Special Report

LNG, NGL and Alternative Feedstocks

M. BHARGAVA, C. NELSON, J. GENTRY and
V. SIDDAMSHETTI, GTC Technology US LLC, Houston, Texas

Maximize LPG recovery from fuel gas

using a dividing wall column
Refiners are challenged to recover LPG from mixed fuel gas
streams due to the difficulty of separating the lighter components from bulk gas. As a result, many valuable components are
lost to a fuel stream or flare. To maintain profitability, it is essential to direct all of the crude oil components to the optimum
disposition. This practice is becoming more significant due to
increasing LPG demand in some countries and the supply of
lighter crudes in countries such as the US.
In a refinery, fuel gases are produced from various types of
units, including fluid catalytic crackers, catalytic reformers,
hydrotreaters, delayed cokers, and crude distillation units. A
typical configuration of fuel gas-producing units in a refining
complex is shown in FIG. 1. There are many processes available for LPG recovery, either through cryogenic or absorption
systems. Some of these systems are licensed from technology
suppliers, and others are available in the public domain. These
conventional technologies have major challenges to maximize
the recovery of LPG-range material beyond 95 wt%, while at
the same time being highly energy efficient.
To cover this engineering gap, a solution has been developed
to maximize LPG recovery and reduce energy consumption. Indepth details of this process solution are provided, with a case
study comparing an existing refinerys LPG recovery scheme
with the application of the new design to achieve better process
performance and a higher return on investment. A key element
of the technology is the use of a dividing wall column (DWC)
to overcome the inherent inefficiency associated with the traditional methods of processing fuel gas for LPG recovery. TABLE 1
shows the basic process performance and a simple payback period for an investment using the DWC system.
New technology solution. A recently developed process uses

the DWC technology to optimize the overall operation and enhance C3+ recovery. The DWC can separate a multi-component
feed into three or more streams within a single column.
The deethanizer and depropanizer columns in a traditional
LPG recovery system are replaced with one column using a
dividing wall to achieve higher C3+ recovery at lower operating temperatures and pressures. As a result, both capital investment and operating costs for grassroots and revamped applications are reduced.

is used here to maximize LPG recovery from refining fuel gas. A

simplified flow diagram of the process is shown in FIG. 2.
The diagram shows a single column with a dividing wall
for deethanizer and depropanizer operation, in the place of
two conventional columns. The vertical wall separates the top
of the column into two sections, with one side used as an abTABLE 1. Economics of the DWC system
Variables

New LPG recovery technology

Overall propane recovery, wt%

97+

LPG recovered, bpd

1,350

Number of columns

Material of construction

Carbon steel

Turboexpander and refrigeration system

Not required

Net benet, $MM

10.1

Total installed cost, $MM

15

Simple payback, months

18
Fuel gas

Gas processing
Gas H2
Light straightrun naphtha

Heavy
naphtha

Atmospheric
crude
distillation
column

Gas

Hydrotreater

Gas H2

Naphtha
hydrotreater

Catalytic
reformer

Kerosine

Diesel

H2

Isomerate

Reformate
Gas H2
Hydrotreating unit

H2

Kerosine/
jet fuel

Diesel

Hydrotreating unit
Gas H2

Gas

FCC feed treater

FCC unit

Desalted
Vacuum distillation
crude oil
column
Atmospheric
residue

Butanes

C5/C6 isomerization

Gas H2

Gas

LPG

Sweetening unit

Gas H2

FCC
naphtha

Hydrotreater

FCC
gasoline

FCC fuel oil

Gas
Coker gas oil
Delayed coker

Process description. The patented separation process with

the DWC concept through a non-cryogenic absorption system

FIG. 1. Typical fuel-gas-producing units in a refining complex.

Hydrocarbon Processing|JANUARY 201539

LNG, NGL and Alternative Feedstocks

sorption section and the other side used for fractionation. The
process is designed to separate lighter C2 components (noncondensables), intermediate C3 boiling-range components
and heavier C4+ material in a single distillation column. The
butane-plus material can be further fractionated to produce
butanes and C5+ as desired for specific applications.
The feed is supplied to the absorption section of the DWC,
where non-condensables and water are concentrated in the
overhead and passed through a partial condenser. Condensed
vapors are collected in the overhead drum for separating out
the sour water, and then circulated back to the column as reflux. Non-condensables from the overhead drum are removed
as vapor product and routed to the refinery fuel gas header.
The section above the feed location acts as an absorption
section, where a separate heavy liquid stream is introduced
to recover C3 and C4 components from the C1 and C2 components. The liquid, which serves as a solvent for minimizing
C3 loss, can simply be the heavier components from the feedstream. In this case, the heavy liquid for absorption is a slip
stream from the bottoms material of the DWC.

The other side at the top of the DWC is referred to as the

fractionation section, which is concentrated with C3 components. The vapors from the overhead of the fractionation side
are condensed in a water-cooled condenser and collected in an
overhead receiver. A portion of this liquid is circulated back to
the column as reflux, while the remaining liquid is withdrawn
as LPG product.
The overhead pressure of the column is controlled by a
pressure control loop installed on the line to the fuel gas header at the absorption side, while the pressure in the overhead
receiver on the fractionation side is controlled by a hot vapor
bypass pressure control loop. A single thermosiphon reboiler
is provided at the bottom of the column to supply the duty required to distill C3 components. The heat input to the reboiler
is regulated by controlling the steam flow cascaded to the column bottom tray temperature controller. A slip stream from
the bottom product is pumped to the top of the adsorption
section as a solvent or absorbing medium, while the remaining
liquid is removed from the system.
Application case study. The aforementioned process has

TABLE 2. Fuel gas composition of the feed

Liquid

Vol%

Hydrogen

0.05

H2O

0.01

CO2

0.01

H2S

1.23

Methane

0.6

C2

5.12

C3

14.95

C4

28.19

C5

36.06

C6

13.81

Total

100

been applied to a real-world case. A new simulation model has

been created to review the existing LPG recovery scheme, the
process disadvantages, and the application of a DWC to enhance the overall process performance.
After an in-depth study and detailed analysis of the simulation results, the key advantages of the advanced DWC process
show great improvement in LPG recovery and a dramatic reduction in both capital and operating costs compared to the
closest alternative technology.
Project scope. The objective of the study was to maximize
LPG recovery (> 96 wt%), reduce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in
the product (< 40 ppm) and minimize operational costs (no
refrigeration) with a higher energy-efficiency solution from a
mixture of fuel gas.
The fuel gas to the unit comes from two sources and is mixed
in a feed drum at an operating pressure of 160 psig, before being
supplied to the LPG recovery scheme. The design basis for the
maximum utilization of the existing process scheme includes:

Fuel gas C2-

Fuel gas

Water

Fuel gas

LPG
Water

Fuel gas

Deethanizer

Feed

470 psig

Depropanizer

250 psig

C4 and heavies
Heavies slip stream for absorption

FIG. 2. Simplified flow diagram for maximizing LPG recovery

from fuel gas using a single column.

40JANUARY 2015|HydrocarbonProcessing.com

C4 and heavies

FIG. 3. Simplified process diagram of the existing process scheme.

LPG

LNG, NGL and Alternative Feedstocks

tion would come at the expense of a high utility requirement,
leading to higher operating costs.

1. Feedrate at 10,000 bpd

2. Cooling water to be used for overhead condensation
(no refrigeration)
3. Minimize operating pressure
4. Use existing columns for new design; if not feasible,
design new columns
5. Minimize H2S in LPG product.
The fuel gas feed composition is shown in TABLE 2.
Existing process. A simplified flow diagram of the existing

process is shown in FIG. 3. The existing process uses two separate columns, at operating pressures of 250 psig and 470 psig,
for separating C3 material and then recovering C2 fuel gas and
LPG products. The overall process is able to recover only 55
wt% of the propane and leaves a higher content (180 ppm) of
H2S in the LPG product.
The primary reasons for the low recovery rate in the existing
process are lower operating pressure and a partial condenser
used in the first two columns, both of which contribute to propane loss in the overhead gas streams of both columns.
A logical solution to counteract the problem and enhance
the recovery rate is to increase the operating pressure and use
refrigeration to condense the overhead gas. However, this solu-

Study for advanced solution. The existing process was evaluated in detail to determine the root cause of the propane loss.
Then, an in-depth study for maximizing the propane recovery
at lower energy consumption was carried out in four stages.
Process Scheme 1. In the first-stage study (shown in
FIG. 4), a new depropranizer and an existing deethanizer column were used at an increased operating pressure of 390 psig
(up from 250 psig). The new depropranizer helped recover
92% of the propane, but the existing deethanizer column remained inefficient due to its lower column dimensions and
the usage of cooling water for overhead gas condensing.
Therefore, the overall C3 recovery achieved was only 76%,
with 160 ppm of H2S in the LPG product. The total reboiler
heat duty required for this case was 18.1 MMBtu/hr.
Process Scheme 2. The second-stage study (shown in
FIG. 5) further enhances the recovery by using two new columns for the deethanizer and depropranizer, at a reduced operating pressure of 250 psig. Also, an absorption operation is
included at the top of the deethanizer column for minimizing
propane loss.
Fuel gas

Fuel gas
Fuel gas

Water

LPG
New deethanizer

Deethanizer
To DIB column

Feed

250 psig
New depropanizer

250 psig

470 psig

New depropanizer

390 psig

Feed

Water

Heavier
hydrocarbons

C4 and heavies

LPG

FIG. 4. New depropanizer at higher pressure, plus existing deethanizer.

FIG. 5. New deethanizer based on absorption, plus new depropanizer.

TABLE 3. Economic advantages of the existing and modied process schemes

Variables

Existing
scheme

Process Scheme 1

Process Scheme 2

Process Scheme 3

New depropanizer at
higher pressure, plus
existing deethanizer

New depropanizer based

on reboiled absorption
plus existing deethanizer

Enhanced LPG
recovery technology

Overall propane recovery, wt%

55

76

97

97

Total duty requirement, MMBtu/hr

22

20

28

20

LPG product rate, bpd

883

1,267

1,445

1,445

LPG benet/yr, $MM

Existing

10.2

10.2

Net benet/yr, $MM

Existing

4.2

9.2

10.1

Total installed cost, $MM

Existing

17

23

15

Simple payback, months

Existing

48

30

18

42JANUARY 2015|HydrocarbonProcessing.com

LNG, NGL and Alternative Feedstocks

The absorption effect here is achieved with the introduction of a heavier stream consisting of C5 and C6 components
at the column top to absorb C3+ material stripped along with
C1 and C2 components. This modified process helps achieve
higher C3 recovery of 96.9 wt% with just 40 ppm of H2S in the
LPG product. However, this comes at the expense of a higher
reboiler duty of 28 MMBtu/hr and the addition of two new
columns. Part of the duty in the deethanizer is used to build
a concentration peak of C3 component in the bottom area of
the column, which is remixed with the heavier components.
Process Scheme 3. In the final stage, to further reduce energy consumption and minimize capital costs, an advanced process solution using a single top DWC was designed. This DWC
solution eliminates the need for a new depropranizer column.
A single column is used for both the deethanizer and depropranizer operations. This single-column solution comes
at a significantly lower reboiler duty of 20.3 MMBtu/hr,
while at the same time maintaining a higher C3 recovery of
97 wt% and 40 ppm of H2S in the LPG product. FIG. 2 shows
the simplified process scheme for the enhanced LPG recovery technology.
The economic analyses of the various stages of this study
in comparison with the existing scheme as the base case are
shown in TABLE 3. The product specifications achieved with
respect to the design target are shown in TABLE 4. The calculations for the total investment are based on the equipment cost
estimated using 2013 US Gulf Coast prices, the equipment

TABLE 4. Target product specications vs. design for LPG

and fuel gas products
Component
Propane, lv%
Ethane, lv%
H2S, ppm
Butanes and heavier, psig
Vapor pressure at 100F, lv%

Specication target

Achieved design

> 90

99

<1

<1

< 123

< 40

2.5

0.7

< 208

176

size based on the required equipment list, and the installation

factors for each type of equipment.
With a small capital investment of $15 MM and a simple
payback period of 18 months, the DWC process solution is
able to improve propane recovery from 55 wt% to 97 wt%,
while also being highly energy efficient. This new process solution provides several advantages and benefits over conventional cryogenic or non-cryogenic LPG recovery processes:
Higher C3 recovery
Lower H2S in LPG product
Lower operating pressure
Lower-temperature heat duty requirement for reboiler
No external solvent requirement for absorption
No refrigeration or cryogenic conditions required
for enhanced process performance
Applicable for grassroots and revamp projects.

Select 157 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Hydrocarbon Processing|JANUARY 201543