Experimental Study and Steady State Simulation of a NGL fractionation

unit in order to investigate qualified specification

A.Esmaeili*
Young Researchers Club, Islamic Azad University, Tehran- South Branch, No.173, Sepahbod
gharani st., Karimkhan ave., Tehran, Iran, P.O Box: 1584743311, Tel. +982122481906,
E-mail: Arash.esmaeili2010@gmail.com

Abstract:
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) is prepared by fractionation of dry raw gas to make
appropriate products especially Propane and Butane, either at the field processing site or a
large central facility. Liquid product specifications generally include composition, vapor
pressure, water content and sulfur content. Composition is usually measured by gas
chromatograph or ASTM standard, vapor pressure is an easily measured indication of
composition of the particular liquid product. Water content is important primarily for propane
because it dissolves more water than other NGL. Sulfur compounds in liquid fuels contribute
to corrosion in storage and distribution systems. Simulation by HYSYS software indicates
that obtained results have good agreement with manufacturer specifications.

Keywords: ASTM standard, HYSYS, Hydrocarbon dew point, LPG, NGL

Introduction:
Natural gas liquids are very precious and important components to produce liquefied
petroleum gas and hydrocarbon condensate and are extracted in most gas refineries. Liquefied
petroleum gas (also called LPG, GPL, LP Gas, or auto gas) is a flammable mixture of
hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly
replacing chlorofluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to
the ozone layer. Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane,
mixes that are primarily butane, and the more common, mixes including both propane C3H8
(60%) and butane C4H10 (40%), depending on the season – in winter more propane, in
summer more butane.
In present study, we simulated a real NGL fractionation unit in Phases 6,7&8 Gas
refinery that has located in Assaluyeh village (Iran) which receives 1300 MMSCFD sour gas
from South Pars Gas Field in Persian Gulf for each phases (six trains). Our simulation for one
of these trains with standard gas flow of 630 MMSCFD has been carried out by using HYSYS
(ver.2006) based on Peng-Robinson equation of state [1]. Productions of this unit are mixed
sour Methane and Ethane as Export gas to inject in oil wellhead, sour propane, sour butane
and condensate (C5+).

Process Description:
In this unit (Figure1), there are two identical trains in parallel which receive dry sour gas
from Gas Dehydration unit in their upstream so that water dew point of gas is adjusted to less
than specified value that is -80°C@ 34 barg or 0.34 ppmv. The aim of this unit is fractionation
of hydrocarbon to export gas, LPG and condensate by three distillation columns. Feed is
entered (26°C, 71barg) to this unit after flowing in three heat exchangers and a chiller which is
in a refrigeration cycle and cools the gas by using propane as refrigerant; temperature falls to
-32°C so that before each exchanger there is a low flow injection line of methanol to prevent
hydrate formation. In this case a part of produced liquid because of this cooling is separated in
expander suction drum and after pre-heating in two heat exchangers (secondary, feed/bottom
of de-ethanizer) is entered to de-ethanizer column as feed, in downstream of these exchangers
there is an expander to separate more natural gas liquid and adjust inlet pressure for entering
to de-ethanizer column. Most amount of methane (93% weight of total), ethane (61% weight
of total) and slightly heavy residue in expander discharge are exited from top of a low
temperature separator (LTS) and are mixed with outlet gas of de-ethanizer column (65% mole
Methane and 23% mole Ethane) as export gas so is compressed with a re-compressor that
moves by produced work of expander (6100kw) using a reversible adiabatic process
(Isentropic). Produced liquid in bottom flows to de-ethanizer column as reflux. Consequently,
propane (67% of total) and another heavy components (C3+) as bottom product flows to de-
propanizer column from de-ethanizer column so that liquefied propane (60°C,21barg) and
after that liquefied butane (60°C,6.5barg) in de-butanizer column are produced.
In order to simulate the fractionation of dry sour gas by refrigeration system and
distillation at defined operation temperature and pressure in tray columns, the following
assumptions were considered:
1. Isentropic performance of expander is assumed constant.
2. Isentropic performance of re-compressor is assumed constant.
3. Entrance gas to this unit has 0.1 ppmv water and is assumed as dry sour gas.
4. Refrigerant propane in chiller has atmospheric pressure and T= -25°C.

Figure1. Simulated process of NGL fractionation plant in Phases 6,7&8 Gas refinery

Results and discussion:

Inlet feed is located outside dew point curve (Figure2) because of its composition and
operational condition therefore is totally in vapor phase. According to the reported data of
Tables 1&2 which express qualified specification for produced propane and butane such as
LPG content, vapor pressure and residue content based on ASTM standards, they are in good
agreement with obtained data from our simulation and laboratory results so that maximum
experimented amount of Ethane in Propane product is 1.18% mole also water content for both
is zero. Also Table3 shows composition of produced fluids in distillation columns are nearly
close to laboratory analysis and heat and mass balance data. Estimated hydrocarbon dew point
by HYSYS for export gas (with 87% methane and 5.6% ethane based on mole) equals
-57°C @ 55 barg that is very lower than specified value (0°C @ 55barg).

Figure2. Envelope curve of inlet feed to NGL fractionation unit (feed in left side the Dew point curve)

Table1. Comparison of specified values and simulated values for liquefied Propane
Parameter Unit Specified value ASTM test method Simulated value
Specific gravity@60°F - 0.508 ± 0.02 D2598 [3] 0.5079
Propane Content v% 96 minimum D2163 [4] 97.83
Ethane Content v% 2 maximum D2163 0.97
Vapor pressure@100°F Psig 200 Max. D1267 [5] 181.92
Volatile Residue: C4 and
v% 2.5 Max. D2163 1.21
heavier

Table2. Comparison of specified values and simulated values for liquefied Butane
Parameter Unit Specified value ASTM test method Simulated value
Specific gravity@60°F - 0.577 ± 0.02 D2598 0.5753
Butane Content v% 95 minimum D2163 97.64
Vapor pressure@100°F Psig 70 Max. D1267 48.1
Volatile Residue: C5 and
v% 2.0 Max. D2163 0.75
heavier
H2S Content ppm Negative D2420 [6] nil

In theory, heating value is simply the heat evolved on combustion but in practice the
situation is complicated by the use of many bases; higher (Gross) or lower (Net); wet or dry
[2]. Generally, heating value is defined as the extracted heat when fuel is completely burned
at some specified or standard condition usually 15ºC and 1 atm. When fuels containing
hydrogen are burned the condition of produced water (liquid or vapor) by combustion must be
specified. For higher heating value (HHV) is assumed that all produced water by combustion
leaves system as condensate liquid so for lower heating value (LHV) is assumed it's as vapor
or steam thus difference between them is water vaporization heat. LPG has a higher calorific
value range (94-126 MJ/m3 equivalent to 26.1-35kWh/m³) than methane (38 MJ/m3
equivalent to 10.6 kWh/m3), which means that LPG can't simply be substituted for natural
gas.

In order to compare between steady state simulation and laboratory results, we used
results average of some samplings in different condition and concluded very low error
between them. Most investigated laboratory results illustrate mole fractions of n-Butane and
i-Butane are in range of 53-56% and 39-44% respectively.

Table3. Mole fraction of produced Propane and Butane in our simulation

Mole fraction of Produced Mole fraction of Produced
Components
Propane Butane
Ethane 0.0092 Nil
Propane 0.9780 0.0188
i-Butane 0.0067 0.4408
n-Butane 0.0004 0.5300
i-Pentane Nil 0.0003
n-Pentane Nil 6e-6
H2S 0.0078 Nil
M-Mercaptan 0.0004 0.0021
E-Mercaptan 1e-6 0.0078
COS 0.0003 Nil

The Wobbe Index (WI) or Wobbe number is an indicator of the interchangeability of fuel
gases such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, and Town Gas and is frequently defined in
the specifications of gas supply and transport utilities. If HHV is the higher heating value, or
calorific value, and Sp.Gr is the specific gravity, the Wobbe Index is defined as:

HHV
WI = (1)
Sp.Gr

The Wobbe Index is used to compare the combustion energy output of different
composition fuel gases in industries and an appliance (fire, cooker etc.). If two fuels have
identical Wobbe indices then for given pressure and valve settings the energy output will also
be identical. Typically variations of up to 5% are allowed as these would not be noticeable to
the consumer. The range of this parameter for LPG is 73.5 – 87.5 MJ/Sm3.

Table4. Calculated properties from HYSYS for produced liquefied Propane and Butane
Estimated properties of liquefied Propane Estimated properties of liquefied Butane
Molecular weight 43.97 Molecular weight 57.88
3 3
Higher heating value (MJ/m ) 94.93 Higher heating value (MJ/m ) 125.1
3 3
Wobbe index (MJ/m ) 76.37 Wobbe index (MJ/m ) 87.04
Mass Flow rate (kg/hr) 41480 Mass Flow rate (kg/hr) 28840

Figures3&4 shows boiling point curves of simulated LPG product accordance to

different ASTM standards. ASTM D86 and D1160 distillations employ batch fractionation
apparatus but they are conducted using non-refluxed Engler flasks. ASTM D86 is used for
light to medium petroleum fluids e.g. Propane and Butane so ASTM D1160 is carried out at
both vacuum and atmospheric conditions for heavier products.

Figure3. Boiling point curves of produced Propane based on ASTM standards

Figure4. Boiling point curves of produced Butane based on ASTM standards

References:

1. D.Y. Peng, D.B. Robinson, A new two-constant equation of state, Ind. Eng. Chem.
Fundam 15, 59-64, 1976.
2. F. S. Manning, R. E. Thompson, Oilfield processing of petroleum, Vol.1: Natural Gas.
3. ASTM D2598: Standard Practice for Calculation of Certain Physical Properties of
Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases from Compositional Analysis.
4. ASTM D2163: Standard Test Method for Analysis of Liquefied Petroleum (LP) Gases
and Propene Concentrates by Gas Chromatography.
5. ASTM D1267: Standard Test Method for Gage Vapor Pressure of Liquefied Petroleum
(LP) Gases (LP-Gas Method).
6. ASTM D2420: Standard Test Method for Hydrogen Sulfide In Liquefied Petroleum
(LP) Gases (Lead Acetate Method).