Solid bed dehydration

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Introduction
Process Description

Design Considerations

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Introduction

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Introduction

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Introduction

SOLID BED DEHYDRATION

Solid bed dehydration systems work on the principle of

adsorption: adhesion between the surface of the solid
desiccant and the water vapor in the gas. There is no
chemical reaction.
The desiccant is a solid, granulated drying or dehydrating
medium with an extremely large effective surface area per
unit weight.
A desiccant can have as much as 4 million square feet of
surface area per pound.
The initial cost exceeds that of a glycol unit. However, the
dry bed has the advantage of producing very low dew
points, which are required for cryogenic gas plants.
Disadvantages: Batch process, there is a relatively high
pressure drop through the system, and the desiccants are
sensitive to poisoning with liquids or other impurities in
the gas.
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Introduction

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Process Description

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Process Description

Multiple desiccant beds are used in cyclic operation to dry the gas on a continuous basis.
The number and arrangement of the desiccant beds may vary from two towers, adsorbing
alternately, to many towers.

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Process Description

The essential components of any solid desiccant dehydration system are:

Inlet gas separator.

Two or more adsorption towers (contactors) filled with a solid desiccant,
A high-temperature heater to provide hot regeneration gas to reactivate the desiccant in the towers.
A regeneration gas
cooler to condense
water from the hot
regeneration gas.
A regeneration gas
separator to remove the
condensed water from
the regeneration gas.
Piping, manifolds,
switching valves and
controls to direct and
control the flow of gases.

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Process Description

In the drying cycle, the wet inlet gas first passes through an inlet separator where
free liquids, entrained mist, and solid particles are removed. This is a very
important part of the system because free liquids can damage or destroy the
desiccant bed and solids may plug it.

the wet inlet gas

flows downward
through the tower
The adsorbable
components are
adsorbed at rates
dependent on
their chemical
nature, the size of
their molecules,
and the size of
the pores.

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Process Description
If the entire bed becomes completely saturated with water vapor, the outlet gas is just as wet
as the inlet gas. The towers is switched from the adsorption cycle to the regeneration cycle
In the regeneration cycle some wet gas is heated to temperatures of 450F to 600F in the
high-temperature heater and routed to the tower to remove the previously adsorbed water.

As the temperature within

the tower is increased, the

water captured within the
pores of the desiccant turns
to steam and is absorbed by
the natural gas.
This gas leaves the top of
the tower and is cooled by
the generation gas cooler.
When the gas is cooled the
vapor is condensed. This
water is separated in the
regeneration gas separator
and the cool, saturated
regeneration gas is recycled
to be dehydrated.
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Process Description

Once the bed has been "dried", cool gas is flowed through the tower to return it to normal operating

temperatures (about 100F to 120F) before placing it back in service.

The cooling gas could either be wet gas or gas that has already been dehydrated.
If wet gas is used, it must be dehydrated after being used as cooling gas.

The switching of the beds is

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controlled by a time controller.

A typical two-bed cycle might
have an eight-hour adsorption
period with six hours of heating
and two hours of cooling for
regeneration.
Adsorption units with three
beds typically have one bed
being regenerated, one fresh
bed adsorbing, and one bed in
the middle of the drying cycle.

Design Considerations

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Temperature

Adsorption plant operation is very sensitive to

temperature of the incoming gas.
Generally, the adsorption efficiency decreases as the
temperature increases.
The heating cycle affects both the plant efficiency and
the desiccant life.
To assure good removal of the water and other
contaminants from the bed, a high regeneration gas
temperature is needed.
The maximum hot gas temperature depends on the type
of contaminants and the "holding power" or affinity of
the desiccant for the contaminants,
A temperature of 450F to 600F is normally used.

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Temperature (cont.)

The desiccant bed temperature attained during the

cooling cycle is important.
If wet gas is used to cool the desiccant, the cooling
cycle should be terminated when the desiccant bed
reaches a temperature of approximately 215F.
Additional cooling may cause water to be adsorbed
from the wet gas stream and pre-saturate or preload
the desiccant bed before the next adsorption cycle
begins.
If dry gas is used for cooling, the desiccant bed
should be cooled within 10F~20F of the incoming
gas temperature during the adsorption cycle, thereby
maximizing the adsorption capacity of the bed.

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Pressure

Generally, the adsorption capacity of a dry

bed unit decreases as the pressure is
lowered.
Towers are sized for a design pressure
drop of about 5 psi through the desiccant.
Pressure drops of greater than
approximately 8 psi are not recommended.

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Cycle Time

Most adsorbers operate on a fixed drying cycle

time
The cycle time is set for the worst conditions.
For the first few months of operation, a new
desiccant has a very high capacity for water
removal.
If a moisture analyzer is used on the effluent gas,
a much longer initial drying cycle can be
achieved.
As the desiccant ages, the cycle time will be
automatically shortened. This will save
regeneration fuel costs and improve the
desiccant life.
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Desiccant Selection

No desiccant is perfect or best for all

applications. In some applications the
desiccant choice is determined primarily by
economics. Sometimes the process conditions
control the desiccant choice.
Many times the desiccants are
interchangeable and the equipment designed
for one desiccant can often be operated
effectively with another product.
Desiccant suppliers information should be
consulted for detail design.

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Desiccant Selection (continue)

Molecular sieves tend to be the less severely

affected and aluminas the most affected by
temperature.
Aluminas and molecular sieves act as a catalyst
with H2S to form COS.
Liquid hydrocarbons also present a plugging
problem to all desiccants, but molecular sieves are
less susceptible to contamination with liquid
hydrocarbons.
Silica gels are chemically attacked by many
corrosion inhibitors.
The alumina gels, activated aluminas, and
molecular sieves are all chemically attacked by
strong mineral acids
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Table below illustrates the most common desiccants

used for gas dehydration and some conservative
parameters to use for initial design.

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Desiccant selection chart

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END

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