NATURAL GAS

PROCESSING
&
LNG

By

Muhammad Sharique Khan

26, September
2009
 Introduction
 Objectives of Natural Gas Processing &
LNG :


 Purification of CO2, H2S, H2O, etc


 Hydrocarbon recovery like liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG), ethane.

 Upgrading N2 rejection and Helium
recovery.

 Huge reduction in Volume, a factor of 650
and decreasing the size and cost of
storage and transportation.
Composition of some Natural
Gases
Maximum Allowable Impurities
Levels in Natural gas.
 Purification
 A Purification is the process where the material
removed from the gas stream is discarded
e.g. water.


 Recovery process is one where the material

removed has economical value e.g. helium or
ethane.


 Impurities are removed to:

 Obtain a desired product purity.
 Prevent the deposition of solids.
 Remove an explosion hazard.
 Prevent the blanketing of heat transfer surfaces by
non condensable gases.
 Prevent Corrosion.
 Methods of Impurity Removal
 The methods used to remove specific impurities could be
divided into two classes:


 External : Processes that are carried out at near-ambient

temperatures or ahead of the cold box.
 Internal: Purification steps that take place after the feed gas has
entered the low-temperature system.



 On the Basis of Volatility of impurity:



 High boiling impurities like high boiling HC, organic sulfur

compounds like CS2, mercaptanes , SO2, Water.
 Low boiling impurities like N2, CO, Ar and Methane


 Classification of Impurity Removal
Process
 Condensation to a liquid by increase of pressure at constant
temperature


 Condensation to liquid or solid by cooling at constant pressure



 Absorption by a liquid
 Purely physical
 With chemical reaction

 Adsorption by a solid
 Physical
 With chemical reaction

 Chemical reaction.


 Permeation through a membrane.



 Mechanical separation.
Water Removal- Dehydration


 Natural feed to baseload plants can contain as much as

1600 kg H2O/106m3.


 The removal of water vapor is accomplished either by

absorption in a liquid or by adsorption on a solid.


 The absorption processes generally use diethylene glycol

or triethylene glycol as the drying liquid in a
countercurrent absorber.
Glycol Water Absorption Process
 Molecular Sieve Dehydration
Process
 Sieves Adsorption is used to produce very low water content
in the natural gas due to the greatest affinity for water
due to their natural structure.


 Sieves can effectively remove acid gases like H2S and CO2
with water.


 Over 75% of all Cryogenic hydrocarbon recovery plants rely

on molecular sieve for dehydration.


 Dehydration to dew points of 200K(-100-105 F) is

accomplished through the use of molecular sieve.


 Disadvantages of Sieves dehydration:

 High capital costs, limitation of maximum economical throughput
 Danger of adsorbent contamination and undesirable co adsorption
 Need for source of clean, dry reactivation gas
 Possibility of adsorbent dusting

Molecular Sieve Dehydration
Process
 Two-Stage Adsorption
&
 Purification
 Four-tower molecular sieve system is used


 Two towers (dryers) for removing water from the total inlet natural
gas stream.
 Two towers (purifiers) for removing carbon dioxide from the
portion of gas being liquefied


 Advantages of four-tower, two-stage system



 The first-stage absorbers can be efficiently designed for water and

H2S removal, taking advantage of the high adsorption capacity
of the adsorbent for these impurities.

 Second-stage absorbers can be designed specifically for the higher
concentrations and lower adsorptive capacity of CO . The adsorbed thus
2

handles a smaller quantity of feed gas, thereby reducing overall system

requirements

 Four-tower Molecular Sieve system for
Natural Gas Dehydration & CO2 removal.
 Removal of CO2 & H2S
 Inlet natural gas typically contains 0.5–2.0 vol % CO2.


 Local freeze out of CO2 occur at low temp.



 CO2 content of the feed gas usually kept below 50 ppm.



 Hydrogen sulfide is removed for two reasons

 To eliminate an undesirable component in the gas stream.
 To recover the H2S as elemental sulfur.


 The H2S and CO2 removal operations may be roughly

grouped into three categories:
 Processes using a reversible chemical reaction.
 Processes using physical absorption.
 Processes employing fixed beds of solids.


Amine system for natural gas
CO2& H2S removal
 Mercury Removal
 Mercury concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 180 mg/m3
exist in all natural gas streams.


 Mercury is responsible for aluminum corrosion so it should

be removed from the feed gas.


 Mercury is first converted to organic and inorganic form

because their presence has no problem in the plants
and removed easily.


 Mercury removal in this process is based on the high

reactivity of mercury with sulfur and its compounds;
less than 10 ng/m3 is obtained with a high space
velocity.
 LIQUEFACTION OF NATURAL GAS


 After the Natural Gas has been treated to remove impurities the
next step is liquefaction.


 Three basic liquefaction cycles are:



 The classical cascade cycle


 The expander cycle

 The mixed-refrigerant cascade cycle
Cascade Process Flowsheet
 The Classical Cascade Cycle


 Typically, a propane–ethylene–methane cascade

combination is used with the natural gas being cooled
through the vaporization of each component in turn.


 By vaporizing each refrigerant at two or three pressure

levels, the efficiency of the natural gas cooling process
is increased, but so is the complexity of the entire
liquefaction cycle.


 The rapid increase in power requirement with decreasing

temperature is a key consideration in the design of
natural gas liquefaction units.
Expander Cycle
 The Expander Cycle


 Expander cycle uses the cooling effect obtained by

expansion of the natural gas to liquefy a portion of the
natural gas.


 Expansion turbines are used in this process, with

liquefaction occurring upon expansion through a Joule–
Thomson valve.
Closed-cycle mixed-refrigerant
cascade
Mixed-Refrigerant Cascade Cycle
q MCR Cascade cycle based on the same principle as the
classical cascade cycle.
q
q A single refrigeration loop complete with their own
compressor is used .
q
q If composition of feed changes the composition of the
mixed refrigerant must also be changed to reduce
thermodynamic irreversibility.
q
q The mixed refrigerant is repeatedly condensed, vaporized,
separated and expanded.
q
q Major problem with MCR cycle is that problem occur in
handling two-phase multicomponent mixtures in the
heat exchangers.
Thank you
For Details contact
[email protected]