Gas Dehydration

Part of the
Petroleum Processing Technology Series
 Petroleum Open Learning

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© OPITO 1993 (rev.2002) ISBN 1 872041 85 X

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 Petroleum Open Learning
Petroleum Open Learning
Gas Dehydration
(Part of the Petroleum Processing Technology Series)

Contents Page Visual Cues

* Training Targets 2 training targets for you to

achieve by the end of the unit
* Introduction 3
test yourself questions
* Section 1 - Water in Natural Gas 4 to see how much you
understand
Quantity of Water in Gas
Problems of Water in Gas
Hydrate Prevention
check yourself answers to
* Section 2 - Auto Refrigeration 25 let you see if you have been
thinking along the right lines
The Joules/Thompson Effect
The Low Temperature Separation (LTS) System
The Low Temperature Extraction (LTX) System activities for you to apply
your new knowledge
* Section 3 - Solid Desiccant Dehydration 40
Adsorption
Solid Desiccant Dehydration Plant summaries for you to recap
on the major steps in your
* Section 4 - Liquid Desiccant Dehydration 46 progress

Liquid Desiccants
Glycol Dehydration Plant
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Training Targets
The aim of this unit is to help you understand :

the capacity of natural gas to hold water

the problems which result from the presence of water in gas
the methods used to reduce the water content of natural gas

Upon completion of the unit you should be able to:

• Quantify the amount of water in saturated natural gas under given conditions. q
• List the problems associated with water in gas. q
• Define the conditions that contribute toward hydrate formation. q
• Describe the Joules/Thompson Effect. q
• Explain the Auto Refrigeration process. q
• Define Adsorption and Absorbtion. q
• Detail a simple two-tower desiccant dehydration process. q
• Describe a basic glycol dehydration plant. q
• List and explain operational variables in the glycol dehydration process. q

Tick the box when you have met each target.

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Introduction
Natural gas can be referred to as Associated Gas or Non-associated Gas. The former is produced together
with liquids from an oil reservoir and is liberated from the liquids at the surface. The latter is produced
independently of an oil accumulation, from what is commonly called a gas reservoir.

Irrespective of whether the gas is associated or non-associated, it invariably contains water in the form of a vapour
or a liquid.

Surface equipment is used to remove the water from the gas. This process is called dehydration, which is the
subject of the present unit.

The unit comprises 4 Sections :

• Section 1, Water in Natural Gas, looks at the amount of water which can be held in gas and discusses the
problems that the water creates. In this section we will also look at options preventing hydrate
formation.

Section 1 will be followed by 3 further sections which deal with process systems used to remove water from gas.

• Section 2, Auto Refrigeration, describes how water is removed by reducing the gas temperature.

• In Section 3, Solid Desiccant Dehydration, you will look at theory of adsorption, and how it is
applied to water removal.

• Finally, in Section 4, Liquid Desiccant Dehydration, we will look at how liquid desiccants work and see
how glycol is used in a typical dehydration plant.

You should be aware that the water removal processes described in Sections 2,3 & 4, are applicable to both
associated and non-associated gas treatment facilities. The actual process chosen for a particular application
depends on a number of factors. These include, location of plant, gas characteristics and so on.

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Section 1 - Water in Natural Gas

Natural gas contains water, but how much? In this
section we will look at how we can specify the
amount of water contained within the gas. We will
also review the problems that water in gas can
cause, and look at inhibiting one of the problems,
that of hydrate formation.
Quantity of Water in Gas
• Saturated. This is a state in which the gas The main constituents are the following hydrocarbon
contains the maximum amount of water it can gases:
hold in vapour form.
• Methane
• Over-Saturated. In an over-saturated state
the gas contains water in excess of the • Ethane
amount it can in its saturated state. The
excess water will exist as free liquid. • Propane

Hydrocarbons contained in oil and gas reservoirs • Butane

usually are, or have been, in close contact with
formation water. Any gas is normally, therefore,
very wet, at the reservoir temperature and pressure
conditions. Up to a certain point, the water will be
held in the gas in the form of vapour. Beyond that
point the water will appear as liquid. However,
terms such as very wet are not very scientific, nor
do they provide us with any indication of the actual
water content
In order to rectify this, I have listed below three
terms which are used to describe the three main
states of wet gas :
• Unsaturated. In this state the gas is in a
condition where it is able to hold additional
water in the form of vapour.
There are a number of factors that can affect the
amount of water vapour that may be present in gas.
These include:
• gas composition and gravity
• temperature
• pressure
• the amount of water with which the gas has
been in contact.
The composition of natural gas varies, because the
proportions of its constituents will vary from to field
field.
• Pentanes
The list is longer, but the amounts of other
hydrocarbons present are usually small.
The gases are listed above, starting with the lightest
at the top. They get heavier, or denser, as you move
down the list.
Density of gas is usually expressed as the weight in
pounds per cubic foot at standard conditions of
temperature and pressure.

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Specific gravity is the more commonly used
measure of “density”. It is the ratio of a gas density
to the density of air at the same conditions of
temperature and pressure.
As I said a little earlier, the percentage composition
of different natural gases varies. Methane is usually
the most abundant component, and is the principal
source of energy in our mains gas supply. As you
move down the list you undoubtedly recognise
propane and butane, which commonly appear as
bottled liquid gas.
Natural gas also contains impurities such as
hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (C02) ,
non-combustible gases and water vapour. However
we are going to be concentrating on the water
content.
Petroleum Open Learning
For the purposes of analysing water content, it is
safe to consider natural gas as having a fixed
composition. To further lighten our immediate task,
we will initially be looking at the amount of water
needed to render the gas saturated.
The actual amount of water required to saturate
gas will depend on the pressure and temperature of
the gas. This can be represented in the form of a
simple graph as shown in Figure 1. Let’s see how
this figure can be used in practice. Take a look at
Figure 1.
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The curve illustrated on the graph is the saturation Answer:

curve for natural gas at 1 000 psi. For varying gas
temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit, it illustrates
how much water in pounds per standard
cubic feet (mmscf) is needed to saturate the gas at
1 000 psi.
To use the graph, select your temperature on the
horizontal axis, move vertically to intersect the
curve, and then horizontally to find the amount of
water vapour needed for saturation.
Take an example:
Question:
You can see from the point where the horizontal line
intersects the vertical axis, that 24 lbs of water are
required to saturate one cubic feet of gas at
70 deg F and 1 000 psi. Or, in abbreviated form - 24
Ibs of water per mmscf.
Figure 1 gave us the saturation curve for just one
pressure. If the curves for other pressures are
illustrated in a similar fashion, the graph as shown in
Figure 2 will be the result.

What is the water content of 1 000 psi natural gas at

saturation, assuming a temperature of 70 deg F?
To find the answer follow the steps listed below.

• find 70 deg F on lower axis

• follow this line up until it intersects the curve

• now move horizontally and read off the figure

on the vertical axis.

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As you can see, the different pressure curves are
almost parallel, which makes it fairly easy to
estimate for intermediate pressures.
Let’s use Figure 2 :
Take a reservoir pressure of 3 000 psi and a
temperature of 150 deg F. Using the method
described earlier, you can see that gas under these
conditions will have a saturated water content of
94 Ibs per mmscf of gas.
As I said earlier, up to the saturation point, the water
in the gas will be in the form of vapour. For the
purposes of this unit, we can consider the water
vapour as being similar in behaviour to a gas.
Now take the same reservoir pressure of 3 000 psi
as in the previous example, but a temperature of
120 deg F. Look at the graph in Figure 2 again.
This time you will see that only 48lbs of water, in
the form of water vapour, is required to saturate
every mmscf of gas at these conditions.
From the two examples I have just given, you can
see that gas at the higher temperature of 150 deg F
is capable of holding 46 lbs per mrnsct more water
vapour than if its temperature was 120 deg F.
Petroleum Open Learning
This means that, if the temperature of the gas in the
above example were lowered from 150 deg F to
120 deg F at a constant pressure, 46 Ibs (94 - 48) of
water per mmscf would condense and appear as
free water.
From the above, a useful fact emerges - one that
we will remember and use throughout this unit:
• As the temperature drops, the water
vapour required to saturate a given
volume of gas decreases
Or, in other words:
• When the temperature of water-saturated
gas is lowered, water vapour condenses
to produce free water.
Now have a go at the following Test Yourself
question. It should help you to understand what we
have covered up to now.
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Problems with Water in Gas

As gas flows through the reservoir and into the well

Test Yourself 1 bore, it usually becomes saturated with water. In
addition, it picks up free water along the way.

Assume that gas from the reservoir indicated above (3 000 psi, 120 deg F) is produced up a well This is a very important fact regarding natural gas.
to the surface. At the surface the pressure has dropped to 1 500 psi and the temperature to Let me just repeat it :
100 deg F. Now answer the following:
Gas produced to the surface is, in most cases,
saturated with water vapour and is likely to be
a) What water content in lbs/mmscf is required to achieve saturation of the gas at the surface? transporting free water.

As you may gather from the heading, water in gas

is, for most of the time, bad news! Water in gas
b) Will the change in conditions from reservoir to surface result in the gas being unsaturated at gives rise to various problems. Let me now list and
that point, or free water be present? briefly discuss the more important ones.

These are:

• liquid accumulation in the wellbore

• corrosion

• pipeline efficiency
If free water is present, how many pounds will there be for every mmscf of gas?
• gas quality

• hydrate formation

let’s look at each of these problems in turn.

You will find the answers in Check Yourself 1 on page 59

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Liquid Accumulation in the Wellbore

This usually occurs in lower pressure, low flow rate gas
wells. Liquids, of which free water is one, start to build up
in the bottom of the wellbore when the flowing velocity is
too low to lift the liquid to the surface. The wellbore acts
as a separator and the gas bubbles through the liquid.

The liquid column building up in the well causes an

increasing back-pressure to be exerted on the reservoir.
This further reduces the flow rate and thus the velocity of
the well fluids. The process can continue until eventually
the well dies ( ceases to flow ) or only flows intermittently.
The deteriorating situation is illustrated in the left hand
sketch in Figure 3.

The normal method for avoiding this problem is to ensure

that the flow velocity is maintained at a level high enough
to prevent fall-back of liquid droplets. The simplest way of
accomplishing this is to increase the flow rate. This is not
always possible, particularly if the well has naturally
declined in performance. Another way of increasing flow
velocity is to install smaller bore production tubing closer
to the perforations. This means that the same amount of
gas has to flow through a smaller cross-sectional area of
tubing. To do this, it must flow more quickly.

This is illustrated in the right hand sketch of Figure 3.

There are other techniques which can be used to remove

liquids from the wellbore. However, these are beyond the
scope of this programme and we will not discuss them
here.

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Corrosion
Corrosion is the next problem on our list. In natural
gas systems, corrosion carbon steel occurs when
free water forms in the presence of carbon dioxide
(C02) or hydrogen sulphide (H2S). You will
remember that these two substances are impurities
which may be found in natural gas.
Carbon dioxide and water mix together to form
carbonic acid which then reacts with an exposed
steel surface. The reaction causes chemical
substances to form which are called corrosion
products.
(The most common corrosion product in everyday
life is, of course, rust, which forms on iron or steel
exposed to the air).
These corrosion products are removed by the
force of the flowing gas stream, exposing fresh
metal for further attack. This action results in metal
loss and, therefore, corrosion pitting. The rate of
metal loss, called the corrosion rate, depends on
many factors, but principally on the amount of
carbon dioxide and free water present. Corrosion
rate also increases dramatically with increase in
temperature.
Petroleum Open Learning
Hydrogen sulphide has a similar action, causing Free water can occupy quite a lot of the pipeline volume.
metal loss and pitting when free water is available. This will reduce the amount of pipeline
This particularly applies if carbon dioxide-related cross sectional area available for gas flow, resulting
corrosion is also present - they appear to in increased gas flow velocity. The severity of this
encourage each other! effect will depend on a number of factors:
Protection against carbon dioxide and hydrogen • length of pipeline
sulphide corrosion attack is provided by:
• flow velocity
• choice of corrosion-resistant materials (such
as stainless steel) • undulations in the line
• use of protective coatings • the volume of liquid
• application of corrosion inhibitors (chemicals Figure 4a illustrates the effect.
with special protective properties)
Build up of liquid may continue until the critical point
at which liquid slugs are formed.
These options may be used singly or in
combination. The choice will be based on both This is shown in Figure 4b.
technical and economic factors.
Pipeline Efficiency
Natural gas is usually transported by pipelines, and
water in gas pipelines causes our next problem.
The presence of free water in a gas pipeline can
give rise to the complication of two-phase flow. By
two-phase flow we mean that gas and liquid (say,
water) are flowing in the line together. (Gas is one
phase, and liquid is the other).
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Figure 4 a: Liquid Build Up in a Gas Pipeline

Liquid levels can build up in a pipeline, particularly at low spots. This will continue until a critical point is
reached. At this point the available flow area is insufficient for the gas flow rate. This results in an
intermittent plug or slug flow which will break the continuity of gas supply at the pipeline destination.

Figure 4 b: Illustration of a Slug Flow in a Pipeline

Usually this is not considered a desirable situation. For example, if the gas is feeding a gas compressor,
this can be seriously damaged by water slugs.

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Gas Quality Hydrates

The influence on quality is the most self evident,
and undesirable, effect of water in gas. Gas is
usually burnt as a fuel and water is used to put fires
out - hardly compatible qualities!
For the end-user of gas, and for those who transport
it, the quality is strictly specified, especially as
regards water content.
The water content specification is usually called the
water dewpoint (in order to distinguish it from the
hydrocarbon dewpoint, which is a separate aspect
of the gas quality specification). Let us have a look
at what this means.
As we have seen earlier, when the temperature of
saturated gas is decreased, some of the water
vapour condenses and appears as free water. Put
another way - the lower the temperature the less
water vapour it takes to saturate a given volume of
gas. Bearing this in mind, the water dewpoint of
gas is defined as :
As you will see, we have left the most important effect
until last!
Hydrates are solids that form as snowlike crystals.
They are created by a chemical reaction between
natural gas and free water. Once formed, hydrate
crystals can pack together in gas processing plant,
partially or completely blocking flow lines or
accessories such as valves. The blockages will
tend to occur at turbulent regions such as pipe
bends or changes of diameter.
One particular danger of hydrate deposits arises
when they form a blockage downstream of a
pipework pressure rating change, for example in
flare or vent pipework. This may subject the lower
rated pipework to dangerous overpressures.
Figure 5 shows the general effect.

The temperature at which natural gas at any

specified pressure is saturated by the water
vapour it contains.

The quality specification for a natural gas will define

a water dewpoint so that:

• water vapour will not condense as free water

under any foreseeable conditions.

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Now a short exercise:

Test Yourself 2

The hydrate temperature must be below, the

same as, but never above the dewpoint
temperature. Why is this?

Figure 5 : Shows a possible effect of a hydrate blockage

Hydrates can occur at temperatures considerably

above the freezing point of water. At a given
pressure and in the presence of free water, hydrates
will form when the temperature of the gas is at or
below a certain level. Understandably, this is called
the hydrate temperature.

You will find the answer in Check Yourself 2

on page 59

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Take a look at Figure 6. This graph shows the

pressure and temperature conditions needed for
hydrate formation, when a typical natural gas is in
contact with free water.

The example given on the graph shows how

hydrates form in gas 400 psi when the
temperature drops to 50 deg F.

Hydrate formation conditions can be shown

graphically in a slightly different way. Have a look at
Figure 7. You will probably recognise this graph as
being very similar to Figure 2. However, this time,
superimposed on the various pressure curves is a
hydrate temperature line. For each pressure, it
indicates a temperature below which hydrates will
form in the presence of free water.

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As I said earlier, hydrates are undesirable in gas

processing as they can, in certain circumstances,
disrupt the normal degree of control that we should
have over a process.
Test Yourself 3 As the problem of hydrates is so important, let me
list for you once more the conditions which could
lead to their formation :
Using Figure 7, read off the temperature below which hydrates will form in natural gas at
1 500 psi, in the presence of free water. • gas, with free water present

• temperature and pressure conditions

within the hydrate formation region

Have a go at Test Yourself 4.

Check your answer in Check Yourself 3 on page 59

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Now you can work through an example :

Test Yourself 4

a. We have looked at some problems caused by water in natural gas. Which of these will
affect our attempts at processing the gas.

b. By reference to Figure 7, indicate whether you think that gases at the following conditions
are in the hydrate formation regions (Yes) or not (No).

Yes No

i) 1 500 psi, 40 deg F.

ii) 300 psi, 50 deg F.

iii) 1 500 psi, 70 deg F.

Iv) 500 psi, 60 deg F.

v) 3000 psi, 70 deg

Check your answer in Check Yourself 4 on page 60

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Hydrate Prevention
From what we have covered thus far, you will
remember that hydrate formation was mentioned as
probably being the most troublesome problem
Activity
associated with water in natural gas.

So, how can we prevent these hydrates from Jot down three things that you could do to a gas stream, in order to discourage hydrate formation.
forming?

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You have probably written down something along
the following lines:
1. Reduce the pressure
2. Remove the water
3. Raise the temperature
At this point we are going to cheat a little! - by
application of lateral thinking. Hydrate formation is a
process which may be compared with ice formation
in water. It is possible to prevent ice formation by
lowering the freezing point of water. This can be
done by adding a chemical to the water. (Think
about the effect of adding salt to icy roads).
In a similar way, we can add a chemical to a gas
stream to prevent hydrate formation.
This gives us a fourth method to add to our list:
4. Lower the hydrate formation temperature
When a chemical is added to the gas to prevent
hydrate formation, it is often known as chemical
inhibition.
Let’s consider each of the four preventative
measures we have just listed.
1. Lowering the pressure.
This is not always possible. The reservoir is at a
certain pressure and we have no control over this.
2. Removal of water.
This is, of course, what this unit is all about.
Dropping free water out of the gas whenever
possible will reduce the likelihood of hydrate
formation.
However, the pressure and temperature changes
involved in the dehydration process will, in
most cases, give rise to the condition for
hydrate formation before enough water can be
removed to inhibit such formation.
A real chicken and egg situation!
We are, therefore, left with the last two - heating
and chemical inhibition - as the most convenient
methods of hydrate prevention.
The decision on the type of inhibition is invariably
made on an economic basis. Usually, a
combination of heating and chemical inhibition is the
result.
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3. Heating.
It is certainly possible to discourage hydrate
formation by heating the gas. However this is not
always a practical solution.
Consider, for example, a long undersea gas
pipeline. This will lose heat to the surrounding
water. It would not be possible to raise the initial
temperature of the gas to a point which guarantees
that the temperature at any point in the line, always
remained above the hydrate formation temperature.
If heat is the answer, maximum use is made of heat
conservation within the process by using heat
exchangers. For example. the relatively high
temperature of gas at the wellhead may be used to
warm up the cold, processed gas, as we shall see
later.
4. Chemical inhibition.
I want to concentrate on chemical injection as a
method used to prevent hydrate formation.
Ammonia, brines, glycol and methanol have all been
used to lower the freezing point of water in gas.
Methanol and glycol are the inhibitors most widely
used. These are fed into the gas by low volume
injection pumps. The injection point is usually just
upstream of the point where hydrate formation
conditions are expected.
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One such point is illustrated in Figure 8 at the Xmas

tree. The inhibitor can be used here to prevent
hydrates forming on the valves of the tree during a
shut-down. This injection point can also be used to
inject inhibitor into the flowing gas stream to prevent
hydrate formation in pipework and processes
immediately downstream.

Methanol is mainly used where only occasional

inhibition is needed, for example plant start-up or
when working on the well. The reason is that,
although methanol is fairly cheap, its recovery is
difficult and costly. It is, therefore, invariably lost. In
addition, methanol is hazardous to store and handle;
it has a fairly low flash point.

Where continuous inhibition is needed, ethylene

glycol (EG) is commonly used. Although it is more
expensive than methanol, its regeneration is a
reasonably straightforward process. There are
three main forms of glycol used in gas processing,
but it is ethylene glycol that is usually used for
hydrate inhibition. We will talk about the other forms
of glycol and their uses later.

The injected glycol mixes with any free water that is

present in the gas and lowers the hydrate formation
temperature, in much the same way as the addition
of anti-freeze to a car engine cooling system lowers
the freezing point of the cooling water. The resulting
glycol-water mixture can be processed to enable
recovery and re-use of the glycol. This regeneration
will be discussed later in this unit, as the process is
identical for regeneration of any of the glycols.

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Test Yourself 5

a. It was mentioned in the text that. in gas processing, the maximum use is made of heat
conservation within the process. Why do you think that this is done?

b. Indicate whether you would use methanol or glycol for the following inhibition requirements: Methanol Glycol

i) For initially starting a new oil well which has a high gas content?

ii) For continuous injection into an offshore pipeline feeding an onshore gas plant?

iii) For long term storage offshore for use in gas well servicing jobs?

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Summary of Section 1

In this first section the origins of water in natural gas have been explained and you know that it can
take the form of vapour or liquid.

You should now be able to find out how much water is required to saturate a given gas, if you
know its temperature and pressure (by reference to the graphs). It is important to remember that
when the temperature of natural gas is lowered, water vapour condenses to produce free water.

We have discussed the problems created by the presence of water in gas, which are :

liquid accumulations in the wellbore

corrosion
lower pipeline efficiency
poor gas quality
hydrate formation.

Finally, we looked at preventing the formation of hydrates in gas, in particular by chemical inhibition
with methanol or glycol. We will be applying our knowledge of hydrate prevention, both by heat
and chemical inhibition, later on in this unit.

You now have the necessary background knowledge for working through the following sections
and understanding the processes described.

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Section 2 - Auto Refrigeration

In this section we are going to look at one of the
characteristics of natural gas that assists in the
separation of water from the gas - the Joules/
Thompson Effect.

We will also look at a typical process plant which

uses this principle in practice.

The Joules/Thompson Effect

We have seen that, as the temperature is reduced,
water vapour condenses into free water, which is
fairly easy to separate from the gas. There are
problems involving hydrates, of course, but we can
deal with those by inhibition or process design, as
we will see later on.

The main hurdle we face is how to reduce the

temperature at an acceptable cost. Fortunately,
nature takes a hand. Gas has a property which can
assist us to reduce the temperature fairly easily. Let
me describe this property :

If a natural gas is rapidly expanded by reducing

the pressure, Its temperature will drop.

This temperature drop associated with gas

expansion is known as the Joules/Thompson
Effect. The greater the pressure drop, the greater
the temperature reduction. You can see this effect
illustrated in Figure 9.

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This chart is only by way of an example. It will not
be accurate for all gases. However it serves to
illustrate the use of such charts.
In order to find a temperature drop associated with a
given pressure drop, just follow the steps I have
listed here for you.
• Find the point on the graph which
corresponds to the temperature and pressure
of the gas before expansion takes place.
• Follow the curve to the left until it intersects
t he vertical line which corresponds to the
pressure of the gas after expansion.
• Read off from the left hand vertical axis of the
raph, the temperature at this point.
g
Let’s do that with some actual figures.
Take the following example:
A natural gas at 3 000 psi and 90 deg F is expanded
to 1 000 psi. What will be the temperature drop?
• Find the point on the graph which
corresponds to 3000 psi and 90 deg F. (You
will find that this point lies on the fourth curve
from the bottom of the graph).
Petroleum Open Learning
• Follow this curve to the left until it intersects
the vertical line at 1 000 psi.
• Move horizontally from this point to the left
hand vertical axis. Test Yourself 6
• Read off the temperature at this point. You
s hould find that it is 18 deg F. A gas is at 2400 psi and 80 deg F. From
Figure 9, work out what temperature rise
The temperature drop therefore is would be needed in this gas so that, after
( 90 - 18 ) = 72 deg F. expansion to 1 500 psi the final temperature
will be 75 deg F.
Of course, the starting pressure and temperature
will not always coincide exactly with one of these
cooling curves. In such a case, a curve parallel to
the nearest printed curve needs to be drawn or
imagined.
For example, gas at 2 800 psi and 130 deg F is
expanded to 1 400 psi. With a little imagination, you
will see that the new temperature will be
86 deg F - a drop of 44 deg F.
Now have a go at Test Yourself 6. In this example
you will have to visualise your own curve from the
figures given and work from that.
Check your answer in Check Yourself 6 on
page 60
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The graph (Figure 9) also gives an indication of

whether we can expect hydrates to form. This is
shown by the broken line. Any point below this line
provides conditions suitable for hydrate formation in
the presence of free water. For instance, the
example we used of 3 000 psi gas at 90 deg F being
expanded to 1000 psi will place it firmly in the
hydrate formation range.

You may have wondered how the expansion of the

gas is brought about, in order to utilise the Joules /
Thompson effect. In fact, there are a number of
ways of doing this. The most common one is to
expand the gas across a choke valve.

A choke valve is a type of valve designed to control

gas or liquid flow. In its simplest form it consists of
a cone and seat arrangement, both of which are
hardened to resist the erosive effects of the flow.
The closer the cone is to the seat, the more the flow
is reduced, or choked. Such a device is illustrated
in Figure 10.

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Before we go on to look at processes using

the Joules / Thompson effect. practice using
Figure 9 further.

Test Yourself 7

Complete the following chart

Expanded to
Starting Starting Final Final Hydrates
pressure temperature pressure temperature expected
(psi) (deg F) (psi) (deg F) Yes/No

4000 102 2000

3800 154 1000

2800 90 1800

2000 86 1200

1800 123 600

Check your answer in Check Yourself 7 on page 61

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The Joules/Thompson Effect forms the basis
of a common method used to extract water
from gas. This method is called low
temperature separation.
Low temperature separation makes use of the
natural characteristics of gas expansion. This,
together with efficient heat exchange within
the plant design, leads to a very cost effective
process.
This is illustrated below.
A low temperature separation process may be
described as follows :
The inlet gas is passed through a choke
valve and cooled by the resulting pressure
reduction and expansion. This causes
water and liquid hydrocarbons to
condense. Dry gas, condensate and free
water can then be separated from each
other.
We will be looking at this in more detail
shortly.
Petroleum Open Learning
The effectiveness of this process depends on the
initial pressure being high enough to allow an
adequate pressure drop. Often dehydration can be
achieved with a pressure drop as little as 1 000 psi.
The downstream pressure is usually determined by
the pressure of the pipeline being used to export or
deliver the gas.
By dropping the temperature, we may move into the
hydrate formation region. This potential problem is
dealt with in one of two ways:
1. Inhibition
or
2. Melting
Let’s look at two typical process plants which use
either inhibition or melting to deal with hydrates.
First, inhibition :
Low Temperature Separation with Hydrate
Inhibition (LTS)
This process is illustrated as a simple flow diagram
in Figure 11.
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Follow the path of the well fluids as they flow
through the plant.
The well stream first flows to a high pressure
knockout vessel that separates any free liquid.
The free liquids are removed from the vessel and
passed on to another part of the plant for disposal.
Ethylene glycol (EG) is then injected into the
process gas stream immediately upstream of a heat
exchanger HE-1. (You will remember from
Section 1 that EG is a chemical used to inhibit
hydrate torrnation.)
The gas, with glycol added, is then cooled in the
heat exchanger. This exchanger is known as a gas/
gas exchanger. It means that cold sales gas is the
cooling medium which cools the incoming gas
stream. (Sales gas is a term often used to describe
gas treated to meet a laid down specification).
A further temperature drop occurs as the gas
expands during the pressure drop across the choke
valve.
This cooling causes further condensate and water to
condense from the gas stream as it enters the cold
separator.
Petroleum Open Learning
At this point we have all the conditions necessary for The hot glycol-can now be used again. It is first
hydrate formation. It means that the glycol injection passed through heat exchanger HE-2, where it is
rate upstream of here needs to be carefully used to warm the incoming glycol/water mix from
controlled. It must be sufficient to prevent hydrate the cold separator. The regenerated glycol itself is
formation, in the heat exchanger, pipework or the cooled down here, prior to reinjection into the
separator. incoming well stream to act as a hydrate inhibitor
again.
In the cold separator, glycol, water and condensate
are separated from the gas and the condensate is Why don’t you go through the process once again at
recovered for further processing and sale. this point, and then have a go at Test Yourself 8.
We want to be able to use the glycol again. In order
to do this, the water glycol mix is further processed
in a glycol regeneration system.
We will be looking at this regeneration system in
much more detail when we come to Section 4 of this
unit.
Briefly, however:
The glycol may have absorbed some hydrocarbons
as it mixes with the gas in the process. These must
be removed. The glycol and water are routed from
the separator, via another heat exchanger (HE-2)
where the mixture is heated up, to a flash tank. In
this vessel, hydrocarbon vapours are removed from
the warmed mixture.
In the final part of the process the water is removed
from the glycol. The glycol water mixture passes to
a regeneration package where the mix is heated and
the water is boiled off as steam.
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In this process, the main pieces of equipment, apart

from the regeneration package which we will look at
later, are the separator and the heat exchangers.
Let’s take a look at these pieces of plant in a little
Test Yourself 8 more detail.

The cold separator used in our example is a

The following statements refer to a series of steps in a low temperature separation process Horizontal Three Phase Separator. This type of
with hydrate inhibition (LTS). separator is illustrated in Figure 12.

The steps are out of order. Without looking at the flow diagram (Figure 11), rearrange the steps
in their correct sequence.

1. injection of glycol

2. separation of free liquids in the high pressure knockout vessel

3. condensation of water and condensate in the cold separator

4. cooling of the well stream in the gas/gas heat exchanger

5. expansion of gas across the choke valve

6. separation of water/glycol and condensate in the cold separator

Check your answer in Check Yourself 8 on page 62

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The three phases are gas, condensate and water in

this case. The condensate, being lighter, sits on top
of the water and flows over a Weir into a separate
compartment. From here the outlet valve is
actuated by a level controller, to maintain a steady
condensate level in this compartment. A second
level controller maintains a constant water
condensate interface.

The gas section is fitted with a series of baffles that

encourage the separation of condensed liquid
droplets from the gas. This ensures that the gas
leaving the separator is liquid-free.

Let us now look at heat exchangers. We repeatedly

refer to heat exchangers in this Unit, and you will
meet up with them in most hydrocarbon processes.

Figure 13 shows a typical heat exchanger.

Figure 13 : Heat Exchanger

One medium flows via the coils and the other in the outer body. Either medium can
be liquid or gas. Due to the temperature difference, the colder medium heats up, and
the hotter one cools down.

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Now we will consider the other process which uses Low Temperature Separation.

This Figure shows a simple flow diagram of a typical process of this type. It is called a Low Temperature Extraction Process (LTX)

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The basic differences between this process and the
previous one are the routing of the warm well
stream, the separator design and the absence of
glycol injection or regeneration.
Once again, follow the flow paths through the
process, using Figure 14.
Cold gas, which has now had its water and liquid
hydrocarbons removed, is taken from the separator
and used as the cooling medium in the heat
exchanger. (A by-pass line round the exchanger
incorporating a 3-way valve maintains the correct
temperature in the process). The gas, now at the
correct specification, can be sold.

This time, the warm incoming stream is first routed
through coils in the bottom of the low temperature
separator. This starts to cool the gas, which is then
further cooled as it passes through a heat
exchanger.
The low temperature separator is again a 3 phase
vessel, but of a different design. I have included a
simple drawing of one (Figure 15) so that you can
compare the two.

The effect of cooling is to condense some

hydrocarbon liquids and water from the gas stream.
These free liquids are separated from the gas in
the liquid knockout drum and fed into the liquid
section of the low temperature separator.

After leaving the liquid knockout drum, the gas

passes to the choke at the separator inlet. Here the
gas is expanded to a lower pressure. Again, rapid
expansion of the gas causes a drop in temperature.

At this point, hydrates tend to form because

conditions have now changed to values which
encourage hydrate formation. The hydrates fall into
the liquid section of the separator where they are
melted by the warm coils.

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From here, the condensate and water are removed

under controlled conditions. The condensate is sold
and the water led off to disposal.

The LTX process is obviously more cost effective

than LTS, as glycol inhibition and regeneration are
eliminated. Glycol or methanol injection may be
necessary, however, for start up purposes, when the
well stream will be cold.

Now that you have worked through this section,

have a go at the following Test Yourself question.

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Test Yourself 9
The following statements apply to the LTS process or the LTX process or both. Indicate, by
ticking the box, which one is applicable.

LTS LTX
BOTH

1 The incoming well stream passes through coils in the separator.

2 The choke is at the separator inlet.

3 Inhibitor is normally injected into the well stream.

4 The glycol is regenerated.

5 A heat exchanger is used to cool the gas.

6 Hydrates form in the separator.

7 The process makes use of the Joules/Thompson effect.

8 The inhibitor injection point is before the heat exchanger.

Check your answer in Check Yourself 9 on page 62

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Summary of Section 2
This section opened with a description of the Joules/Thompson Effect, where gas expansion
results In a temperature drop. You have seen how this characteristic of gas is used to good effect
in low temperature separation, by condensing liquids from the gas phase.

Two main processes were described:

a. LTS, where hydrate formation is inhibited by the injection of glycol.

b. LTX, where hydrates are melted by passing the incoming, warm, gas stream through coils in
the bottom of the separator.

The LTX was seen to be more efficient as it utilised heat exchange within the process, thus
eliminating the need for expensive glycol inhibition or regeneration.

You now understand the principles of the first method of gas dehydration, using low temperature
separation which can be described as an Auto Refrigeration process.

We will now move on to look at a system which uses the principles of adsorption for gas
dehydration - the Solid Desiccant Dehydration process.

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Gas Dehydration
Section 3 - Solid Desiccant Dehydration
In the last section, we examined how the principle of
low temperature separation could be used to
reduce the water content of a gas.
In this section we will look at the first of two types of
process which utilise a substance called a
desiccant to remove water from gas. The
desiccant can either be a solid or a liquid. We will
start with a solid desiccant, which uses the principle
of adsorption to achieve this.
Adsorption
Adsorption is a process in which a solid selectively
removes a particular component from a fluid (liquid
or gas) mixture and holds this component on its
surface.
This solid is known as an adsorbent material.
In our case, the mixture consists of gas and water
vapour, and it is the water which is removed.
The adsorbent material, which removes the water, is
called a solid desiccant.
An everyday example of the adsorption process is
the use of sachets of silica gel, packed along with
sensitive photographic or electrical equipment. The
silica gel is a solid desiccant which prevents
moisture from damaging this equipment.
Petroleum Open Learning
A gas dehydration process which uses this Let’s now look at a Solid Desiccant Dehydration
phenomenon is the Solid Desiccant Dehydration Plant.
Plant.
In such a plant the gas is dehydrated by passing it
through a bed of solid desiccant which removes the
water vapour.
This desiccant consists of solid granular materials
having an extremely large surface area per unit
weight. This is because the granules have a
multitude of microscopic pores and capillary
openings. Common desiccants used in the plant
are:
silica gel
sorbead
activated alumina
molecular sieves
After a time the desiccant will itself become
saturated with water. This reduces its capacity for
further adsorption and, in order to use it again, it
must be regenerated. In other words, we must get
rid of the adsorbed water.
This is usually achieved by heating with hot gas,
which vaporises the water from the desiccant. For
this reason, a dry bed dehydrator usually has at
least two beds of desiccant - one being used to dry
the gas, while the other is being regenerated.
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Figure 16 shows a simple flow diagram of such a plant.

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The diagram shows a two tower dehydration layout.
Take a look at the diagram and follow the process
through. The solid lines represent the gas being
processed, and the broken lines the regeneration
cycle gas flow. One tower is on the adsorption cycle
while the other is being regenerated.
Gas being treated flows in at the top of the tower
and adsorption takes place from top to bottom.
Water saturation of the desiccant also, therefore,
starts at the top of the tower. Lighter hydrocarbon
components are also adsorbed in the lower layers of
the desiccant bed. As the lower layers
progressively become water saturated, the
hydrocarbon components are displaced. The
adsorption cycle must stop before the desiccant
bed is totally saturated.
Effective regeneration is the secret of this process.
The bed must be thoroughly regenerated or its
capacity will be reduced. Effective regeneration
relies on quantity and temperature of the
regeneration gas. The higher the temperature, the
less gas is required, but too high a temperature can
ruin the desiccant, and drastically reduce its
adsorptive properties.
A typical cycle time is 8 hours of adsorption and
8 hours regeneration. Figure 17 gives a graphical
representation of the regeneration cycle time and
temperature.

Regeneration takes place in the reverse direction,

that is, bottom to top. The regeneration gas is
heated and fed in to the bottom of the tower. It
passes through the desiccant and out through the
top of the tower. The hot regeneration gas drives the
water from the desiccant as steam. This wet, hot
gas is then cooled and passed through a separator
to remove the liquids. After the bed has been
heated and the water driven off, it has to be cooled
before it is switched to adsorption again.

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Use the figure to have a go at the following Test

Yourself question.

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Solid desiccant dehydration can produce virtually

dry gas for processes sensitive to feed gas quality,
such as cryogenic-type gas processing plants.
(Cryogenic processing involves extremely low
Test Yourself 10 temperatures, much lower than the LTX and LTS
plants we have been looking at). The effectiveness
of the unit, however, depends upon the incoming
gas being free of liquids, entrained mist and solids.
a. Referring to curve 2 in Figure 17, describe what is happening from the start to the end of Liquids may destroy or damage the desiccant bed,
the regeneration cycle. and solids could plug it.

b. Why do you think that the regeneration gas is fed in at the bottom of the tower?

c. Why is the regeneration gas cooled after leaving the tower, before entering the separator?

Check your answer in Check Yourself 10 on page 63

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Summary of Section 3
You have been introduced to the removal of water vapour from gas using the mechanism of
adsorption.

You saw that adsorption is a process in which a solid desiccant selectively removes one
component from a fluid mixture. The solid desiccant has the capacity to attract and hold the
component on its surface.

We examined the workings of a dry bed dehydration unit, and concluded that such a unit relies
mainly on effective regeneration of the desiccant. Such plants can dry gas very thoroughly.

We are now going to look at a second process which utilises a desiccant, one in which a liquid,
rather than a solid, is used to dehydrate the gas - the Liquid Desiccant Dehydration process.

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Section 4- Liquid Desiccant Dehydration

In the last section we looked at a process Which
removes water vapour from gas using a solid
desiccant. We now turn to the use of a liquid, rather
than a solid desiccant. This is known as an
Absorption process.
Absorption
Absorption of water by liquid desiccant is a process
in which the water is taken into the body of the
desiccant. This is in contrast to adsorption, where
the water is held on the surface of the (solid)
desiccant.
Water vapour is removed by bubbling the gas
through a hygroscopic liquid, that is, a liquid with
an affinity for water.
• Diethylene glycol (DEG); a cost effective
liquid desiccant where moderate dehydration
is required and where DEG has also been
used earlier in the process as a hydrate
inhibitor.
• Trlethylene glycol (TEG); the most
xpensive but the most effective liquid
e that the glycol can be used again, it must be
desiccant in the glycol family. It possesses
superior dewpoint depression qualities.
A balance must be struck between the degree of
effectiveness and the cost. Nowadays, therefore,
TEG is the preferred liquid desiccant. TEG has been
used successfully to dehydrate gases over the
following operating ranges and conditions:
Glycol Dehydration Plant
In a typical glycol dehydration plant the wet gas is
brought into intimate contact with TEG. The glycol
absorbs water from the gas, which then leaves the
plant as dry gas. The glycol now contains water
which reduces its absorbing properties. In order
regenerated. This is done by heating it and driving
the water off as vapour (steam).
Let’s follow the flow of gas and glycol through a
typical dehydration plant.

This hygroscopic liquid is our liquid desiccant. • Dewpoint depression 40 - 140 deg F

• Gas pressure 25 - 2 500 psi

Liquid Desiccants
• Gas temperature 40 - 160 deg F
The liquid desiccant used is almost always one of
the glycols. Glycols which have the necessary
attraction for water are listed below :
We have our liquid desiccant. All we need now is a
• Monoethylene glycol (MEG or EG); rarely plant in which to use it.
used nowadays as a desiccant due to high
evaporation and chemical degradation losses. For the rest of this unit we will be looking at the
If you think back to Section 1 you will equipment used in, and the layout and operation of,
remember that MEG is used as a hydrate a Glycol Dehydration Plant.
Inhibitor.

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Figure 18 shows a simple flow diagram for a typical unit. Look at the figure and trace the flow paths with
the aid of the following brief description.

The gas containing water vapour ( wet gas) enters

the contactor, or absorber tower at the bottom. It
passes up the contactor, through a series of trays
down through which the TEG is flowing. The trays
are so designed that the gas is forced to mix
intimately with the glycol.

The water from the gas is absorbed by the glycol

and dry gas leaves the tower at the top.

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The glycol, now containing water and called rich This simplified description will help you gain a broad
glycol, leaves the contactor tower at the bottom and understanding of the process. Let us now study it in
flows to the regeneration section of the plant. more detail and see how the equipment works.

The TEG also absorbs some light hydrocarbon Gas Flow

vapour, and so the stream is directed to a flash
tank. This reduces the pressure and therefore
allows most of the hydrocarbon vapours to escape.
Next, the lEG flows through a filter which removes
any tarry solids which may have formed in the
process.
The glycol is then pre-heated in a heat exchanger
and passed to the reboiler where the water is boiled
off and the TEG reconcentrated.
The glycol is now capable of being used again. It is
known as lean glycol at this point.
Let’s start with the flow of gas through the system.
The heart of the process is the contactor tower. It
is in this unit that the dehydration takes place. The
tower is called either the contactor or the absorber
tower. For the rest of this section, however, I will
use the term contactor.
Look at Figure 19(a) which shows a contactor tower
with a scrubber section and an absorber section.

From the reboiler, the lean glycol flows to a surge

tank. It is pumped from here to the heat exchanger,
where it is cooled. From there it flows back to the
top of the contactor tower. (Note how the hot glycol
from the reboiler is used as the heating medium in
the heat exchanger).

The process you have just followed is a continuous

process and could be called a Regenerative Glycol
Dehydration Process.

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Before the gas enters the absorber section of the
tower, it passes through a scrubber to separate any
free liquids. The scrubber may be a separate vessel
or, as is the case here, may form part of the tower
itself.
It is essential that the contact between the gas and
the TEG is intimate. This is achieved by bubbling
the gas through the TEG via bubble caps
positioned on a series of trays within the absorber
section of the contactor.
The contactor trays with the bubble caps, are shown
in Figure 19(b).
The trays incorporate a weir which maintains a fixed
level of glycol on each tray. As the gas flows up
through the centre of a bubble cap it is forced back
down through the glycol and round the outside of the
cap. This ensures that all the gas must flow through
liquid glycol as it passes each tray.
The flow path of the gas through a bubble cap is
shown in Figure 19(c).
After the top tray, the gas passes around glycol
cooling coils. These act as heat exchangers to
reduce the temperature of the incoming lean glycol.
(The temperature of the lean TEG entering the top
of the tower should be as close as possible to the
gas exit temperature. This helps to prevent the
glycol from foaming, which might occur if there was
too great a temperature difference between lean
glycol and gas).
Finally, before leaving the contactor the gas passes
through a mist extractor. This device extracts any
droplets of liquid glycol which may have been picked
up by the gas. It helps to reduce glycol losses.
The gas leaving the contactor should now be free
from water vapour and meet the required dewpoint
specification.
Glycol Flow
Let’s now look at what happens to the glycol.
The TEG, cooled in the coils (at the top of the
tower), passes down through the tower from tray to
tray, dehydrating the gas. This diluted (or rich)
glycol solution collects at the bottom of the absorber
section of the contactor tower.
Before the glycol can be used to dehydrate more
gas, it must be regenerated.
Before we go on to look at the regeneration process
itself, we should consider three other pieces of
equipment. These are:
• flash tank
• filter
• heat exchanger
Look again at Figure 18 and check the location of
this equipment.
Petroleum Open Learning
The flash tank is simply a three phase separator
which is capable of separating glycol, gas and
hydrocarbon liquids from each other.
You can probably imagine that, as the glycol flows
through the contactor, it can pick up small amounts
of gas, and liquids which have condensed from the
gas. These are removed in the flash tank. Any gas
which is liberated is led away to be used as fuel or is
disposed of by flaring. Liquid hydrocarbons are
removed from the tank and are collected for sale or
otherwise disposed of. What remains is rich glycol
which passes on to the next stage in the process.
Within the glycol a certain amount of solid material
may accumulate. This can take the form of dirt,
scale, rust or tarry reaction substances. A filter is
used to remove these. It is usually of the type which
contains a cartridge which can be removed and
replaced while the plant is in operation.
I said earlier that the glycol must be heated in the
regeneration process. In order to save energy, the
glycol is pre-heated in a heat exchanger before it
goes to the regenerator. The exchanger uses hot
glycol from the regenerator itself as the heating
medium.
Let’s move now to the actual process of glycol
regeneration.
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Simply boiling the dilute glycol would remove the

water as steam. but would also result in
considerable loss of glycol vapour. As the boiling
points of water and TEG are so far apart (212 and
549 deg F respectively). A process called fractional
distillation is used to regenerate the glycol.

The regenerator consists of two parts, the Reboiler

and the Stripper column. Take a look at Figure 20
which shows such a unit.

51

You will see that the cool, rich glycol passes first of
all through a coil in the top of the stripper column.
This is called a reflux coil. I will explain its function
shortly.
After pre-heating in the heat exchanger, the glycol is
then fed to the stripper column near the top. It
descends through packing in the stripper and mixes
with a rising stream of water rich, hot vapours.
These vapours are created by heating the glycol in
the reboiler to a high temperature. This temperature
should be above that of boiling water but below the
boiling point of the glycol itself.
Within the stripper column, two things are
happening:
• the cooler, rich glycol liquid causes the hot
glycol vapour in the rising vapour stream to
condense out as a liquid and fall back.
• the hot, water rich, vapour stream strips out
the liquid water from the glycol stream as
vapour and carries it to the top of the column,
from where the water vapour is vented to
atmosphere.
All being well, at the top of the column the vapour
will be virtually pure water.
Petroleum Open Learning
As long as the temperature at the top of the column
ranges between 210 and 212 deg F, glycol losses
are minimised. This process is aided by the reflux
coil which I mentioned earlier. The cool glycol
passing through the coils assists any glycol vapour Test Yourself 11
to condense and fall back into the reboiler.
Having passed down the stripper column, the glycol Following the flow path of glycol, place the
enters the reboiler and is heated further. This jumbled list of equipment given below into a
creates the hot, water-rich vapours required for logical process order, starting with the
stripping. Reboiler;
From the reboiler the glycol passes to a surge tank
which acts as a storage vessel. From there it is Reboiler
pumped via the heat exchanger back to the
contactor to continue the dehydration process. Contactor tower
So, you should by now have a good idea of how a Heat exchanger
liquid desiccant dehydration process works. Trace
the flow path of gas and glycol again and then Filter
attempt the following Test Yourself.
Surge tank
Flash tank
Pump
Check your answer in Check Yourself 11 on
page 64
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Plant operations The concentration of the glycol fed to the contactor

tower determines the dewpoint depression
A glycol dehydration plant will only work efficiently if achievable for a given contact temperature. The
certain process variables are maintained at constant contact temperature is the temperature at which the
values. gas leaves the top of the contactor tower. The Test Yourself 12
temperature of the lean TEG entering the top of the
The more important process variables are : tower should be as close as possible to this contact
temperature. Think about the process plant. What piece of
• glycol concentration equipment is used to try to keep the
temperature of the TEG entering the
• glycol circulation rate contactor as close as possible to that of the
gas leaving it?
• glycol solution condition

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Glycol Concentration
Glycol concentration refers to the amount of pure
glycol in solution and is measured as a percentage
by weight:

For instance, the rich glycol leaving the contactor

tower is a water rich solution whose glycol content is
less than 95% by weight.

However, after the glycol has been through the

regeneration section of the plant it is
reconcentrated. Now its concentration can vary
from 95% to 99% by weight, although we try to
achieve as near to 100% as possible.

Check your answer in Check Yourself 12 on

page 64

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We can use a graph again to see how glycol

concentration and contact temperature can affect
the dewpoint of the gas.

Figure 21 shows the relationship between

dewpoints, contact temperature and TEG
concentration.

If, for example, we need to achieve a reduction

in water dewpoint of the gas from 55 deg F to
35 deg F at a contact temperature of 120 deg F,
you can see that the TEG concentration must be
increased from 96.0% to 98.0% by weight.

This increased TEG concentration can be achieved

by increasing the reboiler temperature. This can be
shown in another graph, Figure 22, which appears
on the next page.

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Take a look at Figure 22. In order to increase the
TEG concentration from 96% to 98%, the reboiler
temperature would have to be increased from
322 deg F to 380 deg F.
There is a limit, however, to the temperature at
which we can operate the reboiler. TEG begins to
degrade at temperatures around 450 deg F, which
clearly represents the upper limit.
Figure 22 : Graph of Triethylene Glycol Reboiler Temperature versus TEG Concentration
Petroleum Open Learning
Let’s work through an example to determine TEG
concentration and reboiler temperature for a
particular dehydration problem. For this example,
let us assume that dehydrated gas must contain not
more than 5lbs of water per mmscf when delivered
at 1 000 psi and 100 deg F.
Looking way back at Figure 2, which gives us the
water content of natural gas at saturation, you can
see that the required dewpoint is 24 deg F.
If the gas leaves the contactor at 100 deg F it can
be seen from Figure 21 that a 24 deg F dewpoint
requires a TEG concentration of around 97.6%.
(You will have to estimate between the curves to
determine this).
Figure 22 shows that 97.6% TEG concentration
requires a reboiling temperature of 364 deg F (at
sea level).
Again some estimation or interpolation is required.
If you are happy with the above example, try the
following Test Yourself. You will see that you have
to think back to some of the previous sections to
complete it.
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Another method of achieving higher TEG

concentrations is to use stripping gas for final
water removal. Stripping gas is dry, low pressure
gas introduced to remove additional water from the
Test Yourself 13 glycol in the reboiler.

Look again at Figure 20 which shows the glycol

Gas at the wellhead is at 3000 psi and 120 deg F. After separation, its pressure is reduced regenerator. You will see an inlet pipe at the bottom
across a choke to 1 000 psi, after which it is routed to enter the cold separator. The gas enters of the reboiler through which gas is entering the
an absorption tower for dehydration. The required water content should not be more than TEG. This is the stripping gas being used during
4lbs per mmscf. The gas leaves the contactor at 90 deg F. reboiling.

The effect of stripping gas being in contact with lean

i) Is hydrate inhibition (or melting) required? TEG is shown in Figure 23.

ii) What volume of free water is knocked out by the expansion (per mmscf)?

iii) What concentration of TEG is required to achieve the gas delivery specification?

iv) What reboiler temperature is necessary (at sea level) to achieve the TEG concentration?

Check your answer in Check Yourself 13 on page 65

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Now to the next process variable :

Glycol Circulation Rate

It is important to maintain an optimum TEG
circulation rate for effective dehydration.

Each plant will be designed for specific conditions.

As a rule of thumb, however, about 2 gallons of glycol
must be circulated for every 1 lb of water removed at
the 55 deg F dewpoint depression.
These figures are based on operations over a normal
pressure range and a glycol solution of 95%.

Sometimes, greater dewpoint depressions can be

obtained by increasing the circulation rate. However,
an upper limit can be reached where increasing the
circulation rate actually reduces the dewpoint
depression.

And finally:

Glycol Solution Condition

For effective dehydration, the glycol solution must
be kept in good condition. In other words, it must be
free from impurities. Solids must be filtered from the
circulating stream and filters must be kept clean.

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Hydrocarbons in the TEG solution which have not

been removed in the flash tank can cause additional
foaming problems in the contactor. It is therefore
essential that the efficiency of the flash tank is
maintained. Summary of Section 4
In Section 4, I explained the difference between Adsorption and Absorption. However, we
concentrated on the Absorption process.

You saw that Triethylene Glycol (TEG) is most commonly used as a liquid desiccant to absorb
water from gas.

You followed the operation of a glycol dehydration plant, and you will have noted that this consists
of two main units:
Now that you have completed Section 4, have
another look at the process flow diagram and satisfy • the contactor, in which gas dehydration is accomplished
yourself that you understand how the plant
operates. • the glycol regeneration system, in which water is removed from the wet glycol so that it
c an be used again

Finally in this section, you looked at some of the process variables which must be maintained at a
constant value for efficient dehydration.

Now that you have completed the whole unit, you should have a basic understanding of the theory
and practice of gas dehydration.

Go back to the training targets on Page 2 of the unit, and check that you are able to meet those
targets.

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Check Yourself - Answers

Check Yourself 1 Check Yourself 2 Check Yourself 3

A water content of 45 Ibs per mmscf will be required to Because above the dewpoint temperature, one of 70 deg F.
achieve saturation of the gas at surface conditions. the conditions for hydrate formation would not exist,
ie free water.
As 48 Ibs of water per mmscf were the
saturation conditions at the reservoir, ie, more
water vapour than required for saturation at the
surface, the gas at the wellhead will be
saturated. As there is a decrease in the
amount of water vapour required for saturation
between reservoir and surface, free water will
exist in liquid form.

The amount will be 48 - 45 = 3lbs per mmscf.

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Check Yourself 4 Check Yourself 5 Check Yourself 6

a. The problems associated with water in a. It saves money to use any naturally available 25 deg F.
gas that could affect gas processing, in sources of heat before considering paying for
the short term, are: additional, external energy. The starting point has to be the final conditions of
1 500 psi and 75 deg F. Follow an imaginary
gas quality b. i) Methanol, as a glycol regeneration cooling curve parallel to the nearest printed curve
pipeline efficiency unit would not be available. until the 2 400 psi line is intersected. This gives
hydrate formation us the temperature to which the gas requires
ii) Glycol, as long as the onshore gas heating. Temperature rise = 105 - 80 = 25 deg F.
Corrosion is not included as it is unlikely to plant has a glycol regeneration facility.
affect actual processing in the short term.
iii) Glycol, because it is safer to store for
b. i) Yes long periods.
ii) No
iii) Yes*
iv) No
v) Yes

* Remember that hydrates can form at or

below the hydrate temperature.

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Check Yourself 7
Expanded to
Starting Starting Final Final Hydrates
pressure temperature pressure temperature expected
(psi) (deg F) (psi) (deg F) Yes/No

4000 102 2000 (63) (Yes)

3800 154 1000 (74) (No)

2800 90 1800 (60) (Yes)

2000 86 1200 (52) (Yes)

1800 123 600 (65) (No)

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Check Yourself 8 Check Yourself 9

The correct sequence of steps should be :
LTS LTX BOTH
2-1-4-5-3-6
1 The incoming well stream passes through coils in the separator. a

2 The choke is at the separator inlet. a

3 Inhibitor is normally injected into the well stream. a

4 The glycol is regenerated. a

5 A heat exchanger is used to cool the gas. a

6 Hydrates form in the separator. a

7 The process makes use of the Joules/Thompson effect. a

8 The inhibitor injection point is before the heat exchanger.

a

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Check Yourself 10
a. At first, hot gas warms up the tower and the contents. At 240 deg F water will begin to boil and
vaporise. The bed continues to heat up, but more slowly, as water is being driven out of the bed.
After the water, any heavier hydrocarbons will be driven off at a high temperature, and the bed
will become fully regenerated. The bed is cooled for a couple of hours by unheated gas flowing
through it.

b. The regeneration gas is flowed bottom to top due to the lower layers of the desiccant being less
wet. Flowing from top to bottom would result in time being wasted in saturating the drier lower
layers with the wet regeneration gas flow.

c. The regeneration gas is cooled before the separator in order to condense the water removed
from the regenerated tower, which can then be taken out at the scrubber.

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Check Yourself 11 Check Yourself 12

Reboiler The cooling coil at the top of the contactor tower (reflux coil)
Surge tank reduces the temperature of the glycol to near that of the gas.
Pump
Heat exchanger
Contractor tower
Flash tank
Filter

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Check Yourself 13
i) Yes, as the expansion process takes the gas into the hydrate formation range (Figure 9).

ii) From Figure 2, water content at 3 000 psi and 120 deg F = 48 lbs per mmscf.

From Figure 9, expansion to 1 000 psi drops the temperature to 53 deg F.

From Figure 2, water content at 1 000 psi and 53 deg F = 14 Ibs per mmscf.

Water knocked out by expansion = 48 - 14 = 34 Ibs per rnmscf.

iii) Figure 2, shows that for 4lbs water content a dewpoint of 19 deg F is required at 1 000 psi.
From Figure 21, a TEG concentration of 97.5% is necessary to achieve sales specification.

iv) From Figure 22, the reboiler temperature will need to be set at about 360 deg F.

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