plant life.

Introduction
The use of triethylene glycol (TEG) to strip gas of its water content in an absorption tower (known as
a glycol contactor) has gained prominence in the industry. This is because glycol can be regenerated
and recycled back into the contactor, making it less operating-expense (OPEX)-intensive. However,
this system is not without its disadvantages. First, regenerated TEG tends to degrade over time,
resulting in the formation of organic acids that corrode the pipings and vessels within the process.
Second, the presence of condensate in TEG results in foaming, leading to glycol losses and the
frequent need to top off the system with fresh TEG. Such losses, in severe cases, defeat the OPEX
savings achieved by the regeneration of TEG. Furthermore, injection of pH adjusters to regulate the
pH levels above the acidic range often result in severly alkaline glycol, which aggravates foaming and
inorganic scale deposition. This is because the pH adjusting process is very sensitive and prone to
operational errors of overinjection. 

However, with the advent of preinhibited TEG products—preblended with optimal amounts of
antifoam, pH buffers, and corrosion inhibitors—OPEX associated with antifoam and pH adjuster
application can be reduced, as can capital expenses (CAPEX) associated with designing and
installing injection skids for these applications. Expenses associated with glycol losses and
ultimately improving the efficiency of the gas dehydration process can be minimized if such
preinhibited TEGs perform as intended.

To ascertain and realize the scope of this opportunity, a preinhibited glycol product was tested in two
nonassociated-gas (NAG) processing plants in Nigeria.The two plants each contained two gas-
dehydration trains (modules) such that while one train employed neat glycol with periodic pH adjuster
and antifoam injection, the other employed the preinhibited blend, with both trains running
simultaneously. The two facilities were selected on the basis of their history of poor dehydration and
glycol-regeneration performance and internal corrosion while using neat glycol.

Theory
Glycols are extremely stable to thermal and chemical decomposition, readily available at moderate
cost, useful for continuous operation, and are easy to regenerate. In addition, the hydroxyl groups in
glycol molecules allow easy association with liquid water molecules because of hydrogen bonding.
Such high affinity for water, together with the aforementioned properties, make glycols the prime
choice for use as dehydrating agents. Of the four commonly used glycols, TEG has gained global
acceptance as the optimal dehydrating agent because of properties including the following:

Ease of regeneration to high levels of purity (98 to 99.95% in an atmospheric distillation unit)

Vaporization losses during regeneration are low because of its higher boiling point

Lower visocisty in comparison to other glycols, which makes TEG more pumpable

In a typical gas-dehydration unit, TEG is introduced into a contactor at the top, while gas is introduced
at the bottom so that water is stripped off the gas as the two streams flow countercurrently. The
contactor is typically retrofitted with an integrated inlet separator, which helps to separate out
condensate before the gas enters a structured packing section, where it contacts TEG. Water-
enriched TEG (“rich” glycol) exits the contactor, is heated in a heat exchanger, and moves to a flash
drum, where entrained gas and condensate are separated. The glycol then flows through another
heat exchanger before moving on to a reboiler and distillation column (fitted with a reflux condenser),
where water is separated and the glycol is regenerated to approximately 98.5% purity at
approximately 198°C (“lean” glycol). Stripping gas in a column is often used to improve the purity of
lean glycol to approximately 99.5% as it exits the reboiler and moves into a surge drum, from which it
is pumped through a series of heat exchangers and back into the contactor for continuous gas
dehydration.  Over time, the perfect system described here loses some integrity because of glycol
loss, glycol degradation, and foaming. These phenomena are discussed in detail in the complete
paper.

These issues, and the difficulties associated with managing them by means of conventional
methods, have debilitated the ability of many gas plants to consistently deliver on their export-gas-
quality commitments. For this reason, the opportunities presented by preinhibited glycol are worth
investigating.

Methodology
Of particular interest is the fact that preinhibited glycol contains fixed amounts of inhibitors.
Considering the issues surrounding the variation in inhibitor doses required to treat neat glycol on a
case-by-case basis, the question arises as to whether preinhibited glycol will be effective under the
wide range of conditions and upsets that occur in a live plant. Another pertinent concern is the
durability of the inhibitors. For how long will they continue to remain effective until inhibition
completely wears off? Questions such as these form the basis upon which the decision to conduct
field trials was taken.

Because of cost and operational constraints, only one preinhibited glycol product was used for this
study. The trial of this product was carried out in two plants, each with different histories of glycol
performance as follows.

Plant A. This was a facility processing approximately 500 MMscf/D. The predominant issue with
glycol in this plant was rapid glycol degradation to acidic regions. Pinhole leaks associated with
corrosion had occurred more than once. The trial was carried out between October 2015 and
September 2016. Preinhibited glycol remained in use after the conclusion of the trial.

Plant B. This was a facility processing approximately 1000 MMscf/D. The predominant issue with
glycol in this plant was poor gas dehydration, evinced by high export-gas dewpoint even though most
process indicators showed healthy signs. The trial occurred between July 2016 and December 2016.
Preinhibited glycol has remained in use since then. For this trial, emphasis was placed on monitoring
dewpoint performance.

For both plants, at the start of each trial, one dehydration train was shut down, drained of its glycol
content, and refilled using a preinhibited glycol product. Upon completion of the refilling process, the
trains were started up and monitoring of key parameters alongside that of the counterpart trains,
which contained regular glycol, began. Unfortunately, in Plant A, the control train using neat glycol
was shut down soon after startup because of faulty contactor internals, so that comparison could
only be made with previous data obtained from the trial train when neat glycol was in use. In addition,
because of the shutdown of the neat glycol train, only 50% of the total gas from Plant A was being
dehydrated (with preinhibited glycol) so that the final export gas was a commingled mix of 50%
dehydrated gas and 50% wet gas. A description of the monitored parameters is provided in the
complete paper.

Results
A summary of the results obtained from both trials are described in Tables 1 and 2. For both plants,
the monitored parameters were within one standard deviation from the average value over the
duration.

Table 1—Summary of Results From Plant A

Neat Glycol Pretrial Average Preinhibited Glycol Trial Average

Key Performance Indicator
(2013–2015) (2015–2016)
pH 5.3 9.7
Dissolved iron, ppm 0.09 0.01
Glycol loss rate, top-up rates in
10 3
drums/month
Foam collapse time 90 seconds Less than 10 seconds
 Neat Glycol Pretrial Average
Key Performance Indicator
(2013–2015)
Export-gas dewpoint 4°C at 95 barg
Preinhibited Glycol Trial Average
(2015–2016)
0°C at 95 barg (dewpoint of
commingled gas)

Table 2—Summary of Results From Plant B

Neat Glycol Train Average  Preinhibited Glycol Train

Average
Key Performance Indicator
(July 2016–December
2016) (July 2016–December 2016)

pH 7.3 8.5
Dissolved iron, ppm Not measured Not measured
Glycol loss rate, top-up rates in
29 14
drums/month
Foam collapse time 120 seconds Less than 10 seconds
Export-gas dewpoint 120 seconds –5°C at 95 barg

Discussion
The results of both trials confirm the realizable opportunites associated with the use of preinhibited
glycol. The repeatability in performance over the duration of the trial also suggests that preinhibited
glycol, despite containing fixed amounts of inhibitors, is robust and durable enough to handle the
wide range of conditions and upsets that occur in a live plant. Because preinhibited glycol is made up
of predominantly neat glycol with approximately 3 to 5 vol% of inhibitor additives, the results also
imply that, were it operationally feasible to perfectly optimize the injection of antifoam and pH
adjusters, significantly lower dewpoints and decreased glycol losses could be achieved in
conventional systems. However, because doing so is operationally challenging, preinhibited glycol
presents a simple, durable, and less-complicated approach to optimizing gas dehydration.

As a result of these trials, the plants have benefitted in the following ways:

1. Glycol top-up OPEX was decreased by more than 50%

2. Export-gas dewpoint was improved to significantly lower than the required specification for
these plants

3. Opportunities for debottlenecking and increasing plant production were realized in that some
wet gas can be made to bypass the processing plant and used to dilute dehydrated gas without
excursions above the maximum set dewpoint, as was done in Plant A

4. CAPEX requirements for new projects were decreased by obviating the need for designing and
installing pH adjusters and antifoam injection skids

5. Improved integrity of gas-dehydration pipings and vessel internals through protection from
organic acid corrosion was achieved

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC
189114, “Improving Gas Dehydration With Preinhibited Glycol,” by Achara Azubuike and Osuagwu
Michael, Shell, prepared for the 2017 Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition,
Lagos, 31 July–2 August. The paper has not been peer reviewed.