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Department of Chemical Engineering

Energy balance on Glycol dehydration unit for natural gas

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Title page…...…………………………………………………………………….1
2. Table of contents……...………………………………………………………….2
3. Objective……...………………………………………………………………….3
4. Process description.….……….…………………………………….……………3
5. Process flow diagram ……………………………………………………………4
6. Physical properties of stream …………….……..…….…………………………6
7. Heat capacities ………….…………..………………….………………………..7
8. Enthalpy ………….…...…………….………………….………………………..8
9. Energy balance ……..……………….………………….………………………..8
10. Conclusion ………….……………….………………….………………………..9
11. References……………………………………..…………..………………….…..9
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Objective:

The purpose of this report was to perform material balance on the natural gas dehydration
process by TEG as already described in earlier activities. The calculations are theoretical and
based on many assumptions given in assumption section. Therefore, it will be compared to real
values at the end. The importance of material balance is that it is helpful in designing of plant,
cost estimation, energy requirement and process efficiency. There are two main unit operations
such as adsorption and regeneration occurred in process. But there are some other unit operations
also involved such as scrubbing, flash separation, condensation, cooling and heating. (Netušil,
2012)The material balance focus on the flowrates and the composition of streams. Followings
are the assumptions:

Assumptions:

 Purity of Makeup or regenerated lean TEG is 99.5 %

 Moisture in dry gas is 0.0%
 Hydrocarbons absorbed in solvent are 0.001%
 Scrubber removes H2S completely
 Wet gas feed is 8200 ton/day

Process description:

Objective of absorption:
 The objective of this section is to covert wet gas to dry gas by mixing wet gas with TEG.
More the contact between TEG and wet gas, more water will be absorbed by TEG.
Objective of regeneration:
 The objective of regeneration is to recover pure TEG solvent for reuse and for this
purpose TEG and water are separated on the bases of boiling point in regeneration
column.
Feed:
 There are mainly two feed, TEG and wet gas. Following is composition of feed and
specifications:
Wet gas:
 Flowrate = 8200 tons/day
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 Temperature = 25oC
 Pressure = 70 bar

Process flow diagram:

Figure 1 Process flow diagram of natural gas dehydration by TEG

Composition of wet gas:

Components Fraction
Methane 0.88
Ethane 0.068
Propane 0.02
i-Butane 0.007
n-butane 0.008
i-pentane 0.004
n-pentane 0.002
Hexane 0.002
Heptane 0.001
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Octane 0.0005
Nonane 0.0001
Decane 0.00005
Water 0.001
Nitrogen 0.0024
Carbon dioxide 0.0017

Hydrogen sulphide is removed in scrubber. While in our material balance,

TEG:

Purity = 99.5% or more

Temperature = 80OC

Pressure = 1.2 bar

Flow rate = 63.29 ton/day

Product:

TEG (purity 99.5%

Dry gas (with almost 0.0% water)

Water (pure)

The water exit from two points, inlet scrubber and regenerator. While the main control loop is
the TEG flow between absorber and regenerator as shown in figure.1.

List of equipment:

1. Cooler (wet gas)

2. Absorber
3. Heat exchanger (80 C)
4. Pump
5. Cooler (30 C for TEG)
6. Regenerator
7. Condenser
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8. Reboiler
9. Flash valve
10. Flash separator

parameters stream stream stream stream stream stream stream

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 stream 8
temperature
37 37 25 25.5 25.4 25.4 37.72 37.72
(C)
temperature
(K) 310.15 310.15 298.15 298.65 298.55 298.55 310.87 310.87
pressure
70 70 70.7 5 5 5 5
(Bar) 70
physical
vapor vapor vapor liquid liquid liq/vap liq/vap
state vapor
vapor mol
1 1 1 1 0 0 0.015 0.015
fraction
Following are physical properties of hot and cold streams with vapor composition:

Table 1 phase, temperature, pressure and mole fraction

stream stream stream stream stream stream stream

parameters
9 stream 10 11 12 14 15 16 19
temperatur
e (C) 150 99.9 200 200 80 80 30
175
temperatur
e (K)
423.15 373.05 473.15 473.15 353.15 353.15 303.15 448.15
pressure
(Bar) 5 0.0365 0.0365 0.0365 0.0365 70 70 5

physical
state liq/vap vapor liquid liquid liquid liquid liquid vapor

vapor mol
fraction 0.00013 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Table 2 phase, temperature, pressure and mole fraction

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Hot and cold fluid heat capacities:

The heat capacities for each component are calculated as follow (technology, n.d.)

Cp = A + BT + CT2 + DT3

Heat capacity of each component at given temperature is as below. The temperatures are all the
temperatures used in process or streams.

Table 3 heat capacity

Heat capacity of given component at temperature in J/mol.K

i- i- n-
ethan n-
temperature methane propane butan pentan pentan hexane
e butane
(K) e e e
310.15 36.31 54 75.96 100 102 123 121.02 147.01
298.15 35.69 49.8 73.5 96.4 98.23 118.4 120.07 142.6
298.65 35.78 50 73.72 96.8 98.7 119 120.12 142.9
298.55 35.75 50.85 73.68 96.75 98.6 118.95 120.1 142.82
310.87 36.44 54.5 76 100.12 102.3 122 121.4 147.3
423.15 41.61 68 98 130 130.77 160.88 159.67 188.1
373.05 39.19 62 88 117 118.75 146.12 143.59 152.04
473.15 44.69 72 107 142 142.3 175.39 174.75 209.13
353.15 37.88 56 84 111 112.56 138.6 136.5 162.11
303.15 35.85 53 74 98 99.5 120.11 120.5 144.2
448.15 43.51 68.2 103.4 137 136.2 167.89 167.37 200.02

Table 4 heat capacity

Heat capacity of given component at temperature in J/mol.K

temperature heptan octan carbon
nonane decane water nitrogen TEG
(K) e e dioxide
310.15 177.1 194.12 217.1 340.5 75.5 29.13 37.65 338
298.15 165.2 187.8 210.4 233.1 75.39 29.123 37.12 333.12
298.65 165.8 188.01 210.89 233.89 75.4 29.125 37.22 333.78
298.55 165.7 187.99 210.79 233.73 75.89 29.125 37.19 333.67
310.87 177.4 194.49 217.43 341 75.6 29.135 37.6 338.9
423.15 219.2 251.1 280.01 370.66 77.67 29.31 42.11 378
373.05 198.51 200.18 252.9 280.2 76 29.19 40.3 363.12
473.15 141.8 275.41 308.51 341.99 80.8 29.4 43.82 411.82
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353.15 187.9 214.67 236.81 261.1 75.5 29.17 39.5 351.91

303.15 167.01 189.9 212.32 235.34 75.3 29.11 37.36 336.1
448.15 133.41 263.56 294.12 328.91 78.99 29.37 43.01 401.79

The heat capacity of a stream is given as follow:

Heat capacity of steam = ∑ nC pi

Where n = mole fraction and Cpi is heat capacity of each component.

Heat capacity of liquid and vapor mixture stream is calculated as follow:

Heat capacity of stream = nCpl + nCpg

Where n is mole fraction of liquid or gas and Cp is respective heat capacity.

The heat capacities of hot and cold fluid of respective stream is given in table below:

Table 5 heat capacity of stream

Heat capacity of given stream at temperature in J/mol.K

Component
s stream 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0.03604 0.03604 0.01948
Methane
31.9528 31.9528 31.4072 31.5891 5 5 0.03674 2
3.41108 0.00396 0.00396 0.00424 0.00225
Ethane
3.672 3.672 3.3864 9 2 2 6 2
1.47920 0.00168 0.00168 0.00174 0.00092
Propane
1.5192 1.5192 1.47 9 8 8 2 3
0.00077 0.00077 0.00080 0.00042
i-Butane
0.7 0.7 0.6748 0.67981 6 6 3 6
0.79217 0.00090 0.00090 0.00093 0.00049
n-butane
0.816 0.816 0.78584 5 4 4 8 7
0.47755 0.00054 0.00054 0.00055 0.00029
i-pentane
0.492 0.492 0.4736 3 5 5 9 6
0.24102 0.00027 0.00027 0.00027 0.00014
n-pentane
0.24204 0.24204 0.24014 4 5 5 8 8
0.28673 0.00032 0.00032 0.00033 0.00017
Hexane
0.29402 0.29402 0.2852 2 7 7 8 9
0.16634 0.00020 0.00010
Heptane
0.1771 0.1771 0.1652 1 0.00019 0.00019 3 8
0.09431 0.00010 0.00010 0.00011
Octane
0.09706 0.09706 0.0939 2 8 8 1 5.91E-05
0.02115
Nonane
0.02171 0.02171 0.02104 8 2.42E-05 2.42E-05 2.49E-05 1.32E-05
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0.01702 0.01702 0.01165 0.01173

Decane
5 5 5 3 1.34E-05 1.34E-05 1.95E-05 1.04E-05
8.69495 8.69495 8.66612
Water
0.0755 0.0755 0.07539 0 6 6 8.66173 5
0.06991 0.06991 0.06989 0.07012
Nitrogen
2 2 5 8 8.01E-05 8.01E-05 8.01E-05 4.25E-05
Carbon 0.06400 0.06400 0.06310
dioxide 5 5 4 0.06348 7.24E-05 7.24E-05 7.32E-05 3.88E-05
295.060 295.060 299.685 299.846
TEG
0 0 0 0 5 5 3 3
40.2103 40.2103 39.2233 39.3838 8.73996 8.73996 8.70788
total
7 7 6 4 6 6 6 8.6906

Heat capacity of given stream at temperature in J/mol.K

Component
s 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 19
Methane 0.022246 0.175692 0.001083 0.001083 0.000918 0.000918 0.000869 38.42839
Ethane 0.002809 0.021479 0.000135 0.000135 0.000105 0.000105 9.92E-05 4.654508
Propane 0.001191 0.008966 5.89E-05 5.89E-05 4.63E-05 4.63E-05 4.07E-05 2.07554
i-Butane 0.000553 0.004172 2.74E-05 2.74E-05 2.14E-05 2.14E-05 1.89E-05 0.962496
n-butane 0.000636 0.00484 3.13E-05 3.13E-05 2.48E-05 2.48E-05 2.19E-05 1.093573
i-pentane 0.000391 0.002978 1.93E-05 1.93E-05 1.53E-05 1.53E-05 1.32E-05 0.674008
n-pentane 0.000194 0.001463 9.62E-06 9.62E-06 7.52E-06 7.52E-06 6.63E-06 0.33596
Hexane 0.000229 0.001549 1.15E-05 1.15E-05 8.93E-06 8.93E-06 7.94E-06 0.401498
Heptane 0.000133 0.001011 3.9E-06 3.9E-06 5.17E-06 5.17E-06 4.6E-06 0.133896
Octane 7.63E-05 0.00051 3.79E-06 3.79E-06 2.95E-06 2.95E-06 2.61E-06 0.13226
Nonane 1.7E-05 0.000129 8.49E-07 8.49E-07 6.52E-07 6.52E-07 5.85E-07 0.029519
Decane 1.13E-05 7.14E-05 4.71E-07 4.71E-07 3.59E-07 3.59E-07 3.24E-07 0.016505
Water 8.903412 72.67433 0.419699 0.419699 0.39217 0.39217 0.391131 0
Nitrogen 4.27E-05 0.000357 1.94E-06 1.94E-06 1.93E-06 1.93E-06 1.92E-06 0.070745
Carbon dioxide 4.35E-05 0.000349 2.05E-06 2.05E-06 1.85E-06 1.85E-06 1.75E-06 0.073384
TEG 334.4405 14.04648 409.6728 409.6728 350.0752 350.0752 334.3476 0
total 8.931984 72.8979 0.421088 0.421088 0.393329 0.393329 0.39222 49.08229
Table 6 heat capacity of stream

Enthalpy:

Enthalpy of hot and cold fluid in respective stream is calculated as follow:

Q = mCp∆T
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stream 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Temperatur 310.15 298.15 298.65 298.55 298.55 310.87 310.87
e in K 310
Mass
flowrate in
ton/day 8181.55 8181.55 8181.55 8173.27 71.57 71.57 71.57 71.53
mass
flowrate in 94.6938 94.6938 94.6938 94.5980 0.82838 0.82838 0.82838 0.82793644
kg/s 7 7 7 1 1 1 1 4
enthalpy 45120.9 45692.1 2161.50 89.1970 2242.44 807.884317
(kg*j/mole.s) 6 1 -44570.5 -372.563 9 7 4 1
Table 7 enthalpy

10 11 12 14 15 16 19
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Temperatur 373.05 473.15 473.15 353.15 353.15 303.15 448.15
e in K 423.15
Mass
flowrate in
ton/day 71.53 8.53 63.30 63.30 63.30 63.30 63.30 0.04
mass
flowrate in 0.82793 0.09873513 0.73269 0.73269 0.73269 0.73269 0.73269 0.00044
kg/s 6 4 1 1 1 1 1 5
enthalpy
(kg*j/mole.s 3129.24 720.478120 145.979 - 101.773 - 87.1179 2.99582
) 3 4 7 37.0233 9 14.4094 8 4
Table 8 enthalpy

Energy balance:

Heat of fluid in – heat of fluid out = enthalpy change (Britannica, n.d.)

equipment In (kj/mol) Out (kj/mol) Change (kj/mol)

cold fluid -44570.5 -372.563 44197.9
absorber 2074.39
2161.509
cold fluid 87.11798
2153.25
89.19707
cooler cold fluid 2242.444
-1434.6
2242.444
flash separator cold fluid 807.8843171
2321.36
heater cold fluid 807.8843171 3129.243
regenerator hot fluid 3129.243 720.4781204 -2408.8
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138.797
-37.0233 101.7739
heat exchanger hot fluid
Table 9 enthalpy change

Conclusion:

From the above calculation and analysis, it can be seen that the energy loss during the process is
the energy change during process in equipment. The process has come streams like stream 10
and stream 19 which can be utilized to save the energy. If stream 19 is introduced in stripper, it
can replace stripper gas. Similarly, stream 10 can be used to cool the recovered TEG in stream
12 and hot water in heat exchanger can be replaced by stream 10 having 100 C temperature. for
calculating the heat capacities, the coefficients are used for each component. The heat capacity
was calculated for every component at given temperature. the energy balance applied is not
perfect as it has many errors due to theoretical approach and incomplete practical data.

References
 Britannica, T. E. (n.d.). britannica. Retrieved from britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/science/enthalpy

 Netušil, M. (2012). Natural Gas Dehydration. IntechOpen.

 technology, N. i. (n.d.). NIST . Retrieved from NIST Chemistry WebBook:

https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C112276&Units=SI&Mask=4

Sample calculation:

Total heat capacity of stream 1 from table 5 = 40.21 j/mol.K

Mass flowrate of stream 1 = 8181.55 ton/day

Mass flowrate of stream 1 = 94.69387 kg/s

Temperature change = T2-T1

T2 = 37 C = 310.15 K
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T1 = 25 C = 298.15 K

Q = mCp(T2-T1)

Enthalpy = Q = 45120.96 kg. J/mol.s