Troubleshooting A Glycol Dehydration System

If you operate a glycol dehydration system, short of something spewing, leaking or catching on
fire, the most common and troublesome problems come in the form of a symptom that you have
to find a cause for.  Accidental discharge, leaks, and fires are obvious but the possible causes of
poor dew points and unusual glycol loss are not.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said; “Once you
eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the
truth.” Troubleshooting a glycol dehydration system is a bit more nuanced but the author’s quote
pretty much forms the basis for the process.
 

Glycol Dehydrator Credit: Shawn

Gipson
To perform a good troubleshoot on glycol dehydration equipment, you must know what the
system is designed for and how the current conditions compare to that design.  You also need to
know how each phase is supposed to work and how it is working in comparison.  Finally, you
need to have a good understanding of common problems and their solutions.

When you begin the troubleshooting process, establishing a baseline is critical.  Make sure you
have a copy of the prints and design specifications and be familiar with both.  Information like the
design flow-rate, temperature and pressure will be used right from the beginning as you start to
rule out causes.  For example, suppose your equipment is designed to operate at 1000 psi. with a
50 mmscf flow rate.  If your operating pressure is 200 psi and you are still flowing 50 mmscf, you
will immediately know that you are out of spec. and will start your troubleshoot there.  If the
converse is true, you can rule out velocity problems and move on.  The same can be said for
discrepancies in flow rate and temperature.

Another advantage of having access to the prints and design specifications is the ability to
identify errors that may have occurred during the construction process.  Most process equipment
is shipped in parts.  It is not uncommon for mistakes to happen while the construction company
re-assembles the unit.  Check valves can be installed backward, vapor lines can be slanted the
wrong way, critical valves can be shut, etc.  Having a complete understanding of the equipment
design and proper operating ranges will help you quickly identify obvious problems.
  

Knowing how glycol dehydration equipment is supposed to work (when operating properly) is the
key to troubleshooting.  In previous posts, we have discussed how the process relies heavily on
temperature and pressure.  If you don’t know what they should be at each phase, you won’t be
able to identify potential clues that will help you diagnose the problem.  Familiarize yourself with
the dehydration process and you will shorten the time it takes to uncover problems in your
system.

Buy This Book, Available Now!

Always begin your troubleshooting process by gathering data and taking samples.  Record every
temperature and pressure, draw and analyze a lean and rich sample, and record the initial dew-
point.  This information will become your base-line as you go through the process.  I’ve skipped
this step in the past and just started turning knobs and dials.  When things didn’t clear up as
easily as I’d hoped, I had no idea if the conditions existed when I got there, or if I created them
with my “tinkering”.  I finally made a habit of recording not only the initial temps and flow rates but
recording them again every time I made a change.

Glycol samples only need to be drawn initially unless a significant problem is found during
analysis.  It is important to understand efficiency you can expect from a properly functioning
regen skid.  There is a very small difference between the purity of “lean” and “rich” glycol.  If you
are not reaching the optimum percentages in either phase, you will have a good idea where to
start looking for a problem.

The troubleshooting process can be long and tedious.  If you Have a good idea where to start
looking, it will save a lot of time and frustration down the road.  Just when I think I’ve seen it all,
something new pops up.  When that happens, I just add it to the list.  Here are a few of the
causes and effects I have found over the years:  Dirty Dehy Troubleshooting guide (PDF)  
Subscribe to this website to be informed when new material or updates become available!
 

The better you understand the system you are working with, the more effective you will be at
diagnosing problems.  As you tackle your next project, take the time to familiarize yourself with
the equipment and operating conditions.  Take samples, record initial conditions, and keep track
of changes you make.  I would add to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s saying as follows; “After you have
eliminated the obvious, the not so obvious, and the impossible, whatever remains (no matter how
unlikely) is the problem…  Maybe”.  Happy troubleshooting.
 Oil and Gas Process Training
 February 6, 2016  Shawn Gipson Maintenance & Repair Dehydration, Glycol, Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting A Glycol Dehydration System

If you operate a glycol dehydration system, short of something spewing, leaking or catching on
fire, the most common and troublesome problems come in the form of a symptom that you have
to find a cause for.  Accidental discharge, leaks, and fires are obvious but the possible causes of
poor dew points and unusual glycol loss are not.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said; “Once you
eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the
truth.” Troubleshooting a glycol dehydration system is a bit more nuanced but the author’s quote
pretty much forms the basis for the process.
 

Glycol Dehydrator Credit: Shawn Gipson

To perform a good troubleshoot on glycol dehydration equipment, you must know what the
system is designed for and how the current conditions compare to that design.  You also need to
know how each phase is supposed to work and how it is working in comparison.  Finally, you
need to have a good understanding of common problems and their solutions.

When you begin the troubleshooting process, establishing a baseline is critical.  Make sure you
have a copy of the prints and design specifications and be familiar with both.  Information like the
design flow-rate, temperature and pressure will be used right from the beginning as you start to
rule out causes.  For example, suppose your equipment is designed to operate at 1000 psi. with a
50 mmscf flow rate.  If your operating pressure is 200 psi and you are still flowing 50 mmscf, you
will immediately know that you are out of spec. and will start your troubleshoot there.  If the
converse is true, you can rule out velocity problems and move on.  The same can be said for
discrepancies in flow rate and temperature.

Another advantage of having access to the prints and design specifications is the ability to
identify errors that may have occurred during the construction process.  Most process equipment
is shipped in parts.  It is not uncommon for mistakes to happen while the construction company
re-assembles the unit.  Check valves can be installed backward, vapor lines can be slanted the
wrong way, critical valves can be shut, etc.  Having a complete understanding of the equipment
design and proper operating ranges will help you quickly identify obvious problems.

Knowing how glycol dehydration equipment is supposed to work (when operating properly) is the
key to troubleshooting.  In previous posts, we have discussed how the process relies heavily on
temperature and pressure.  If you don’t know what they should be at each phase, you won’t be
able to identify potential clues that will help you diagnose the problem.  Familiarize yourself with
the dehydration process and you will shorten the time it takes to uncover problems in your
system.

Buy This Book, Available Now!

Always begin your troubleshooting process by gathering data and taking samples.  Record every
temperature and pressure, draw and analyze a lean and rich sample, and record the initial dew-
point.  This information will become your base-line as you go through the process.  I’ve skipped
this step in the past and just started turning knobs and dials.  When things didn’t clear up as
easily as I’d hoped, I had no idea if the conditions existed when I got there, or if I created them
with my “tinkering”.  I finally made a habit of recording not only the initial temps and flow rates but
recording them again every time I made a change.

Glycol samples only need to be drawn initially unless a significant problem is found during
analysis.  It is important to understand efficiency you can expect from a properly functioning
regen skid.  There is a very small difference between the purity of “lean” and “rich” glycol.  If you
are not reaching the optimum percentages in either phase, you will have a good idea where to
start looking for a problem.

The troubleshooting process can be long and tedious.  If you Have a good idea where to start
looking, it will save a lot of time and frustration down the road.  Just when I think I’ve seen it all,
something new pops up.  When that happens, I just add it to the list.  Here are a few of the
causes and effects I have found over the years:  Dirty Dehy Troubleshooting guide (PDF)  
Subscribe to this website to be informed when new material or updates become available!
 

The better you understand the system you are working with, the more effective you will be at
diagnosing problems.  As you tackle your next project, take the time to familiarize yourself with
the equipment and operating conditions.  Take samples, record initial conditions, and keep track
of changes you make.  I would add to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s saying as follows; “After you have
eliminated the obvious, the not so obvious, and the impossible, whatever remains (no matter how
unlikely) is the problem…  Maybe”.  Happy troubleshooting.

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27 thoughts on “Troubleshooting a Glycol Dehydration System”

1.  Tara Allen says:
March 25, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Glycol equipment I would agree should always be inspected before use. Knowing the
condition of your glycol system through continual maintenance sound like a good idea. I
did not realize that glycol can be subject to vaporization.
Reply

1.  Michael Sinagra says:
September 20, 2016 at 2:02 pm
The glycol reflux condenser minimizes glycol loss due to vaporization.
Reply

2.  Richard Cisneros says:
April 19, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Nice article, very intriguing read. About how many of these dehydration units are in
operation in the U.S.?
Reply

1.  gipsonsp@msn.com says:
April 22, 2016 at 8:58 pm
I wish I knew the answer to that question. For reference, in one field that I
worked in, we had several hundred. It is more common though that there is a
handful of units in a gas treatment facility and there are probably hundreds of
facilities like that in the US.
Reply

3.  Susan Elizabeth Rose says:

May 10, 2018 at 9:44 am
What might be the possible causes for severe corrosion in the distillate column and
associated piping?
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
 May 10, 2018 at 10:29 am
The first place I would look is at the gas analysis. Do you have significant H2S
or CO2? Both will cause an acid mist in the reboiler vapors causing severe
and acute corrosion, especially in the column and downstream piping. You
may also look at the PH of the glycol itself. If it is significantly off balance,
upsets that make their way through the system will have a similar effect to
acid gasses.
Reply

1.  Susan Elizabeth Rose says:

May 11, 2018 at 10:08 am
Thanks very much.
Reply

2.  Susan Rose says:
May 18, 2018 at 1:29 pm
Have you seen problems with oxygen (air ingress)?
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
May 18, 2018 at 11:36 pm
I was just talking to someone about this the other day!
It would be very uncommon to get O2 into the
dehydration system; not unheard of, just uncommon. If
you test the gas outlet of the dehy and are finding
oxygen, there are a couple possible culprits and both
are longshots:
1. A vacuum on the casing pulling air from the surface
into the tubing (Major long shot)
2. A leak on the glycol circulation pump head inducing
oxygen into the lean glycol being injected into the
tower. (More plausible)
If the oxygen is showing up further downstream, such
as at the sales line meter, The very first place I would
check is a VRU pulling directly from tanks rather than
a vapor recovery tower. The majority of the times I
have had reports of oxygen in the gas stream, it has
come from the VRU. Not to say there aren’t any other
possible sources I haven’t thought of. I am surprised
every day by something in this industry.
Best of luck!
Shawn
Reply

4.  Josh Showles says:
August 1, 2018 at 9:02 pm
what would be some leading causes of low temperature in the still column ( 170-190
degrees)? i have proper circulation rates and my reboiler temp is 376 degrees
Reply
 1.  Shawn Gipson says:
August 2, 2018 at 7:30 am
The first question I would have is; do you have reflux coils in the column? If
so, over circulation through those coils will cause the temperature in the still to
drop like that. The major downside to that is that the water will re-condense
and fall back into the reboiler. If you have the coils they need to have a way to
control the flow through them. That is usually accomplished by installing a
globe valve on the inlet to the coils and a bypass between the inlet and outlet
with another globe valve. (It can be automated with I2P temperature
controllers and pneumatic valves as well). In either case, flow is adjusted so
there is a smaller amount of cool liquid flowing through the reflux coils. With
the valves, the operator can fine-tune the flow until they get the temperature
they want. If it isn’t a problem with reflux coils, I would check to make sure the
temperature indicator is working properly on both the still and the reboiler.
Extremely cold ambient temperatures may have the same effect on the still
and insulation would be the remedy.
Reply

5.  Cody Prohl says:
September 21, 2018 at 2:17 pm
What would be the cause of having condensate in the vapor recovery tank?
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
September 24, 2018 at 10:17 pm
Cody – I’m not familiar with the term vapor recovery tank but I am guessing it
is a knock-out or slug catcher that is downstream of the still column. I’ve seen
tanks installed on vapor lines headed to combustors, flares, or storage tanks.
If my guess is correct, then it is actually quite common for hydrocarbons or
“NGL’s to condense out of the dehydrator vapor line. Any hydrocarbons that
make it over to the re-boiler from the tower flash quickly in the still and carry
through to the next place they can cool and condense. In a small operation,
it’s not a big deal but where several wells feed into a singular place, the build-
up can be problematic. If you have a treater on location, you might consider
injecting the condensed vapors upstream of it. The heat will flash off the
hydrocarbons and send them to the flare or VRU and the water will go to the
tanks. A high-pressure blow-case pot should do the trick.
Reply

6.  Macaulay says:
September 29, 2018 at 5:00 am
If i get you very well, the cause of having condensate in the vapor recovery tank? If the
carbon filters are mot working properly.
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
September 29, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Charcoal/carbon filters do absorb hydrocarbon and can drastically reduce the
amount of hydrocarbon in the system. If your dehydrations system includes
charcoal filtration but is still having significant issues, the filter substrate may
be spent or, the glycol stream could be at too high of a temperature, rendering
the substrate useless. I believe I have information regarding charcoal filters in
 a post on this site as well as in the book “Dehydration of Natural Gas with
Glycol” available on Amazon.
Reply

7.  Martin Davila says:
November 8, 2018 at 9:49 pm
What would be the cause of the heat exchanger not working properly and sending the
glycol too hot to the glycol pumps. Since the pumps lubricates itself with the glycol, they
are not able to properly lubricate at the higher temperature causing the pumps to fail
prematurely.
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
November 11, 2018 at 9:26 pm
Martin – Thank you for the question. The first question I would ask is what
type of exchanger you have. If it is a plate exchanger and your dehy uses
electric pumps, a slow or intermittent release from the tower or flash separator
could cause a problem. Plate exchangers need to have a constant flow of cool
glycol across them to function properly. Any interruption can cause a
significant heat problem for your lean glycol discharge to the pumps. If you
have a shell-in-tube or tube bundle exchanger (Hairpin style), a couple things
could be going on: First, your exchangers could be partially plugged causing
the rich and/or lean glycol to reside too long. If they have not been flushed
recently, you may want to consider that. Next, over-circulating the glycol may
also be a cause check your circulation rates to make sure you are not over-
taxing the system. Finally, the cooler could be under-sized for the system.
Make sure you are operating in spec. You are correct, 180 F is the top
running temperature for most pumps. They say 200 but that is still very hard
on them and causes the pumps to fail prematurely.
Reply

8.  Ken says:
December 9, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Just took my glycol sample, its completely black. What’s the likely cause of this.
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
December 11, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Ken – My best guess would be solids. It could be that your filter ruptured or
wasn’t in place. It is also possible, if you have loose-fill charcoal filtration
without a solids filter down-stream, your charcoal could be in the re-boiler. It
could also just be solid particles from the gas stream that have built up over
time and charred in the hot liquid. In all cases, the glycol should be replaced
or ran through a filtration system. The particulate, whatever it is will foul the
fire tubes, reduce the capacity of the reboiler, and foul the exchangers.
Reply

9.  irfan says:
June 28, 2019 at 5:38 am
sweet gas temp. is around 40c at the entrance of teg contactor. teg temp at entrance for
teg contactor is 48c. reboiler temp. at this stage is around 190c.
 but the problem is where ever the sweet gas temp rise. teg the reboiler temp. going down
around 184c.
and online moisture also showing bit hight rather than regular.
what is the reason.
and what effect of sweet gas temp increase on glycol dehydration.
plz reaply
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
July 1, 2019 at 2:09 pm
More temperature causes more water and hydrocarbon vapor in gas stream.
You are pulling more liquids back from tower and reboiler is fighting to keep
up with it. Things to check:
1. Is equipment operating within specifications (flow-rate and temperature)? If
equipment is undersized or working at maximum capacity, any upset will
cause an immediate effect, as described.
2. Is equipment clean? A partially clogged tower can have the same affect as
an undersized tower. If this is the case, however, you would notice above
average glycol consumption in addition to dew point problems.
I believe your glycol temperature may be a little bit low to begin with. Try
increasing the glycol temp to 196c. If necessary, you can go as high as 201c
but it is better to aim for 196 if that will take care of the problem. Additionally,
check inlet separation and make sure you aren’t carrying over any free liquids.
All of these things will cause a decrease in reboiler temperature and a
corresponding rise in dew-points.
Please get back to me and let me know if any of these remedies helped or if
more digging is needed to find the solution.
Best regards
Reply

10.  Samuel Ano says:

November 9, 2019 at 3:26 am
Good morning, please we are loosing too much glycol in out glycol dehydration system.
We add almost 4 drums every week. what could be the possible problem?
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
December 3, 2019 at 2:58 pm
Samuel, thank you for the comment. If the dehy worked properly before and
started losing glycol all at once, I would tend toward foaming. This could be
the result of compressor oil or amine getting into the system or possibly the
tower getting flooded with hydrocarbons. In all cases, the glycol would need
replaced and the system should be steam-cleaned. Additionally, you would
need to troubleshoot the source of the contamination; i.e. failed filter separator
between the compressor/amine skid and the dehy.
It is also possible that the tower is clogged and channeling. If this is the case,
steam cleaning may be the solution as well.
Reply
11.  Peter says:
December 11, 2019 at 1:33 am
We have just installed a new dehydration and we are not able to maintain 350-360 temp
on the reboiler. Temp hangs around 320-330 and still column temp is around 180-190.
This first time I’ve operated a reboiler with a electrical heating source and it is topped out.
We are having to shut the pump down to build temp up. The level is high in the reboiler
section and I was wondering if this would cause this temp issue.
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
December 12, 2019 at 8:46 pm
Peter – Usually, the level on the fire tube/element side of the re-boiler is
maintained by a weir or down-comer. If you are running your level full on the
surge section, you may be forcing a higher level on the re-boiler side as well.
With gas-fired burners, the higher level isn’t usually a problem and I’m not
sure that the level is at the root of your problem in this case. I would suspect
that the element is undersized for the application or you are lacking the
electrical feed to bring the element to its full temp. You may want to look into
both of those to start.
Another thing that is concerning is the cool temp in the still column. You
should be over 250 F there which makes me wonder if you may have too
much reflux going through the coils. Again, I’m not sure if that would cause
the lower temp problems in the reboiler but it will cause contamination and
dew point problems. The last place you can look for problems would be in the
lean/rich exchanger; the glycol should be 200F to 250F going into the still
column. If you are significantly lower, you may have a problem with too much
heat exchange. Depending on your ambient temp, the glycol going into the
pump should be 70F to 100F. A much lower temp would reinforce the
possibility of too much exchange.
Hope this helps.
Reply

12.  Frank says:
February 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm
How often should I get a dehy service
Reply

1.  Shawn Gipson says:
February 21, 2020 at 12:55 pm
Depending on what type of service as well as environmental concerns and
operational issues. In general, you should have your burner serviced annually.
Clean the burner assembly, pilot, and intake arrestor then reset components.
Filters should be replaced whenever they begin to build a differential pressure
more than 3 lbs and probably quarterly if they are working properly otherwise.
You should have it steam cleaned every 1 to 2 years depending on quality of
gas and other conditions such as upstream amine units or compression.