Hydrocarbon

recovery
A.L.SIVAPRIY
A

RETROGRADE CONDENSATION

A major reason for dew point control is the fact that

rich natural gas mixtures that contain heavier
hydrocarbons exhibit a nonintuitive behavior called
retrograde condensation.
Figure shows the pressuretemperature relationship
for a hypothetical (but typical) natural gas mixture
that contains 85 mol% methane with 4.8 mol% of C3+.
The envelope is the bubble pointdew point line of the
mixture. At any temperature and pressure combination
outside the envelope, the mixture is single phase.
At temperatures and pressures inside the envelope,
two phases exist.

Three points on the envelope are

important:
1. The cricondentherm, the maximum
temperature at which two phases can
exist
2. The cricondenbar, the maximum
pressure at which two phases can exist
3. The critical point, the temperature and
pressure where the liquid and vapor
phases have the same concentration

PROCESS COMPONENTS
The process elements involved in hydrocarbon recovery
vary, depending upon the desired products and gas volume
being processed as well as inlet composition and pressure.
EXTERNAL REFRIGERATION
External refrigeration plays a major role in many
hydrocarbon recovery processes, as it is used to cool the
gas stream to recover a significant amount of C3+ and to
lower gas temperatures as the gas goes into other stages
of hydrocarbon recovery.
It may be the only source of refrigeration when inlet
pressure is low.
Adsorption and vaporcompression refrigeration are used in
special situations.

Basic Propane Refrigeration

Process
The refrigeration cycle consists of
four steps that are depicted on the
pressure enthalpy chart.

1. Compression of saturated refrigerant vapor

at point A to a pressure well above its vapor
pressure at ambient temperature at point B
2. Condensation to point C by heat exchange
with a cooling fluid, usually air
3. Expansion through a valve (Joule-Thomson
expansion) to cool and condense the
refrigerant to point D
4. Heat exchange with the fluid to be cooled
by evaporation of the refrigerant back to
point A

Compression Step
Cycle analysis begins with propane vapor entering the
compressor as a vapor at 14.5 psia (1 bar) and
approximately 40F (40C),
where it is compressed to 250 psia (17 bar) (point A
to point B)
The work of compression is simply
where hIS is the adiabatic efficiency of the
compressor. Taking into account compressor
nonideality, the actual enthalpy at the end of the
expansion is
Compressor power to the refrigeration system is the
product of the mass flow rate and shaft work

Condensation Step
The warm gas goes to an air- or water-cooled
condenser, where the propane cools to 100 to 120F
(38 to 50C), totally condenses, and collects in a
receiver (point B to point C)
This step is simply
Expansion Step
Propane liquid leaves the receiver and flashes through
a J-T valve, where the temperature and pressure drop to
40F (40C) and 16 psia (1 bar) (point C to point D).
No change occurs in the enthalpy, but the temperature
drops to the saturation temperature of the liquid at the
expansion-discharge pressure, and hC = hD if there are
no heat leaks. If there is a heat leak,
then

 The fraction, f, of propane condensed

is computed knowing the initial
enthalpy and liquid and vapor
enthalpies at the condensation
temperature, which for the given
case is
Assuming the vapor leaves the chiller
as a saturated vapor,

Refrigeration Step
The cold propane then goes to a heat
exchanger, the chiller, where it cools the
process stream by evaporation (point D to
point A).
Because the propane in the chiller is
evaporating, and a minimal heat exchange
occurs between cold propane vapor and the
inlet gas, the inlet and outlet propane
temperature remains constant.
The propane returns to the compressor suction
slightly above 40F (40C). The heat
absorbed by the propane is simply hA hD.

 To complete the cycle, the propane

vapors leave the chiller and go to the
suction drum before being
compressed again.
Refrigeration-cycle performance is
commonly stated in terms of
coefficient of performance (COP),
which is the ratio of the refrigeration
obtained divided by the work
required.

TURBOEXPANSION
Turboexpansion provides the maximum amount of
heat removal from a system for a given pressure
drop while generating useful work. The work is used
to drive compressors or electrical generator.
The major breakthrough for turboexpanders came
when the design and materials made it possible for
condensation to occur inside the expander.
Most turboexpanders drive centrifugal compressors
to provide a portion of the outlet compression. In
situations where inlet pressures are very high
(e.g.,offshore) turboexpanders are used in pressure
letdown to provide refrigeration for dew point
control and to generate power.

Cutaway view of turboexpander

 The expander is the unit on the right, and the compressor

is the unit on the left.
Gas enters the expander through the pipe at the top
right, and is guided onto the wheel.
The swirling high-velocity inlet gas turns the wheel and
transfers part of its kinetic energy to the wheel and shaft,
exits to the right through the tapered nozzle. Because part
of the energy of the gas has been transferred to the
wheel, the exit gas is at a much lower temperature and
pressure than the gas entering.
The expander wheel, directly coupled to the compressor
wheel, provides the work necessary to drive the
centrifugal compressor on the left. Low-pressure gas
enters in the straight section on the left, is compressed by
the compressor wheel, and exits at the top of the unit.
Lubricating oil enters in the top port shown in the center
of the unit.

 About 50% of the enthalpy change occurs in

the turbine
The increase in velocity over the vanes
results in the other 50% of the total pressure
and temperature drop across the expander
unit.
Thus, the inlet guide vanes are a vital part of
the energy conversion process in a
turboexpander.
The high velocity of the gas that exits the
vanes and enters the expander wheel greatly
improves overall turboexpander efficiency

Entrainment. Gas that enters the turboexpander must be

free of both
solids and liquids. Fine-mesh screens are used to protect the
device,
and the pressure drop across the screen should be monitored.
Seal gas. This gas isolates process gas from the lubricating
oil, or
isolates process gas from the shaft if magnetic bearings are
used, and
must be clean and constantly available at the operating
pressure. Sales
gas is commonly used. Otherwise, a warmed inlet gas stream
off of
the expander inlet separator is used. (The gas must be
warmed to 70F
[20C] or more to prevent thickening of the lube oil, if used.)
Lubricant pumps. These pumps must maintain a constant
flow to lubricate the bearings if oil is used. A spare pump is

Recovery process
Many process configurations are
used to recover hydrocarbons in the
field and in gas plants. The best
configuration depends upon many
variables, including:
Product slate
Gas volumes
Gas composition
Pressures, both inlet and outlet

 The product slate dictates the required lowest

operating temperature of the gas. Both dew point
control and fuel conditioning have the same main
product a residue gas with reduced C3+ fraction.
Gas volumes and gas composition set the
optimal plant configuration on an economic basis
Inlet gas pressures make a major difference in
plant configuration. High pressures permit use of
expansion, J-T or turboexpander, to provide all of
the cooling if low ethane recovery is desired. For
low inlet pressures, either external refrigeration
or inlet compression followed by expansion is
needed to cool the gas, regardless of extent of
ethane recovery

 The following three sections are the

three hydrocarbon-recovery systems:
1. Dew point control and fuel
conditioning
2. Low ethane recovery
3. High ethane recovery
Dew point control and fuel conditioning
Dew point control and fuel
conditioning exist to knock out heavy
hydrocarbons from the gas stream.

i. Low temperature separators

Low temperature separators (LTS) (also called low
temperature extraction units,or LTX) are used
both onshore and offshore. The process consists
of cooling and partial condensation of the gas
stream, followed by a low temperature separator.
Advantages:
. Driven by pressure ratio, not absolute pressure.
. Relatively low overall pressure drop. System
recovers 65 to 80% of original pressure.
. High isentropic efficiency. Efficiency is around 90%
compared with 75 to 85% for turboexpanders.
. Simplicity. No moving parts and no utilities
required.

ii. Twister
It is used in one offshore facility and has been
favorably evaluated for other projects
Gas enters and expands through a nozzle at
sonic velocity,which drops both the
temperature and pressure and causes droplet
nucleation.
The two-phase mixture then contacts a wing
that creates a swirl and forces separation of
the phases by centrifugal force.
The gas and liquid are separated in the
diffuser; the liquid is collected at the walls and
dry gas exits in the center.

Advantages:
Relatively low overall pressure drop. System
recovers 65 to 80% of original pressure.
High isentropic efficiency. Efficiency is around
90% compared with 75 to 85% for
turboexpanders
Drawbacks of the system include:
Requires a clean feed. Solids erode the tubing
and wing, necessitating an inlet filter separator.
Limited turndown capacity. Flow variability is
limited to -+10% of designed flow. This
limitation is mitigated by use of multiple tubes
in parallel.

Low ethane recovery:

used in conventional gas plants,
where the objective is to produce a
lean gas and recover up to
approximately 60% of the ethane in
the feed gas.
Two process schemes are used to
obtain this level of ethane recovery:
Cooling by expansion or external
refrigeration
Lean-oil absorption

High ethane recovery:

To obtain 80 to 90% or more ethane recovery
requires separation temperatures well below what
is obtainable by use of propane refrigeration alone.
In principle, direct-refrigeration processes could be
used by cascading propane cooling with ethane or
ethylene refrigeration or by use of a mixed
refrigerant that contains methane, ethane, and
propane.
With recovery of a high ethane fraction, sales gas
specifications must be considered.
Recovery of too much ethane could reduce the
heating value below contract

Safety and environmental

considerations
Safety considerations primarily exist because of
the high pressures and low temperatures
involved in hydrocarbon recovery. Plugging from
insufficient removal of water and carbon dioxide
can be a processing hazard.
Environmental concerns are relatively minor;
lubricating oils along with methanol or glycol, if
used, are the primary potential pollutants from
spills.
All process fluids are tied directly to the flare in
case of emergency shutdown.