FUNDAMENTALS OF

NATURAL GAS
TREATMENT
Eng: Mohamed Abdelraof
Natural Gas Industry
Gas Dehydration
WATER CONTENT
OF GASES 0.98

26

At 150°F and 1,000 psia.

W = 220 lb/MMscf
220
LB/MMSCF
At 26 mw gas ,
Cg = 0.98
W = (0.98)(220)
= 216 lb/MMscf

150 oF
Glycol dehydration
 Sea Line
System Valve Gas flow meter

Rich Gly.

Flashed Gas

Glycol
Flash
Drum

Dehydration Glycol Reboiler

tower T-101

Glycol Glycol
Cartridge Accumulator
filter Glycol Carbon
filter

Lean /Rich Gly.

Ex.
Produced Gas
Gly. Inj. Pump
Glycol Dehydration System Components
Inlet Scrubber

Inadequate scrubbing causes about half of all glycol

dehydration system problems.

• Free water
• Many contaminants include:
1. Oils or hydrocarbons
2. Entrained brine
3. Downhole additives
4. Solids, such as sand and corrosion products
Glycol Dehydration System Components
Contactor
 Contactor
Scrubbing Section :–

Scrubber integrated into the contactor

Wire mesh mist extractor.

This second stage of scrubbing further

minimizes the contamination of the glycol and
helps prevent the free water from overloading
the system.
Contactor trays
 Contactor
Drying Section :
In the middle section of the
contactor, the gas stream flows
upward and thoroughly contacts the
downward flowing lean glycol
through valve trays, bubble caps, or
packing.
Glycol cooler and mist extractor in the top

Its aim is to collect any

glycol droplets which
escape with dry gas to
avoid glycol losses
Carryover

can result from

• foam build-up caused by glycol
contamination
• high gas rate. It will happen
continuously when the gas rate is
high enough to agitate the liquid
at the top tray so that a foam
forms that is too thick for the
mist eliminator to handle.
Glycol Pump

Glycol circulation pumps contain the only moving parts in a glycol

dehydration system.
Electric-motor driven
High-pressure gas-operated
High-pressure liquid-operated
Reboiler
Solid Desiccant Dehydration
Desiccants in common commercial use fall into one of three categories:
• Alumina - Regenerable aluminum oxide base desiccant.
• Silica Gel - Regenerable silicon oxide adsorbent.
• Molecular Sieves - Regenerable solid desiccants composed of
crystalline metal aluminosilicates (zeolites).
Silica Gel
Molecular sieves
Solid Desiccant Dehydration
Process Flow of Solid Desiccant Dehydrators

V-1

A-1

Feed D-1A D-1B D-1C

Gas CD

Dry Gas To
Filter Sep. F-2
Cooling Train

CD

C-4
A/B
H-1F/G
TYPICAL DESICCANT PROPERTIES
Molecular Sieves
Gas Cooling
Dew point control
Low Temperature Separation
LTS
Nozzle Placed At One Location: Three Flow Rates
Glycol
concentrations :
NGL recovery
TURBOEXPANSION
Refrigeration
• Refrigeration cools the
natural gas stream by passing
the stream through a chiller.
Chilling causes the heavier
hydrocarbons to liquefy and
these can then be separated
from the gas

Propane liquid
Fractionation
Condensate Stabilization
DISTILLATION TOWER WITH REFLUX
LNG
PEAK SHAVING PLANTS
BASELOAD PLANTS AND STRANDED RESERVES
LIQUEFACTION CYCLES
Cascade cycle
• Refrigerant systems can be "stacked" to provide cooling below -40°F.
• The low stage uses methane as the working fluid.
• The methane is boiled in a chiller at near its atmospheric boiling point (-259°F), is compressed and
condensed, rejecting heat to an ethylene evaporator at approximately -150°F.
• In turn, the ethylene is compressed and condensed, rejecting heat to a propane chiller at approximately -
30°F.
• Finally, the propane rejects its heat to the surroundings.
Receiving terminal
LNG enters a cryogenic pump capable of
producing the required send-out pressure
Re-gasification
(e.g. up to 130 bar have been studied).
LNG at the required discharge pressure is
heated in two stages.
In the first stage LNG is heated from -160
°C to -10 °C in a compact printed circuit
heat exchanger with propane as heating
medium.
In the second stage, LNG can be heated
further using seawater as heating medium
in a shell and tube heat exchanger.
In the LNG/Propane heat exchanger, heat
is exchanged against propane circulating in
a closed loop.
The propane enters the heat exchanger at
approx. 0 °C at 4.7 bar as gas.
In the heat exchanging process propane is
condensed, and leaves the exchanger in
liquid state at approximately -5 °C.
The propane in the closed loop is then
pumped by the circulating pump and
heated against seawater in titanium semi
welded plate heat exchangers.
In these heat exchangers, the propane is
evaporated and heated to 0 °C before
returning as gas to the printed circuit heat
exchanger.
Sweetening Process
Basic Flow Diagram of Amine Treating Process for CO2 and H2S Removal
Absorber Thermal Effects:
Absorber Thermal Effects:
claus process for sulfur recovery