CHE 413: Natural Gas Engineerin

Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Recovery,

separation and Fractionation
Introduction
• Most natural gas is processed to remove the heavier hydrocarbon liquids fro
m the natural gas stream. These heavier hydrocarbon liquids, commonly ref
erred to as natural gas liquids (NGLs), include ethane, propane, butanes, an
d natural gasoline (condensate).

• Recovery of NGL components in gas not only may be required for hydrocar
bon dew point control in a natural gas stream (to avoid the unsafe formation
of a liquid phase during transport), but also yields a source of revenue, as N
GLs normally have significantly greater value as separate marketable produ
cts than as part of the natural gas stream.

• Lighter NGL fractions, such as ethane, propane, and butanes, can be sold a
s fuel or feedstock to refineries and petrochemical plants, while the heavier
portion can be used as gasoline-blending Stock
What is NGL
Area of Interest

• We are going to focus on two sections her

e

 Recovery and Separation of NGL

 Methods of Fractionation
Options of Phase change

• A phase change of the gas stream is requi

red for NGL recovery (by separation)
• There are two options to achieve Phase ch
ange
 ESA
 MSA
ESA, MSA

Energy Separating Agent (ESA)

Phase change is achieved by removing heat

A mixture of HC vapor – Heat  Liquid + Vapor

Mass Separating Agent (MSA)

Separation by Absorption/Adsorption
Separation Parameters
• Pressure
• Temperature
• System composition or concentration
ESA
• Pressure remains constant
• Temperature is reduced by refrigeration using the followi
ng techniques

 Compression Refrigeration
 Cryogenic Separation (Turbine)
 Cryogenic Separation (valve)

MSA
Control of concentration/composition
 Lean Oil Absorption
 Solid Bed Adsorption
Thermodynamic pathways of different NGL recovery technology
Compression Refrigeration
• Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle uses propane as the refrigerant.

• The gas-to-gas heat exchanger recovers additional refrigeration by passing

the gas, leaving the cold separator countercurrent to the warm inlet gas.

• The chiller is typically a shell and tube, kettle-type unit. The process gas flo
ws inside the tubes and gives up its energy to the liquid refrigerant surroundi
ng the tubes. The refrigerant (often propane) boils off and leaves the chiller
vapor space essentially as a saturated vapor.

• The thermodynamic path followed by the gas in an external refrigeration pro

cess is shown as line ABC . From A to B indicates gas-to-gas heat exchang
e; from B to C, chilling.
Compression Refrigeration (contd.)

• When water is present in a natural gas processed by refrigeration, hydrate forma

tion is prevented either by dehydration of the gas or by injection of a hydrate inhi
bitor.

• Ethylene glycol is injected at the inlet of the gas-to-gas exchanger and/or chiller.
The weak glycol solution, containing absorbed water, is separated in the cold se
parator, re-concentrated, and recycled.

• A mechanical refrigeration process is adopted when sizeable amounts of conde

nsate are expected.

• This process may also lead to the recovery of liquefied petroleum gas, where for
LPG recovery up to 90%.

• A simple propane refrigeration system provides refrigeration at temperatures to

−40◦F .
Compression Refrigeration Plant diagram

If water is present
 Choice of Refrigerant
Any material could be used as a refrigerant. The ideal refrigerant is
– nontoxic,
– noncorrosive,
– has Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) and physical properties compatibl
e with the system needs, and has a high latent heat of vaporization.
– It is desirable to carry some positive pressure on the chiller to obtain better
efficiency in the compressor, reduce equipment size, and avoid air induction
into the system.

Propane is by far the most popular refrigerant in gas processing applications

. Because-
– It is readily available (often manufactured on-site),
– inexpensive,
– has a “good” vapor pressure curve.
– It is flammable but this is not a significant problem if proper consideration is
given to the design and operation of the facility.
Cryogenic process (Joule Thomson)
• In the self-refrigeration process the inlet gas is pre-cooled against the treated g
as (through the gas to gas exchanger) and subsequently cooled further by iso-e
nthalpic expansion (i.e., Joule–Thomson expansion) through a valve, resulting in
heavy hydrocarbons and water to condense.

• In this process, the non-ideal behavior of the inlet gas causes the gas temperatu
re to fall with the pressure reduction, as shown by line ABC’ .

• The condensed liquids are then removed in one or more separators to meet the
vapor pressure and composition specifications.

• In this case, the wet glycol and hydrocarbon condensate are heated and separat
ed in a three-phase separator.

• Glycol can be regenerated in a stripper. Because glycol shows some affinity for
hydro-carbons.

• If the objective is to recover ethane or more propane than obtainable by mechan

ical refrigeration, a good process can be self-refrigeration, which is particularly a
pplicable for smaller gas volumes of 5 to 10 MMCFD.
 Gas to gas heat exchanger

Joule Thomson valve

Gas to gas heat exchanger
Comparison

• The J-T process may also be attractive if the inlet gas pressure is very high. It is impo
rtant that the reservoir pressure remain high for the intended life of the plant.

• When insufficient pressure is available to attain the required dew point with the J-T pr
ocess, Turbo Expander can be considered.

• Turbo Expander process has traditionally been used for NGL recovery. These plants
have a higher capital cost but a lower operational cost.

• In the cryogenic or turbo-expander plant, the chiller or Joule–Thomson (JT) valve use
d in two previous processes is replaced by an expansion turbine.

• Cryogenic process (Turbo Expander) can only be applied if the gas pressure after exp
ansion is sufficiently high for condensation of the heavier components to take place.

• However, if the gas arrives at low pressure (say less than 725 psi), external mechanic
al refrigeration must be used to cool it to the specified temperature .
 Comparison

• If the NGL content of the feed gas is relatively low [less than 2.5 to 3 gallons per Mcf
(GPM2)], J-T (gas-to-gas heat exchanger) usually suffices.

• However, for moderately rich feeds (>3 GPM), mechanical refrigeration should be
considered to obtain high ethane recovery most economically.

• Turbo Expander process is generally the most technically advanced type of NGL recovery
used today. This combines high recovery levels (typically allowing full recovery of all of
the propane and heavier NGLs and recovery of 50% to more than 90% of the ethane)
with low capital cost and easy operation.

• This is less attractive on very rich gas streams or where the light NGL product (C2 and
C3)is
not marketable, whereas for gases very rich in NGL, simple refrigeration is probably the
best choice.
 Lean Oil Absorption
i. Lean oil absorption is the oldest and least efficient process to recover NGLs.

ii. In this process, as shown in Figure, the gas to be processed is contacted in a packed
or tray absorption column (typically operated at the ambient temperature and a
pressure close to the sales gas pressure) with an absorption oil (lean oil), which
absorbs preferentially the most heavy hydrocarbons (C3-C+7 ) from natural gas.

iii. The gas leaves the top of the absorber while the absorber oil, now rich in heavy
hydrocarbons from the gas, leaves the bottom of the absorber and is expanded to
liberate most of the absorbed methane.
iv. Rich oil is then sent to a deethanizer to reject all the methane and part of the
ethane absorbed.

v. At the top of this column, additional cold oil is injected to prevent the desorption of
C3+ .

vi. Rich oil then flows to a regeneration column where it is heated to a high enough
temperature to drive the propane, butanes, pentanes, and other natural gas liquid
components to the overhead, and the regenerated solvent (lean oil) is recycled.
 Limitation
• An oil absorption plant cannot recover ethane and propane effectively,
• It requires circulating large amounts of absorption oil,
• It demands rigorous maintenance.
• It consumes too much fuel.
• They are expensive and more complex to operate,
• It is difficult to predict their efficiency at removing liquids from the gas as the lean oil
deteriorates with time

The liquid recovery possible in a lean oil plant is typically 99% of the butane and natural
gasoline, 65–75% of the propane, and 15–25% of the ethane contained in the gas.
 Solid Bed Adsorption

• The process is continuous with respect to the gas but cyclical with respect t
o the adsorbent bed because the latter must be regenerated when it becom
es saturated with condensate.

• Regeneration is accomplished by passing heated recycle gas through the b

ed. The condensate is recovered from the regeneration gas by cooling, con
densation, and phase separation.

• To recover a large fraction of the hydrocarbons, while limiting the volume of

adsorbent, it is preferable to use a relatively short cycle time, about 1 hour.

• In practice, this cycle time may vary within a fairly wide interval, between 20
minutes and several hours, depending on how hydrocarbon rich the gas is.
• This method uses adsorbents that have the capability to adsorb heavy hydr
ocarbons from natural gas.
• The adsorbent may be silica gel or activated charcoal.
 Pros/cons
• The design of an adsorbent-based system for heavy hydrocarbon removal is mo
re complicated than that of a system for the removal of water only.

• This process is appropriate for relatively low concentrations of heavy hydrocarbo

ns.

• Adsorption processes are easy to start up and to operate at high turn down (cha
nges in throughput) and so are useful for variable and “on–off” operation.

• However, the adsorption beds are heavy in weight and expensive.

 Process Variables

The main variables that affect the choice of the most cost-effective process for a
given application include –
• inlet conditions: gas pressure, richness, and contaminants.

• downstream conditions: residue gas pressure, liquid products desired, liquid fractio
nation infrastructure.

• overall conditions: utility costs and fuel value, plant location, existing location infras
tructure, and market stability.
 Selection of NGL Recovery Processes

The following guidelines have been suggested for the selection of a NGL recovery process-
1. In case of sufficiently high pressure, the self-refrigeration (J-T) process requires the lowes
t capital investment. However, if the pressure differential between feed gas and treated ga
s is insufficient, additional compression is required.

2. When the feed gas pressure is close to the treated gas pressure, over a large pressure
drop range, it may be more economical to employ a Turbo expander Cryogenic refrigerati
on process .

3. When the feed gas pressure is clearly below the required pipeline pressure, it is usually
most economical to apply mechanical refrigeration with additional compression to remove
heavy hydrocarbons instead of compression followed by the self-refrigeration (J-T) proces
s. This is due to the fact that compressors are capital intensive equipments.

4. When the feed gas pressure is equal to or lower than the required pipeline pressure, solid
bed adsorption seems a good option, as it is quick to start up and is robust against chang
es in the feed gas composition and flow rate. Generally the solid bed process is only pract
ical for gas that has small amounts of heavy hydrocarbons. Richer gases require refrigera
tion.
 NGL Fractionation
• The process of separating a stream of NGLs into its components is called fractionation. A
t the fractionation plant, liquids will be separated into commercial quality products and th
en delivered to the market by tankers (exports) and tank trucks (domestic consumption).

• NGLs are fractionated by heating mixed NGL streams and passing them through a series
of distillation towers.

• Fractionation takes advantage of the differing boiling points of the various NGL products.
As the temperature of the NGL stream is increased, the lightest (lowest boiling point) NG
L product boils off the top of the tower as a gas where it is then condensed into a purity li
quid that is routed to storage.

• The heavier liquid mixture at the bottom of the first tower is routed to the second tower w
here the process is repeated and a different NGL product is separated and stored. This p
rocess is repeated until the NGLs have been separated into their components.

• Deethanizer implies that the top products is ethane; Depropanizer indicates that the top
product is propane, etc.

• Natural gas liquids are normally fractionated by boiling the lighter products from the hea
vier products in the following order-
Deethanizer: The first step in the fractionating sequence is to separate the ethane and
propane, with the ethane going overhead and the propane and heavier components
passing from the bottom of the fractionators.

Depropanizer: The next step in the processing sequence is to separate the propane and
the isobutane, with the propane going overhead and the isobutane and heavier
components passing from the bottom of the depropanizer.

Debutanizer: The next fractionating step is separation of butanes from pentanes plus (C+5
) stream. The butanes (both iso and normal) pass overhead and the pentanes plus from
the bottom of the fractionators.

Butane Splitter or Deisobutanizer: When it is desirable to do so, the butanes that pass
overhead from the debutanizer may be separated into iso and normal butanes. The
isobutane goes overhead and the normal butane is drawn from the bottom of the tower.