Gas Engineering

GROUP 4
Members: Afiqah Binti Mad Diah
Fauziyyah Ainun Inasyah
Mohamad Amin Bin Abdul Jalil
Samyukutha A/P Moaganasundram
Amirul Syazwan Bin Abdullah Suhaimi
Mohd Shahrul Nazmi Bin Zainal Abidin
Natural Gas Sweetening Process Simulation
and Optimization
Introduction
 Background of Study

• The scenario in the natural gas to be produced contains 22% H2S and 20% CO2 in the gas
stream.
• This acid gas component will cause some technical interference in processing and
transportation system, hydrate formation will form with the same composition and condition.
• There are several processes to remove acid gases from raw natural gas for instance, solid
bed process and chemical solvent process.
• Amine solutions are used to remove the hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide.
• Gas sweetening by amine process has been considered as the most popular process in gas
processing industries.
• Alkanamine possess high affinity toward acid gases and there are several types of amines
that are used in amine process.
• DEA:
 Picking up more acid gas per solution volume circulated.
 Save energy in circulating and regeneration.
 Low solvent vapor pressure which results in potentially lower solvent losses, reduced
corrosive nature when compared to MEA.
 Low solvent cost.
 Less corrosive than MEA
• MEA:
 Good thermal stability and high reactivity due to its primary amine character.
 ¼ grain H2S specification can usually be achieved.
 CO2 removal to 100 ppmv for applications at low to moderate operating pressures.
 Problem Statement

• Hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide are frequently present in natural gas, refinery gas,
and synthesis gas.
• Their removal is of concern environmentally and economically.
• Toxicity of H2S, lack of heating value of CO2, and the corrosiveness of H2S and/or CO2 in
the presence of water.
• Presence of H2S and CO2 will increase the hydrate temperature and reduce the pressure
above which hydrates will form thus, increases the possibility of hydrate formation.
• Removal process of H2S and CO2 as a gas treatment needed to prevent technical
disturbances in the process and transporting before being sold to the market.
 Objectives

• To remove H2S and CO2 in natural gas

• To prevent hydrate formation during transportation and processing
• To compare the optimum removal of H2S and CO2 by using MEA and DEA
as chemical absorption method in gas sweetening process

Scope of Study

• Sweetening process unit design

• Regeneration process unit design
Literature Review
 Gas Sweetening Process
• Gas sweetening – Remove H2S and CO2
• Sour gas creates problems, same goes to sour gas + water.
• Need to reduce both and it depends on specifications. Limit H2S to less than 4ppm and CO2
to less than 3 or 4 mole percent.
• Gas sweetening usually uses the Amines as a solvent solution by having it to contact with
the to-be-treated primary gas stream.
• Several commercial amines:
 Triethanolamine (TEA)
 Diethanolamine (DEA)
 Monoethanolamine (MEA)
 Diglycolamine (DGA)
 Methyldiethanolamine(MDEA)
 Application of DEA and MEA in Gas Sweetening

• DEA falls under the group of secondary amines

• DEA picking up more acid gas per solution volume circulated, thus saving more energy and
cost in terms of circulation and regeneration
• Does not form the non-regenerative products with COS (carbonyl sulfide) and CS2 (carbon
disulfide)
• Less corrosive than MEA
• Solution strength is usually within weight range of 25% to 40%
• Commonly usage is within 25% to 35% weight range
• The degradation products of DEA are much less corrosive compare to the usage of MEA
 Application of DEA and MEA in Gas Sweetening

• However , exposure to oxygen may form corrosive acids which could make COS and CS2 react
irreversibly with DEA to some extent
• DEA is not reclaimable in most units because at atmospheric pressure, it decomposes below its
boiling point thus it is operationally unreliable
• Has a reduced affinity for H2S and CO2 and may not be able to produce pipeline specification gas for
some low-pressure gas streams
• Generally, as the gas pressure is lowered, the stripping steam must be increased or a split flow
design must be used
• Under some conditions,such low pressure would also turn the DEA to be more selective toward H2S
thus permitting a significant fraction of the CO2 to remain in the treated natural gas
• While MEA possess a stronger base compare to DEA and have a higher vapor pressure than DEA
which means that its vapor losses are higher than what is in the DEA solvent
 Functions of Equipment Involved in Gas Sweetening

Absorber
A place where the oxidization of H2S into elemental sulphur occurs, where H2S is absorbed in an
amine solution containing an oxidizing agent
Control Valve
An equipment to control the pressure and flow of the flowing treated gas
Separator
An equipment to separate any entrained liquid or sand before being fed to the bottom of the
absorber column
Heat Exchanger
As a temperature regulator, for an effective acid gas removal and to reduce energy consumption
 Functions of Equipment Involved in Gas Sweetening

Distillation Vessel
To separate the product of the treated natural gas accordingly based on their molecular weight and
density
Cooler
To lower the temperature of the lean amine and to condense the solvent and the water vapor
Recycle Gas
To minimize physical losses of expensive hydrogen and at the same time maintaining the high
reaction rate of desulphurization of the sour gas
Regeneration Unit
To regenerate the rich amine into a lean amine which will be recycled for its usage in the next cycle
absorber
Methodology
• Simulated by using the latest version of Aspen HYSYS V.10.
• The DEA and MEA solution are utilized.

HYSYS fluid package menu

• The first step of simulation work could be done by providing the program by gas
stream compositions from and choosing amine fluid package
 Hydrate formation analysis without gas sweetening plant

• Analyze the hydrate formation without the gas sweetening plant.

 Amine contactor menu

• Amine contactor is an important part of the sweetening plant and needs some
specifications for example, streams temperature and pressure
 Amine regenerator menu

• Rich amine needs to be regenerated and that could be achieved by installing an amine
regenerator after amine heat exchanger
Acid Gas Composition and Operation Conditions
Result and Discussion
Sweetening and Regeneration Process
Sweetening Process
Regeneration Process
 Before Entering Absorber After Entering Absorber
Parameters
MEA DEA MEA DEA
Temperature (°F) 110.0 110.0 165.0 207.0
Pressure (psia) 524.7 524.7 512.7 512.7
CO2 (mole) 0.2000 0.2000 0.0829 0.0205
H2S (mole) 0.3200 0.3200 0.0931 0.0328
Gas Composition Before and After Entering Absorber

• DEAmine remove more CO2 and H2S which is 41.45% from sour gas composition
compared to MEAmine which remove only 10.25% from the sour gas composition under the
same operating conditions.
 Before Entering Valve After Entering Valve
Parameters
Rich MEA Rich DEA Rich MEA SP Rich DEA SP
Temperature (°F) 207.0 165.0 190.9 166.0
Pressure (psia) 512.7 512.7 68.0 68.0
CO2 (mole) 0.0829 0.0205 0.0829 0.0205
H2S (mole) 0.0931 0.0328 0.0931 0.0328
Operating Conditions Before and After Entering Valve

• Both MEA and DEA pressure is declining from 512.7 psia to 68 psia
• temperature of Rich MEA decrease after entering valve which is from 207.0°F
to 190.0°F while temperature of Rich DEA increase from 165.0°F to 166.0°F
 Before Entering Separator After Entering Separator
Parameters
Rich MEA SP Rich DEA SP Rich MEA HEX DEA HEX
Temperature (°F) 190.9 166.0 190.9 166.0
Pressure (psia) 68.0 68.0 68.0 68.0
CO2 (mole) 0.0829 0.0205 0.0792 0.0205
H2S (mole) 0.0931 0.0328 0.0773 0.0328
Gas Composition Before and After Entering Seperator
 Before Entering Heat After Entering Heat
Parameters Exchanger Exchanger
Rich MEA HEX MEA Feed MEA Tank
Temperature (°F) 190.9 200.0 270.0
Pressure (psia) 68.0 63.0 33.0
CO2 (mole) 0.0792 0.0792 0.0069
H2S (mole) 0.0773 0.0773 0.0001
Heating Process with MEA at Heat Exchanger for Regeneration

Before Entering Heat After Entering Heat

Parameters Exchanger Exchanger
DEA HEX DEA Feed DEA Tank
Temperature (°F) 166.0 200.0 234.5
Pressure (psia) 68.0 63.0 33.0
CO2 (mole) 0.0205 0.0205 0.0148
H2S (mole) 0.0328 0.0328 0.0219
Heating Process with DEA at Heat Exchanger for Regeneration
 Parameters MEA DEA
Temperature (°F) 110.0 110.0
Pressure (psia) 512.7 512.7
CO2 (mole) 0.1214 0.0000
H2S (mole) 0.2439 0.0000
Final Gas Composition and Operating Conditions after Gas Sweetening Process

• DEA is more effective in removing CO2 and H2S contents from natural gas compared to MEA
with the same concentration of amines which is 26% and same process flow of gas
sweetening process.
 Total=USD12,181,100 Total=USD11,109,250
MEA gas sweetening plant DEA gas sweetening plant
Conclusion
• Both gas sweetening process scenario successfully simulated by using Aspen HYSYS
V10.
• Amine process is optimized by applying several amine types which is MEA and DEA
where 26% DEA completely remove CO2 and H2S contents from natural gas compared
to 26% MEA reduce 1/3 H2S and ½ CO2
• Hydrate formation does not form for both amines plant after completely gas sweetening
process
• DEA offered low cost compared to MEA.
• DEA is the most recommended for this sweetening process