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2009
Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
Simple methodology for sizing of absorbers for TEG (triethylene glycol) gas
dehydration systems
Alireza Bahadori*, Hari B. Vuthaluru
Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845 Australia
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Natural gas is an important source of primary energy and it is saturated with water vapor under normal
Received 19 May 2009 production conditions. In the design of natural gas dehydration systems, correct estimation of absorption
Received in revised form column size is crucial. Once the lean TEG (Triethylene glycol) concentration has been established, the
30 July 2009
circulation rate of TEG and number of trays (height of packing) must be determined. The current
Accepted 30 July 2009
methods to correlate the TEG circulation rate, TEG purity, water removal efciency, number of equilib-
Available online 31 August 2009
rium stages (or height of packing) and the diameter of contactor employs rigorous calculation techniques
involving more complicated and longer computations. The aim of this study is therefore to develop
Keywords:
Natural gas a simple-to-use method, by employing basic algebraic equations to correlate water removal efciency as
Gas dehydration a function of TEG circulation rate and TEG purity for appropriate sizing of the absorber at wide range of
Absorber operating conditions of TEG dehydration systems. Estimates from simplied approach were found to be
Triethylene Glycol (TEG) quite reliable and accurate, as evidenced by the comparisons with literature data where the average
absolute deviation percent from reported data in the literature shown to be around 0.05%.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0360-5442/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2009.07.047
A. Bahadori, H.B. Vuthaluru / Energy 34 (2009) 19101916 1911
Table 1
Tuned coefcients for various number of theoretical stages N 1, 1.5 and 2.
Coefcient Number of theoretical stage (N) 1 Number of theoretical stage (N) 1.5 Number of theoretical stage (N) 2
A1 1.51750000734 105 1.36318190812 104 1.27155870163 105
B1 4.5287844071 105 4.1087635096 104 3.78535979271 105
C1 4.50515787525 105 4.1278286256 104 3.75616159919 105
D1 1.49387377624 105 1.38224984469 104 1.24236038846 105
A2 1.1316270524 104 1.07128653518 103 1.16335738747 104
B2 3.3777842508 104 3.22852999323 103 3.46339151846 104
C2 3.3607087 104 3.24270631055 103 3.43686140202 104
D2 1.11455135941 104 1.08546448915 103 1.1368271474 104
A3 2.4475093673 102 3.97385136272 101 3.3397932662 102
B3 7.3073793526 102 1.19123690208 102 9.94295556513 102
C3 7.2722549748 102 1.1902390712 102 9.8669620555 102
D3 2.41238559437 102 3.96388087735 101 3.2637991018 102
A4 1.62668383278 3.76154014912 101 2.856748838
B4 4.85801145745 1.1251621391 8.50453031755
C4 4.8359647407 1.1218236382 8.4391925267
D4 1.6046374352 3.7281593611 101 2.7914105909
Table 2
Tuned coefcients for various number of theoretical stages N 2.5, 3 and 4.
Coefcient Number of theoretical Stage (N) 2.5 Number of theoretical stage (N) 3 Number of theoretical Stage (N) 4
A1 3.65792068453 104 1.72521576917 106 7.38643001783 107
B1 1.09019787644 105 5.16460399496 106 2.21479386633 108
C1 1.08309529773 105 5.1535751573 106 2.21365910392 108
D1 3.58689467686 104 1.7141869357 106 7.37508239331 107
A2 2.59663054678 103 1.26805051527 105 4.97389685515 106
B2 7.74050225267 103 3.79545983218 105 1.49140002987 107
C2 7.69127114067 103 3.78677891486 105 1.4906312923 107
D2 2.54739956763 103 1.25936959826 105 4.96620947993 106
A3 5.39404855899 101 3.20022637366 103 1.049098764 105
B3 1.60845322929 102 9.57833625744 103 3.14566557041 105
C3 1.59871276975 102 9.5560237605 103 3.14403546725 105
D3 5.29664543317 101 3.1779138752 103 1.04746866096 105
A4 3.3504537023 101 2.45377077254 101 6.77322483974 102
B4 9.9951682574 101 7.34407625715 101 2.030910371004 103
C4 9.93899634714 101 7.3268643351 101 2.02985369484 103
D4 3.2942824495 101 2.43655884304 101 6.7626580778 102
A. Bahadori, H.B. Vuthaluru / Energy 34 (2009) 19101916 1913
0.95
0.9
0.85
0.8
R
0.75 TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.985
Data
0.7 TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.990
Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.995
0.65
Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.999
0.6 Data
0.55
0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
Triethylene Glycol (TEG) Circulation Rate, (Cubic meter of TEG)/(kg H2O)
Fig. 2. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 1.5) in comparison with data [3].
4. Example
3. Results
This typical example illustrates the simplicity associated with
Figs. 27 compare the results of new proposed correlation for the use of proposed correlation for sizing TEG absorber: 0.85 mil-
predicting the water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at lion Sm3/day of a 0.65 relative density natural gas enters a TEG
various TEG concentrations and number of theoretical stages with contactor at 4100 kPa (abs) and 38 C. Inlet water content is
some of the reported data [3]. As can be seen, there is a good 1436 mg H2O/Sm3 and outlet water content specication is 110 mg
agreement between predicted and reported values. The proposed H2O/Sm3. The TEG circulation rate is 25 l TEG/kg H2O. Estimate the
simple method shows consistently accurate results within the contactor diameter and number of bubble cap trays or height of
investigated range for number of theoretical stages up to 4 and structured packing required to meet this requirement. Consider
glycol purity up to 0.9999 mass fraction. Table 3 shows the accuracy z 0.92, at T 38 C lean TEG concentration z 99.0 mass%, H2O
and the error analysis of proposed method in terms of average Dewpoint 4 C, which is equivalent to a water content of 110 mg
absolute deviation percent. This table illustrates that the proposed H2O/Sm3 at 4100 kPa (abs).
0.95
0.9
0.85
0.8
R
0.55
0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05
Triethylene Glycol (TEG) Circulation Rate, (Cubic meter of TEG)/(kg H2O)
Fig. 3. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 2) in comparison with data [3].
1914 A. Bahadori, H.B. Vuthaluru / Energy 34 (2009) 19101916
0.98
0.96
0.94
0.92
R
0.9 TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.985
Data
0.88
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.990
Data
0.86
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.995
0.84 Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.999
0.82 Data
0.8
0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06
Triethylene Glycol Circulation Rate,(Cubic meter of TEG)/(kg H2O)
Fig. 4. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 2.5) in comparison with data [3].
c 3:035954 105 from equation 5 From equations (2)(6) and coefcients from Table 2 (N 2.5) at
25 l TEG over kg H2O and 99 mass% TEG:
Win Wout
R 0:885from equation 2 b 6:4588395 104 from equation 4
Win
0.98
0.96
0.94
R
Fig. 5. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 3) in comparison with data [3].
A. Bahadori, H.B. Vuthaluru / Energy 34 (2009) 19101916 1915
0.99
0.98
R 0.97
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.995
Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.999
0.96
Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.9995
Data
0.95 TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.9999
Data
0.94
0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06
Triethylene Glycol Circulation rate,(Cubic meter of TEG)/(kg H2O)
Fig. 6. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 4) in comparison with data [3].
0.999
0.998
0.997
0.996
R
0.995
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.999
0.994 Data
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.9995
0.993 data4
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.9999
0.992
data6
TEG Purity, Mass fraction=0.99995
0.991
data8
0.99
0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 0.055 0.06
Triethylene Glycol Circulation Rate, (Cubic meter of TEG)/(kg H2O)
Fig. 7. Water removal efciency vs. TEG circulation rate at various TEG concentrations (Number of theoretical stages, N 4) in comparison with data [3].
Table 3
Error analysis and accuracy of proposed method for prediction water removal efciency at various TEG circulation rates and TEG concentrations in comparison with the
reported data [3].
TEG circulation rate, TEG purity in Number of Proposed correlation results for Reported data Absolute
cubic meter per kg H20 mass fraction theoretical stages Water removal efciency Water removal [3] K deviation percenta
0.02 0.985 1 0.7093 0.71 0.1
0.05 0.999 1 0.9086 0.91 0.15
0.013 0.99 1.5 0.7796 0.78 0.051
0.045 0.995 1.5 0.9479 0.95 0.22
0.06 0.985 2 0.9211 0.921 0.01
0.03 0.99 2 0.9239 0.925 0.12
0.015 0.999 2 0.9098 0.91 0.02
0.013 0.985 2.5 0.8749 0.875 0.01
0.03 0.99 2.5 0.9445 0.945 0.05
0.05 0.9995 2.5 0.9969 0.997 0.01
0.05 0.995 3 0.9772 0.977 0.02
0.03 0.999 3 0.9928 0.993 0.02
0.015 0.9999 3 0.9816 0.981 0.06
0.013 0.999 4 0.99035 0.9904 0.005
0.02 0.9999 4 0.9981 0.9982 0.01
0.05 0.99995 4 0.99948 0.9995 0.002
Average absolute deviation percent (AADP)a 0.05
a 1
PNOP reported
valuescalculated values
Absolute Deviation PercentAADP NOP n1 reported values 100.
1916 A. Bahadori, H.B. Vuthaluru / Energy 34 (2009) 19101916