TEG DEHYDRATION: PROCESS PRINCIPLES AND KEY

PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

Link of Webinar : https://youtu.be/IB65-0-rc0Y

Question Answers Section

Q&A TRANSCRIPT

KSM: followup answers from Kindra Snow McGregor

A: answers from Stu Watson, posted during session

Nitin - 10:04 AM
Q: 1. How to design system for btex component in feed?
2. Operational optimisation for teg unit, in the event downstream system has an ejector
installed on off gas .
A: Q1 Kindra has a couple of great comments about BTEX, essentially TEG has a strong affinity to
BTEX, meaning it will concentrate into the Regenerator Overhead stream - treating the OH stream by
cooling and condensing then incinerating is fairly standard.

KSM: First thing, you need to understand how much BETX is in the inlet gas, AND the design TEG
circulation rate to be able to estimate how much will be co-absorbed in the TEG stream. The higher
the TEG circulation rate, the higher the percentage of the inlet gas BETX will be absorbed. This
absorption is also a function of the type of aromatic compounds you have, for example, O-Xylene is
more soluble than say Benzene. You really need a solid process simulator (ProMax by BRE is the best
for TEG systems, followed by VMG Sim) to do the detailed engineering design of the system. The
range of % of BETX pick is roughly from 5% to 45 % maximum (O-xylene), Toulene and Ethyl
Benzene say from 8 – 35%, so really it depends on your specific application.

Recommend you find this paper for more information: Moshfeghian, M., R.A. Hubbard, “Quick
Estimation of Absorption of Aromatic Compounds (BTEX) in TEG Dehydration”, 3rd International
Gas Processing Symposium, March 5 – 7, Doha, Qatar, (2012 ).

A: Q2 - assume your taking the regen OH with an ejector to a vapor recovery compressor? Keep the
Overhead condenser on the regenerator cool to reduce TEG losses, keep the OH vapor stream to your
ejector cool to reduce this mass flow. Watch for liquid hydrocarbon carryover (and condensing) to
the contactor and ensure that you’re running an effective carbon bed to reduce hydrocarbon
absorption into the TEG solution.

KSM: I agree with Stu’s comment. I guess I will add, I have heard of some operational difficulties
using educators as vapor recovery compressors having some operational issues. I would recommend
I you need higher reliability, consider a small screw or recip for the service, more $$ but more
reliable.

Mo - 10:18 AM
Q: Due to the emissions of TEG units. solid bed systems are coming to prominence. Do you have a
cost size break point when solid beds are cheaper than TEG unit?

A: Great Qu Mo Riaz – Let’s see if Kindra has a comment here - Personally, trying to run a Mol Sieve
unit below about 50MM would be pretty pricey - lots to think about here for sure; Amount of pre-
treating, fuel costs, maintenance needs ... let’s discuss.

KSM: This is a great question. I would select a different desiccant I would think rather than mole
sieve for pipeline water dew point specifications. Molecular sieve operations = bone dry, and
exceptionally expensive. I will ask Harvey Malino, our mole sieve SME for guidance here.

I always tell my class – you only use Mole Sieve if you are going cryo because it cost so much $$ in
capital and operating cost, and the removal efficiency is horrific (7 – 14% capacity, i.e. you need 100
kg of sieve to remove 7 kg of water at the end of life), in addition you are heating up 5 – 15 % of the
inlet gas rates to regen temperatures of say 260 – 288 C (that is a lot of fuel gas). I would think that
perhaps they may be using probably activated alumina or maybe silica gel instead of the sieve. I am
interested in learning more so if you could please share more information that would be helpful to
me.

Notes from Harvey Malino:

I have stopped being surprised at how often old technology is repackaged as a new innovation. Using
adsorbents to dry natural gas to pipeline spec has been offered in the past but received little market
acceptance, primarily due to costs. TEG was just less expensive and site emissions could be handled.
Adsorbents have a lot to offer to reduce site emissions as well as minimizing liquid spills. I agree that
molecular sieves are probably not the best choice. I would opt for silica gel and would also take a hard
look at AA.

Attached is a 2004 paper from Engelhard that compares TEG to silica gel. Note from the flow
diagram that they are using product gas to regenerate. Because of the loose specs, I would look at the
option of an all flows down approach (Engelhard shows regen countercurrent to adsorption). An all
flows down approach has the advantage of letting the regenerated water desorb any coadsorbed
hydrocarbons as the heating front moves from the top to the bottom of the bed. This should increase
the life of the material (less hydrocarbon cracking). But it will require more regen gas because the
water gets readsorbed on the cooler parts of the bed. I guess a lot would depend on how rich or lean
the feed gas is. Regardless, regen temps of SG are lower than MS (roughly 400 F vs 550 F).

Regardless of whether you regen up or down, using product gas as the regen medium means you do
not have to worry about air pollution. And if the product gas ends up being way below spec, you can
always blend in some feed gas. All in all, I think this is a good idea.

Please refer to: Adsorption Processes for Natural Gas Treatment, A Technology Update, Englehard,
2004. See here

Will - 10:28 AM
Q: what is the highest recommended operating pressure of the contactor? Is it possible to dehydrate
gas in the dense phase?

KSM: That is a tough question. The TEG unit with the pictures are actually a gas that was in the
dense phase with high concentrations of CO2. It is important to remember that the dense phase
region is really defined by the gas’s specific composition, and the dense phase is located in the region
between the critical point (CP) and the cricondentherm (CT) that is above the cricondenbar
(CB) (say that 5 times fast ?).

At any rate, that is the traditional definition I suppose, so if you are at a pressure above the
cricondenbar and to the right of the cricondentherm you are in the gas phase, and conversely, if you
are above the cricondenbar and the the left of the critical point you are in the liquid region. Lots of
grey area here. Please see example phase diagram below to better understand what I am saying:
With that said, remember that water content of natural gas decreases as the pressure increases. So
depending upon the pressure (2000 psi or greater?? ) the natural gas water content goes down
rather dramatically as a function or pressure. This will reduce the driving force for the TEG
absorption so it also depends on what dewpoint spec you are trying to make. I think the bigger
concern is the physical properties of the TEG and the gas becoming closer to one another (the lesser
the difference in densities the more difficult the vapor / liquid separation), in addition at higher
pressures we have found that the mutual solubility of the TEG in the gas phase actually increases. It
can be done and has been done, but the nitty gritty details of such designs I don’t have. The plant that
I worked on was close to super critical CO2 (65% CO2 in the inlet gas at roughly 1350 psia) and was
very dense gas (and we had 5% H2S to boot, so crazy plant to work in on many aspects). At any rate,
or TEG losses were high as a result even when we got the TEG cleaned up as compared to a “normal”
TEG plant. I would work with a solid process simulator and mass transfer internals vendor (Koch-
Glitch for example) to determine the correct application for your given situation. I know that was
vague, hope that helped.

Information from Bob Hubbard:

You raise an interesting question. Virtually every operator I know is reluctant to dehydrate gas with
glycol above about 140 barg (2030 psig). This also corresponds (approximately) to a gas density of
130-150 kg/m3 [ 8 – 9.4 lbm/ft3]. The reasons most commonly cited for not dehydrating gas above this
pressure are solubility of glycol in the gas and poor mass transfer, particularly in structured packing.

I have never seen experimental data showing the solubility of TEG in HP natural gas. I have seen some
graphs, but am quite certain they are based on correlation and not on data. Thermodynamically we
would expect the solubility of TEG to increase with pressure, but the vapor pressure of TEG is so low I
am not sure that TEG solubility losses would be significant even at very high pressures. On the other
hand, the entrainment losses could be very large. You would have to significantly derate the mist
extractor. I don't have a clue how much derating would be required~maybe as much as 30-40%. This
would be the more important issue compared to solubility.
Perhaps a bigger issue is the mass transfer efficiency. The HETP will increase dramatically at these
conditions. The glycol viscosity will increase, surface tension will be low, and gas density very high . This
is not a good combination. If your client insists on going ahead, I might recommend they use trays
instead of packing. You should contact Sulzer or Koch to get a more definitive answer on this. On the
positive side, I am guessing that at this pressure they don't have to remove very much water. This could
help offset the decline in mass transfer efficiency.

I have seen several glycol contactors operate successfully (with minimal losses) at a gas density of
around 140 kg/m3 [8.8 lbm/ft3], but in your case, you are make a quantum step in pressure. We are
talking pressures on the order of 4000 psia. I haven't done the gas density calculation but I am guessing
it is on the order of 200-250 kg/m3. I would strongly recommend that they reconsider. It may work, but
they are beyond pushing the envelope---they are in a whole new postal code.

Finally, you are correct about the tower design. Above about 150-200 bar, the gas density does not
increase significantly with pressure, so the volumetric flow rate doesn't change very much even though
the pressure is increasing. This means your contactor size won't decrease with increasing pressure, and
if you end up with trays and/or a derated mist extractor the contactor diameter might actually be
larger than at a lower pressure.

One last item occurred to me. The solubility of natural gas in the TEG will increase significantly as well.
This, in combination with the lower surface tension, may lead to foaming issues in the contactor and a
very interesting glycol flash tank design.

KSM Note: I have heard of a contactor that is operating at 175 barg [2540 psig], but have no data on
how the unit is / or did perform.

Mo - 10:22 AM
Q: is there a rule of thumb when to use trays or packing

A: Trays will give you more turndown and flexibility, Structured packing will allow higher rates
through the same contactor diameter. If your debottlenecking and rates are fairly constant str
packing would be a good way to go - not sure I have answered your question

KSM: Some good ROT on Trays vs Packing:

Packing: lower dP, good for low pressure or vacuum operations, less subject to foaming and less
liquid hold up in tower (Offshore installations), but turndown ratio is not good, fouling will create a
tall filter, difficult to handle side draws and feed streams, liquid redistribution required at so many
meters, or feet to ensure good vapor liquid distribution.

Trays: high turndown ratios (bubble caps in particular) less subject to fouling, easier to handle side
feeds, higher pressure drop, greater chance for foaming, and limited materials available in corrosive
service

Trays = $$$$ - larger contactor diameter, and trays more $ than packing. But in the future you can
debottleneck the contactor by pulling out the trays and putting in packing. (more conservative for
greenfield projects)

Packing = pretty cheap, smaller overall contactor diameter (eliminate the need for the downcomers)
but cannot debottleneck easily, (typically that is the max gas rate possible), turndown is terrible, less
flexibility but beautiful for offshore of floating production units (no sloshing).

A: Really need to speak with my tray vendor to ascertain packing / tray capacities...
Rizwan - 10:23 AM
Q: How can hydrate formation temperature be calculated?

KSM: Number of different correlations (hand calcs) Katz, Treckell-Campbell, and McLeod-Campbell
Methods (Sweet Gas). Recommend you use a reliable process simulator such as HYSYS, UNISIM,
PROMAX or VMGSIM for operational work or design. Hydrate formation temperature is a function of
composition, so if you need a real number use a simulator, if you need a rough estimate go buy the
data book or look online for the methods referenced above.

A: GPSA Databook has a hydrate formation curve from running a simulator. I will always keep in
mind the rule of thumb - 1000psi, 65 deg F [69 bar 18 deg C]... high pressures = higher temperatures.
This is dependent on the composition and should not be used for hydrate inhibitor estimation
purposes

Source: Volume 1 Gas Conditioning and Processing, The Basic Principles, Third Printing, 2017

Matthieu - 10:32 AM
Q: Hello, Is there any experience/examples of Glycol contactor operated at a pressure higher than
the Cricondenbar ? Any risks / limitations associated? Thanks

KSM: Yes, please see the discussion above

A: Hey Matthieu, Will asked a similar question earlier and Im going to defer this issue to Kindra in
the QnA

KSM:Please see response above.

Walid - 10:33 AM
Q: Is 400 F (204 C) the thermal degradation of TEG? I would be grateful if you could let us
know what the thermal degradation of MEG and DEG are?

KSM: MEG (or EG – same thing) 165 deg C [ 329 F], DEG 164 deg C [328 F] it should be noted that
these glycols are primarily used in hydrate inhibition, and typical lean concentrations range between
60 – 80% depending upon your process conditions so I would not expect to see you pushing the
reboiler really hard at temperature encroaching on the degradation temperatures.

A: Hi Walid - Can definitely get those for you - I think they are in GPSA, but I will look them up and
get back to you. If you could email me

Walid - 10:34 AM
Q: What is the best heating source; direct firing, oil or steam?

KSM: I would say steam because you can very easily control the temperature (skin temperature of
the heat transfer surface tubes) and if you have a sulfur plant (SRU) it’s free(kind of because you
make a lot of it), but if you do not have a sulfur recovery unit then steam is very expensive and you
need a water source. The next best would be hot oil, and then lastly the direct fire firetube. I listed
these in order in terms of treating the TEG gently without having excessive heat flux or heating
medium temperatures, these are in agreement with Stu’s excellent responses below.

A: Walid - super question! - what do you have and what’s most cost effective for your facility. Steam
is expensive to make, but many a sulfur plant has excess steam (so cheaper here). I like steam
because it keep the flux rate across the firetube down and reducing the risk of skin degradation.
Firetubes tend to be cheaper and often used on field units, but suffer from corrosion and of course
air permitting issues. in a significant facility hot oil is very common, especially when a facility can
integrate the plant heat load with heat recovery (Turbine exhausts etc.)

Excellent comment Stu – but remember that will come at a cost to the turbine efficiency so you have
to be careful with that (you know that you are the mechy ? )

Ali - 10:34 AM
Q: Could you tell the source of the curve used to calculate water amounts?

KSM: Yes, this is essentially a simplified version of the GPSA Databook chart. The references are
below:
Strongly recommend you buy the data book (if your company is a GPA or GPSA member company
you have access to these for free, if not buy yourself a set, it is worth the investment I promise, or
better yet, buy Volumes 1 and 2 of Gas Conditioning and Processing – or take the G4 course). The
charts from Volume 1 and 2 are below:
A: Hi Ali, the charts here are straight out of the JMC books or GPSA Databook has the same curves - if
you have any problem finding them, email myself or Kindra after the session and we can get them to
you - troubleshooting in the field they are essential.

Mo - 10:28 AM
Q: Harvey Milano may have something to say about mol sieves

A: you bet - He is a guru!! I’d be happy to email him after. Ping me at stu.watson@petroskills.com

KSM: Harvey’s response was provided up above

Walid - 10:38 AM
Q: does TEG degrade with O2 and other impurities in gas?

KSM: please refer to the recording, O2 causes solvent degradation (oxidation) which creates organic
acids which then accelerates the rate of corrosion throughout the process – you may want to
investigate oxygen scavengers if you have this problem, OR modify the operations of the wells that
are the violators with the higher O2 levels.

A: Hey Walid, O2 is not good for lots of things... corrosion for one and oxidation of the solvent. Salt
from produced water and O2 in the regenerator temperatures, are likely to lead to additional
degradation and formation of solids and sludge

A: can you reduce O2 in the inlet?... it will likely lead to lots of other issues downstream if not here.
Even 10ppm of O2 is an issue .

will - 10:43 AM
Q: are there issues associated with operating your contactor with too low of inlet gas
temperature? what is lowest recommended gas inlet temperature?

KSM: Yes, certainly you don’t want the TEG to gel up in your piping. Please see figure below:
A: Will - great question - YES! TEG viscosity climbs and the performance in the contactor drops. I
want to say we were seeing issues starting around 70'F and below... let’s circle with Kindra at the
end

KSM: the viscosity of lean TEG increases exponentially as the temperature decreases, I would guess
70 F may be the limit – seriously, the question becomes more of an issue of the pump and column
hydraulics. At 70 F you are nearly twice the viscosity as at 100 F, so I feel that Stu’s experience is
spot on.

Inshan - 10:52 AM
Q: What are the effects of BTX on moleseive dehy units
A: Inshan - Depending on the pore size of the MS (at least 4A), then Some BTEX may be adsorbed on
the sieve, so it would concentrate into the regen stream.

KSM: I don’t think it is adsorbed on 4A – the molecular diameter is too large to fit in the hole, 13X
could adsorb BETX
Harvey Malino’s response below:

Re BTEX on MS: I agree with your conclusions.13X will adsorb BTEX. But some BTEX may get adsorbed
on the binder system used to form the zeolite crystals into a pellet or bead. So the big question here is
why do you care? If you are trying to recover BTEX, use Silica Gel (short cycles to recover as much as
you can). If you are trying to remove BTEX from the product gas, use Silica Gel (longer cycles as some
BTEX breakthrough can probably be tolerated). If you cannot deal with BTEX in the spent regen gas
and are trying to dehydrate to 0.1 ppmv, use 4A.

Regarding regeneration, with SG I’d look hard at all flows down. With MS, I’d probably ramp heat.

Ali - 10:52 AM
Q: What could be the reasons of foaming Teg?

KSM: Pretty much anything that is a foreign chemical – production fluids, gathering system corrosion
inhibitors, amines, heavy hydrocarbons, compressor lube oil, corrosion fines (iron sulfide
carbonates), TEG degradation products, aromatic hydrocarbons (bad actors for foaming as well), too
much anti-foam.

A: Foaming could be a function of hydrocarbons and particulates in solution, check function of

filtration and carbon bed thru lab samples upstream / downstream. Keep solution clean. Reducing
rate may give you momentary break, but anti-foams may also help .

Nitin - 10:56 AM
Q: If we don’t have the outlet scrubber on the gas loop and gas from column goes directly to
hydrocarbon dew point unit multi-pass exchanger what precautions we can do at this stage during
operations to avoid any damage to the multipass bahx unit

A: Nitin - very interesting. You will find at dew point processing temps that the TEG viscosity
becomes quite high. The contactor (even with a good mist mat), will have some small droplet/mist
carryover that will reduce Heat transfer in your BAHX, really need a coalscer infront of the BAHX to
remove as much fine mist phase. Of course process upsets and direct carryover would be an issue
too. You may find that simply warming up would help, but realistically a solvent would be needed on
the BAHX

KSM: I agree with Stu, any amount of mist carry over from the TEG dehy unit will coat the internals
of the BAHX slowly killing your thermal performance over time. This will foul the heat exchanger.
You will see your temperature approaches in the exchanger increase slowly over time. Can you clean
it out? Chemical cleaning is the only option, you really need to work with the BAHX vendor and a
reliable contractor that knows how to do these procedures to avoid damaging the unit.

from Nitin: Thanks Stuart from bringing up bahx issue . The bahx is part of hydrocarbon dew point
unit and the HC dew point Aimed is -11 degC
Myles - 11:06 AM
Q: what is a good ROT for the reflux coil outlet temp?
Please see figure below:

Source: Volume 2, Gas Conditioning and Processing, The Equipment Modules, 9th Edition, 3rd
Printing 2017 – note Volumes 1 and 2 are available for purchase online on our website

Krishna - 11:13 AM
Q: why stripping gas is used?

KSM: Stripping gas is used when I have a minimum lean TEG concentration required that is leaner
than say 98.5 – 98.9 wt % (the leanest TEG I can produce with a reboiler operating at 204 C [400 F].
The stripping gas reduces the partial pressure of water above the TEG thus driving more water from
the liquid phase to the vapor phase to produce a leaner TEG.

Nitin - 11:15 AM
Q: For acid gas injection projects into high pressure reservoirs what should be dehydration spec for
acid gas ?

KSM: That really depends as it depends upon the acid gas composition, the final reservoir pressure
and your inter-stage compressor pressures. H2S and CO2 have very strange water content
equilibrium phase behavior where it drops through a minimum and then spikes to a maximum as
shown below. Note you need to be sure you use the proper correlation for predicting the water
dewpoint of acid gases, the standard PR or SRK of state will not give you reliable answers. Because
this is critical for the design, please compare your simulation results to data – one source you could
use are the research reports from the GPA Midstream Research Committee. Promax and VMG Sim
help I believe provides recommendations on which correlation to use for this purpose:

Source: Volume 2, Gas Conditioning and Processing, The Equipment Modules, 9th Edition, 3rd
Printing 2017 – note Volumes 1 and 2 are available for purchase online on our website

Recommend you download the paper: Acid Gas Dehydration – A DexProTM Technology Update, Jim
Maddocks, Wayne McKay, Vaughn Hansen, Gas Liquids Enigneering, Ltd. There is some good
overview information on the subject as well.

Prakhar - 11:38 AM
Q: sorry for asking the question quite late...can overcirculation of glycol be reduced a bit to minimize
heat load on reboiler?

KSM: We try not to over circulate, it increases BETX pick up in the glycol, and as you note increases
the heat load on the reboiler. Some small safety factor in the circulation rate should be provided. But,
please note, TEG circulation rates are very small and the operating costs associated with over-
circulation do not tend to be really significant. Depends on the gas rate, but often times in a big unit
you may only be looking at 6 gpm for say 35 MMscfd. Big plants may be in the range of say 30 gpm.

Ali: Would please elaborate more about the term used in the earlier slide “film sludge?"

KSM: I could not find the text you were referring to, please see below:
• Corrosion fines = foaming
• Salts in produced water = reboiler firetube failures
• Heavy hydrocarbons = foaming, plugged stripping still
• Sulfur + Heavy Hydrocarbons = corrosive sludge

Alex: Are those fines also pyrophoric?

KSM: Yes iron sulfide is pyrophoric when in the presence to oxygen. You have to be careful with it
when you open up the equipment / or change out filters, etc.. Stu – can you add to this?

SJW : Filter changes in the presence of H2S may require purging of the filter space ahead of opening
to make the filter safe to open and quite often entry under breathing air may be necessary depending
on concentrations. Spent filters are usually submerged in water once outside the filter casing for 24-
48 hours before being disposed. Due to the inherent high surface area of filters and rags, they tend to
be a higher than normal pyrophoric risk.

Manikandan: Whether the spec 7 lbs h2o / mmscfd applicable for CO2 rich stream (98.5 %) also?

KSM: A pure CO2 stream has completely different water equilibrium behavior than Natural Gas,
please see the discussion on acid gas dehydration.You need to be sure you use a good correlation for
CO2 / Water other wise the simulation will give you incorrect results.

Md Tarequl: can you explain more about produced water with high salinity can cause still column
plugging?

KSM: Yes, if I have salty or briney produced water carryover into my TEG Contactor, then the
produced water goes into solution with the rich TEG leaving the contactor. The rich TEG now has
salts present in solution. Once that rich TEG flows to the stripping still, the water is evaporated, and
the salts will stick to what ever surface it happens to be on – typically you see the damage on the fire
tube, and this is a common cause for premature firetube failures because the salt layer creates a hot
spot and starts corroding the steel.

LINOB: in what cases stripping gas is used?

KSM: Please see response on same topic above

Krishna: why stripping gas is used

KSM: Please see response on same topic above

from Gaurav: Some time we use slip stream for carbon filters and some time full flow. What should
be the criteria for selection?

KSM: As a general rule, the client / owner operator specifies the design guidelines for a new plant, so
if you are doing EPC that is why you may see sometimes slip stream / sometimes full flow. If you are
an owner operator, and for what ever reason you have concerns that your inlet gas has contaminants
present (really rich in heavy hydrocarbons / condensate), or maybe asphaltenes or sulfur / H2S,
then you may want to use full flow as you will have greater contamination of the TEG as a result.

Matthieu: Hello, Is there any experience/examples of Glycol contactor operated at a pressure higher
than the Cricondenbar ? Any risks / limitations associated? Thanks

KSM: Please see response on same topic above

Ryan: Potential for acid species build-up in lean TEG? - is it ok to inject hydroxide to control
pH & resultant corrosion?

KSM: Yes, acid gasses have mutual solubility with TEG and some H2S and CO2 will be absorbed. This
creates a corrosive environment when the gases flash off in the rich flash drum and stripping still,
often times requiring upgraded materials selection. My experience with controlling pH is adding
caustic, such as sodium carbonate, or a small amount of DEA and MDEA, which then got me thinking
about the comments Stu and I had about degradation temperatures of amine.

Please see extract below from:

BR&E, Thermal Degradtion, Lili Lyddon, April 8 2008. https://www.bre.com/Blog/Amine-Thermal-
Degradation.aspx
In “DEA degradation mechanism,” Hydrocarbon Processing, October 1982, A. Meisen and M. L.
Kennard discuss the fact that DEA and MDEA thermal degradation is minimal up to 400°F. Although
the degradation of DEA is caused by reaction with CO2 and not temperature alone, temperature does
affect the rate of degradation caused by reaction with CO2. This reference states: “Degradation
increases strongly with temperature. This is not due to thermal breakdown of DEA, but it requires
the presence of carbon dioxide. Design and operation of DEA units must avoid creation of elevated
temperature throughout the plants. Heat transfer surfaces of DEA stripper-reboilers (especially
when gas fired) are particularly prone to formation of localized hot spots. To prevent such hot spots
in operating plants, DEA circulation through the stripper-reboiler should be kept high and steam (or
gas) temperature kept low. In many DEA units only the bulk solution temperatures are measured. It
must be remembered that the skin temperatures of heat transfer surfaces can be very much higher,
particularly during process upsets. Reliance upon bulk temperatures is therefore inadequate.”

Rizwan: structure packing are preffered of larger dia column normally as far i know .6m

KSM: A 0.6 m column is rather small, we can build these much larger for central processing
facilities. Structured packing will result in a smaller column diameter, and the packing is
cheaper than bubble cap trays. Bubble cap trays require larger diameters (need to have room
for the liquid downcomers). Thus bubblecaps are more expensive.
Edward: What happens when you get Amine carry over into the TEG?

KMS: If you have a lot of amine carryover – that could start causing issues with your TEG
performance (circulating amine rather than TEG). This could result in foaming issues (amines really
love to foam), and there is the risk of amine degradation in the reboiler creating additional
contaminants in the TEG. Best advice – keep the amine out by using an effective and properly sized
inlet filter coalesce to the TEG unit.

Edward: If she has time I'd really like to hear about the BTEX removal process

KSM: Unfortunately I do not have anything prepared on this, essentially you cool the overhead from
the stripper to condense out the water, separate the water from the gas (and the water from
hydrocarbons liquids – need a skimmer, plus you now you need to dispose of the water in some
fashion) send the gas to the thermal oxidizer or possibly back to the direct fire tubed reboiler. Below
you will see a couple of examples:
https://exterran.com/Products/production-equipment/btex-control-systems/btex-eliminator
https://www.energyweldfab.com/glycol-dehydration-systemsbtex-units

Victor: is the contactor gas/lean glycol reaction not exothermic?

KSM: Technically, yes, the heat of solution of water going into the TEG is roughly 211 kJ/kg [91
Btu/lbm] of water absorbed plus the latent heat of the water. However, the mass of the water
absorbed plus the mass of the TEG circulated is typically small relative to the mass of the gas being
dehydrated. For this reason it is common practice to assume that the contactor temperature is the
TEG inlet gas temperature. For the plants that I have worked on, we never saw a temperature
increase in the gas from the inlet to the outlet.

Edward: are there water removal charts for towers with packing and trays?

KSM: You use the same TEG circulation charts that I showed in the webinar, you just use different
correlations to determine the required height of packing for a given assumed theoretical number of
stages.

Dave: in a past life, we had to dehydrate to 2 lb/mmscf and had to go to a 12 tray contactor.
Also looked at quadra glycol vs TEG. Any thoughts?

KSM: Tetraethylene Glycol (TREG) is more viscous and more expensive than TEG. The only real
advantage is its lower vapor pressure which reduces absorber carry-over losses, in addition it is also
used in applications where the feed gas temperature exceeds 50 – 60 deg C [122 – 140 F]

Hitesh: Whats is usual residence time for the Glycol Flash Drum to separate HC from Rich TEG?

KSM: 10 – 20 min depending upon the presence of hydrocarbons – refer to your company standards
or the GPSA Engineering Data Book
Anandan: What is the TEG degradation temperature at Reboiler operation pressure?

KSM: 206 C [ 404 F] – the regenerators are running at essentially atm pressure – you need to keep
very little back pressure on them to maximize the lean TEG concentration

Maitri: Is TEG degradation temperature is 206 deg C at reboiler operation pressure or at Atm
pressure

KSM: at atmospheric pressure – the reboiler should be operating very close to atm

Anandan: Normal TEG losses at TEG contactor

KSM: Good: 0.1 gal / MMscf [0.013 L/106 std m3] hard to achieve, more typical is in the range of: 0.5
to 2 gal / MMscf [ 0.065 to 0.268 L/106 std m3]

Srinivas: what are chemicals used for PH controllers of TEG

KSM: See discussion above

Gaurav: during turndown scenario what should be the turndown on the glycol circulation in case of
packing. packing wetting is an issue during turndown

KSM: you need to run a packing rating calculation to determine what the minimum turndown
capabilities are of your specific packing. Your packing vendors have rating programs that they
should be able to share with you, or they can advise you directly. It depends on the type of packing,
and in all honesty you need to check the performance of all liquid distributors to ensure you have
adequate flow to ensure even liquid distribution from the distributor. If you have your distributor
drawings you should be able to figure that out, otherwise have the internals vendor supplier provide
you with the calculations.

Anandan: What is the TEG degradation temperature at Reboiler operating pressure?

KSM: 206 C [ 404 F] – the regenerators are running at essentially atm pressure – you need to keep
very little back pressure on them to maximize the lean TEG concentration

srinivas: How i control TEG PH

KSM: See discussion above