PETE 460

NATURAL GAS
TECHNOLOGY
DEHYDRATION PROCESS
 OUTLINE
 INTRODUCTION
 WATER CONTENT DETERMINATION
 WHAT IS DEHYDRATION?
 DEHYDRATION METHODS
 DIRECT COOLING
 ABSORPTION
 ADSORPTION
 INTRODUCTION

Water vapor is the most common undesirable

impurity found in natural gas.

Natural gas is always associated with water,

usually in the range of 400-500 lb water
vapor / MMscf gas.
The reasons for removing the
water
 Liquid water promotes
corrosion, in presence
of H2S and CO2,
 Slugging flow may
result if liquid water
condenses in the
flowlines
 Water vapor reduces
the heating value of
the gas
 Which factors does the water
content of natural gas depend on?

 Pressure; W P

 Temperature W T

 Salt content of free water W S

 Gas composition ; W gas gravity

 WHAT IS DEHYDRATION?

Dehydration of natural gas is the

removal of the water that is associated
with natural gases in vapor form.
 WHY WE USE
DEHYDRATION?

 Prevents the formation of gas hydrates.

 Reduces corrosion.

Unless gases are dehydrated, liquid water may

condense in pipelines and accumulate at low
points along the line, reducing its flow capacity.
DEHYDRATION METHODS

 Direct cooling

 Adsorption

 Absorption
 DIRECT COOLING
The saturated vapor content of natural gas
decreases with
 Increasing the pressure

 Decreasing the temperature

Thus, hot gases saturated with water may be partially

dehydrated by direct cooling.
 Cont’d
Gases subjected to compression are normally “after-
cooled” and this cooling may well remove water from
the gas.

The cooling process must reduce the

temperature to the lowest value that the gas will
encounter at the prevailing pressure to prevent further
condensation of water.
 ABSORPTION

Absorption dehydration involves the

use of a liquid desiccant to remove
water vapor from the gas.
 Absorption of Water in Glycols
Although many liquids possess the ability to absorb water from
gas, the liquid that is most desirable to use for commercial
dehydration purposes should possess the following properties:

High absorption efficiency

Easy and economic regeneration
Non-corrosive and non-toxic
No operational problems when used in high concentrations
No interaction with the hydrocarbon portion of the gas
No contamination by acid gases
 The Glycols
 Ethylene glycol (EG)
 Diethylene glycol (DEG)
 Triethylene glycol (TEG)
 Tetraethylene glycol (T4EG)

Glycols are preferred because they offer a superiour

dew point depression with process relaibility and
lower initial and capital costs.
 Cont’d

Of all the glycols, almost all the plants use

TEG because of lower vapor losses and
better dew point depression.

CH2 O CH2 CH2 OH Chemical

formula of
TEG
CH2 O CH2 CH2 OH
 Cont’d

TEG has been succesfully used for deydrating

sweet as well as sour natural gases to effect a
dew point depression of 40 to 140 °F, for
operating conditions ranging from 25 – 2500
psig and 40 – 160 ° F.
Glycol Dehydration Plant
This is mainly an absorption/stripping type process.

The wet gas is dehydrated in the absorber, and the

stripping column regenerates the water-free TEG.

The glycol stream should be recharged constantly

because some TEG react and form heavy molecules,
which should be removed by the filter or distillation of
a slip stream.
 Cont’d

 The wet gas is first sent to a scrubber to

remove any liquid water and hydrocarbons,
sand, drilling mud, and other solid matter.

These impurities must be throughly removed,

since they may lead to:
 Cont’d
foaming
flooding
poor efficiency
higher glycol losses
and maintanance problems in the glycol gas
contractor (also called absorber).
 Cont’d

The clean gas is then sent upward to the

absorber, counter-current to the flow of glycol.
 Dry gas from the top of the absorber is sent
through a mist eliminator (to remove any entrained
glycol droplets) to a gas glycol exchanger where the
gas cools the hot generated glycol before it enters the
contactor.
 Then, dry gas leaves the dehydration unit.
 The cooled glycol enters the absorber from the top.
 ADSORPTION
Adsorption dehydration is the process
where a solid desiccant is used for the
removal of water vapor from a gas stream.

The mechanism of adsorption on a surface:

•Physical
•Chemical
Chemical:
The chemical process is termed
“chemisorption”. Chemical adsorbents find
very limited application in gas processing.

Physical:
Physical adsorption hold the adsorbate on
their surface by surface forces
 Desirable properties of physical
adsorbents:

 Large surface area for high capacity.

 Good activity for the components to be removed.
 High mass transfer rate.
 Easy, economic regeneration.
 Small resistance to gas flow, so that pressure drop is
small.
 Cont’d:

 High mechanical strength to resist crushing

and dust formation.
 Cheap,non-corresive,high bulk density and
small volume changes upon the adsorption.
 Types of adsorbents:
1) Alumina

2) Gels; Silica and Silica-alumina

gels

3) Moleculer sieves
 Alumina:
A hydrate form of aliminium oxide (Al2O3).

The least expensive adsorbent.

It is activated by driving off some of the water

associated with it in its hydrated form
(Al2O3.3H2O) by heating.

It produces excellent dew point depression to dew

point values as low as –100oF.
 Alumina:

Requires more heat for regeneration.

Alkaline and can’t be used in presence of acid

gases.

Absorb heavy HC; difficult to remove during

regeneration.
Resistance to liquid; but little resistance to
disintegration (due to mechanical agitation).
Gels : Silica and Silica-alumina gels:
Gels are granular, amorphous solids manufactured
by chemical reaction.
Gels manufactured from sulfuric acid and
sodium silicate reaction are called silica gels.
Silica-alumina gels are a combination of silica
gel and alumina gel.

Gels can dehydrate gas to as low as 10 ppm

Gels : Silica and Silica-alumina gels:
The greatest ease of regeneration of all
desiccants.
Absorb heavy HC; but release them very easily
during regeneration.
It is acidic, it handle sour gases; but not
alkaline materials.
Sulfur deposit and block surface; useful if
H2S less than 6%.
 Moleculer Sieves:

Crystalline form of alkali metal alumino-silicates

•Highly porous
•Very narrow range of pore sizes
•Very high surface area
•The most expensive adsorbents
 Moleculer Sieves:
Alkaline, subject to attack by acids.

Tend not to absorb bigger molecules, because of

narrow pore size.

The regeneration temperature is very high.

Offer means of simultaneous dehydration and

desulfurization; so best for sour gases.

Reduce water as low as 1 ppm.

Flow diagram of two-tower a solid bed dehydration
plant:
 Desiccant capacity:
All desiccants degrade
Useful life in the range of 1-4 years

Dramatic reduction occurs when most of the

effective surface area for adsorption are blocked.
Called abnormal degradation.
Caused by materials can’t be removed by
regeneration and results in great reductions in
capacity in a very short time.
Some properties of common desiccants:

Material Bulk density Surface area Design capacity lb

lbm/cuft m2/g H2O/100 lb des.
Alumina 50-55 210 4-7

Alumina gel 52-55 350 7-9

Silica gel 45 750-830 7-9

Moleculer sieves 43-45 650-800 9-12