Disc Contents © IPA, 2006 - 4th Annual Convention Proceedings, 1975

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PROCEEDINGS INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION 3
,Fourth Annual Convention, June 1975
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ETHANE EXTRACTION FOR PETROCHEMICAL FEEDSTOCK

BAMBANG BR ,MONO *
R.G. HUTTON **)
R.E. LOSBAUGH **I

ABSTRACT Preliminary studies have shown that a Indonesia is also strategically located geograph-
petrochemical project for the manufacture of ethylene ically to serve growing markets in surrounding
and selected ethylene derivatives using an ethane areas.
feedstock extracted from natural gas to be produced
from the Arun field would be practicaL The petrochemical industry. appears attractive
as part of Indonesia’s industrialization pro-
The Arun field, which is near the town of Lho
gram, due to the fact that goods and comma&-
Seumawe in Aceh Province, North Sumatra, is being
.developed to produce gas to be liquefied for export, ities made from petrochemical products have
and the studies initiated by Pertamina have shown widespread use in both households and in-
that the ethane required for a one billion pound dustry. Indonesia has the hydrocarbon re-
per year ethylene plant could be extracted from sources to make feedstocks available for petro-!
the Arun gas without reducing the quantity or heating chemicals manufacture. Indonesia produces
value of. the LNG product below the levels per- about 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil,
mitted under existing sales contracts and has large natural gas reserves.
Agreements for the sale of LNG and for the design In this connection there are two important
and construction of the Arun LNG plant were signed
factors t o be established, namely: providing
prior to beginning the ethane studies, Therefore it
was necesavy that the ethane extraction facilities the most suitable feedstock for Indonesian
be designed to have a minimal effect on the LNG plant petrochemicals manufacture and developing the
design and on the construction schedule. A simple markets to absorb products from planned world
cryogenic turboexpander process was selected for scale Indonesian petrochemical plants. This
this purpose. paper will deal only with the first problem -
The natural gas will be treated and dehydrated by finding the most suitable feedstock.
the LNG plant before its. delivery t o the turbo-
expander cycle. Energy developed by the pressure POSSIBLE RAW MATERIALS
drop across the turboexpander will be utilized to help The major basic chemical building blocks for
recompress the gas Additional compression horse petrochemicals are olefins (ethylene and propy-
power will be required to boost the gas back to its lene) and aromatics (benzene, toluene and
original pressure. xylenes). These materials are the principal
The-major interface between the LNG plant and constituents in virtually all plastics, synt
the ethane extraction facilities will be in the fraction- thetic rubbers and synthetic fibers. Ethylene,
ation system which serves both plants. having the largest markets worldwide, is chief
By this recommended method for efficient ethane among the basic petrochemicals.
extraction both technical and business criteria will
be satisfied. Naphtha is the most versatile raw material
far manufacturing these basic chemicals. Naph-
Section 1 tha can be steam cracked into both olefins
and aromatics or the naphtha can be reformed
INTRODUCTION t o make only aromatics. Gas oil, or petroletim
NEED FOR PETROCHEMICAL FEEDSTOCK distillate, is another feedstock that can be
With a population of approximately 125 mil- steam cracked t o olefins and aromatics, but
lion people and with an abundance of varied the ethylene yield from this conversion is not
resources, Indonesia has a great potential for *) PERTAMINA
industrialization. In buildingits industrial base, **) MOBIL OIL
4

Strait of matacca

'i
p r opo s ed
petrochemical
complex

Sumatra

EXHIBIT 1. Possible location of petrochemical complex

 5

as high as that from naphtha. to the petrochemical complex from the LNG
Natural gas liquids (ethane, propane and plant by pipelines. For this reason the location
butanes) can also be used as feedstocks for proposed for the petrochemical complex is
petrachemical manufacture. From ethane and in the vicinity of the LNG plant in Aceh.
propane only olefins are produced, while EXHIBIT 1 is a location map of the proposed
butanes can yield both olefins and aromatics. petrochemical complex.
LIMITATIONS ON RAW MATERIALS Section 2
Indonesia has five existing refineries with a
total crude capacity of around 400 thousand PETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX
barrels per day. A new 100 thousand barrel DESCRIPTION OF COMPLEX
per day refinery is now under constru
The petrochemical complex chosen for study
Indonesian crude oil produces about
consumes ethane and produces ethylene which
percent naphtha and distillate, the remainder
in turn, can be used to produce a host of
being residual oil.
derivatives products. The derivatives include
Indonesia's domestic fuel requirements are density polyethylene, high density poly-
mainly for gasoline and distillates. Nearly all ethylene, ethylene glycol, styrene monomer
of the naphtha and distillates from the existing and vinyl chloride monomer. EXHIBIT 2 shows
refineries plus the new refinery under con- the typical ethylene-derived petrochemicals and
struction will be needed to meet this domestic their derivatives and lists the major apphcation
fuel demand. For this reason, naphtha and areas for the derivatives produced. There are
distillates cannot be made available in suffic- substantial existing markets for these products
ient amounts to feed a world in Southeast Asia.
chemical project. Further, it does
Low density polyethylene, high density poly-
economical at this time to increase naphtha
ethylene and ethylene glycol consume only
and distillate by cracking residual
ethylene as a feedstock. In addition t o ethyl-
oils, be cause residual oils are low
ene, styrene monomer and vinyl chloride
in sulphur and command attractive prices in monomer require benzene and salt, respect-
world markets.
ively, both of which can be made available
In view of this demand structure for oil., the from Indonesian sources.
discovery of significant gas reserves in the
Derivatives produced in the grass roots complex
Arun field in Aceh provides interesting possibil-
ities for the extraction of natural gas liquids
in Aceh will be fabricated into usable con-
sumer and industrial products near the markets
for use as petrochemical feedstocks.
in which these goods are to be consumed.
ETHANE FROM NATURAL GAS Accordingly, provision has been made within
Based on the natural gas reserves discovered the complex €or extensive facilities t o ' ship
in the Arun field, a large scale plant is now these solids and liquids to market areas.
under construction in Aceh to liquefy natural
gas. Commitments have been made to sell The complex itself would occupy a site of
this LNG to utility and industrial companies approximately 700 acres, including areas for
in Japan and the west coast of the United central utilities, administration, storage and
shipping facilities. In addition, a tdwnsite tp
States based on a specific range of heating
values. Meeting LNG specifications under these house a work force of from 1500 to 2000
sales Contracts imposes a limitation on the people will be required.
quantity and type of natural gas liquids that 3
may be extracted for petrochemical use. Within
these limitations, ethane was chosen as the INTEGRATION OF ETHANE EXTFMX"J
desired raw material for ethylene manufacture. WITH LNG PLANT.
LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED COMPLEX LNG SCHEME
Both ethane and fuel gas will be transported The planned ethane extraction for chemicals
 I
i
::~...: ~. m~.!ili:' :~-'--:'.--:.:. "t.~J~ ......
,. | ....
m

I:~.~ i~iiil

~:!:]
I f

LEGEND:
BAS,C . A I " E . , A L
iNTERMEDIATE PRODUCTS
~ 7 ~ APPLICATIONS

EXHIBIT 2. Typical ethylene-derived petrochemicals

and their applications
 7
feedstock will be integrated with the liquefied heavier components. Work ‘from the turbige
natural gas (LNG) plant now under construct- is used to recompress the gas partly back to
ion. The process for natural gas liquefaction the initial gas pressure. The gas is recompressed
year in some detail at this and restored t o the diversion point after the
fly, the process involves dryers. The ethane is recovered and purified
gas to remove carbon di- by an expanded fractionation section.
oxide, and dehydration of the gas over molecul-
ar sieves to remove water, after Which the SELECTION OF ETHANE PROCESS
gas is liquefied by refrigeratio Both processes meet the constraints of quality
hydrocarbons such as pentanes and quantity that are imposed by the existing
components have only limited LNG contracts. The major factors that have
LNG and must be removed. This is accomplish- to be considered in the selection of the ethane
ed by’ propane cooling and then condensing extraction scheme, therefore, are timing, plant
the heavy hydrocarbons in a “scrub” column. reliability, and cost.
The botto from the scrub column
J fractionation section where
and propane are separated for refrigeran
ethane extraction processes were
installation at Arun, the design
plant was far advanced. Design
up, as shown in EXHIBIT 3. Excess ethane, changes could have involved delay in the con-
butanes, and propane are reinjected to the struction of the LNG plant and consequent
feed gas stream. The pentanes and heavier delays in the shipment of LNG to customers
components are withdrawn from the system. abroad. For this reason a prime consideration
The feed gas is further cooled by propane in process selection was that equipment and
and then enters the main exchanger of the facilities associated with the extraction process
APCI MCRR process where the gas is li- chosen must be easily incorporated into the
quefied. existing LNG plant design with minimum dis-
ruption t o either the construction schedule
EVALUATION OF ETHANE PROCESS
or operatidns of the LNG plant. Further, it
Two ethane extraction processes were evaluat- was important that minimum preinvestment
ed. One was an absorption process using butane in the LNG plant would be required to provide
as qn absorbent, and the other was a cryogenic for ethane extraction and that the timing of
process involving expansion of the natural gas the actual installation of the ethane extraction
through a turbine. units be as flexible aw possible. The latter
In the butane absorption scheme, the scrub was necessary to assure that ethane would
column is rbplaced by a larger absorption be available on a schedule that would accom-
column where ethane is absorbed in butane. modate the construction and startup of the.
’The rich butane is fed to the fractionation ethylene plant which is the central core of
section t o recover and purify the ethane. the petrochemical complex.
The butane is cooled by additional propane Installation of the absorption process in con-
refrigeration and then is recycled back to the junction with the LNG plant would have in-
pthane absorption coIumn. As shown in EX- volved redesign in several key areas of the
HIBIT 4, all facilities are modified and en- LNG plant. Later installation of this process
larged, principally due to the high butane would have involved revamping of certain
recycle required for this process. equipment within the LNG plant with con-
In the cryogenic expander scheme, shown in sequent shutdown of plant operations. On the
EXHIBIT 5 , the gas is diverted after the other hand, provision could be made to ac-
dryers from the LNG train to the cryogenic commodate later installation of the expander
expander train. In this process, energy (heat) process with only minimum preinvestment
is removed from the feed gas by expanding costs and with no major revision of LNG plant
the gas through a turbine with consequent design. The expander units co
lowering of pressure and temperature and con- constructed on their own plots at a later date
densation of a liquid containing ethane and with little if any, disruption to LNG plant
8

SCRUB
COLUMN

LNG

REFRIGERANT c2+
MAKEUP

EXHIBIT 3. Arun LNG scheme

 BUTANE
ABSORPTION
COLUMN

CO2 DRYERS ~U~

REMOVAL

BUTANE
'FRIGERA
LEGEND: RECYCLE
MAKEUP
[ I UNCHANGED

i ~ MODIFIED

EXHIBIT 4. Butane absorptLon s c h e m e

SCRUB
COLUMN

LIQUE-
FACTION

LEGEND:
REFRIGERAI
r'~'~UNCHANGED MAKEUP
~DEBOTTLENECKED ETHANE
Nm

EXHIBIT 5. CryogenLc e x p a n s i o n s c h e m e
10
operations. Modifications to the LNG plant CRYOGENIC ETHANE EXTRACTION
fractionation section would result in little The cryogenic expander process is a simple-
equipment redundancy.
cycle expander plant requiring no external
Since the bulk of the equipment involved jn refrigeration which produces an ethane rich
the expander extraction process could be as- stream for ethane recovery in a modified
sembled offsite, skid mounted and shipped fractionation section of the LNG plant. The
to the site, installation would not interfere installation proposed for Arun is si- to
with either construction or operation .of the 'several U.S. Gulf Coast operations in which
LNG plant. ethane and other liquid petroleum gases are
In view of the above considerations, it is extracted from natural gas transmission lines.
apparent that the cryogenic expander process Also, the expnader process is being used in
best meets the technical and other criteria for the PERTAMINA/NGL project. A simplified
selection of the ethane extraction process to flow diagram of the ethane recovery system
be employed at the Arun LNG plant, and is shown in EXHIBIT 9. The design criteria
consequently, this process has been chosen. are shown in EXHIBIT 10.
The process will be further described in the The dried gas, diverted from the LNG plant
next section. at a point downstream of the molecular sieve
dehydration units, enters the ethane extract-
Section 4 ion area at approximately 730F and 700 psig
* and is filtered to remove molecular sieve dust

ETHANE EXTRACTION and other foreign matter. The feedstream is

BASIS OF STUDY then split, the major portion of the flow is
cooled in an aluminum plate-fin gas-to-gas
Ethane is recovered by the cryogenic extract- exchanger against residue gas coming from
ion of an ethane rich stream from'the feed the top of the demethanizer. The remainder
gas entering the LNG plant. The fractionation of the inlet gas passes through an aluminum
of this stream yields a high purity ethane plate-fin exchanger where it serves as the
product that will serve as feedstock for the heating medium for the demethanizer reboiler.
petrochemical complex ethylene plant. Ethane Little, if any, external heat will be required
will be withdrawn for transmission by pipe- to reboil the demethanizer. These exchangers
line to the ethylene plant to be stored in a. have been shown in the isometric sketch,
cryogenic surge tank'. EXHIBIT 8, as a single cold box.
The process flow diagram for cryogenic ex- After heat exchange, both portions of the
traction is shown in EXHIBIT 6, and is in- feedstream are combined and flashed in ahigh
cluded jn the LNG plant plot plan in EX- pressure separator reducing the mixture to a
HIBIT 7. . temperature of about -6OOF at 670 psig. The
The plant depicted on the accompanying plot condensed liquid is fed to the center section
plan, EXHIBIT 7, consists of five cryogenic of the demethanizer. The vapor is sent to a
turboexpanders for the extraction of the ethane turboexpanderlcompressor of approximately
rich stream and three fractionatiop sections 4000 horsepower where work is extracted
for the production of product ethane. The from it, further cooling the stream to a
three fractionation sections are a modification temperature at which sufficient liquid will be
of the two sections originally designed for produced to yield the desired ethane rich feed
operations of the LNC plant without ethane to the fractionation section. This stream will
recovery. TO minimize loss of LNG production, contain roughly 93 percent of the propane
the C02 treaters and molecular sieve dryers and 60 percent of the ethane initially'con-
have been enlarged and debottlenecked. The tained in the feed gas. The turboexpander
plant will produce sufficient high purity ethane effluent is fed t o a low temperature separator
to feed a one billion pound per year ethylene on top of the demethanizer, with the condens-
plant. An isometric sketch is shown in EX- ed liquid providing reflux for the demethanizer.
HIBIT 8.
 11

MAIN EXCHANGER

ETHANE PRODUCT

FRACTIONATION

EXHIBIT 6 . Ethane extraction by cryogenic expander

12

i
N
I

REFRIGERANT

CONDENSATE

ETHANE AND FUEL GAS ’

P/L TO PETROCHEMICAL‘-------. METERS

“-I
EXHIBIT 7. LNG plant plot plan
13
14~

w ' l * ~ "~EXPANDER
COOLe~
I Arrt.
CW.mO~

DE.ST.A.,ZS~~

w
i ~Jt.
SEPARATOR TO
FRACTO
I NATO
IN
FILTER
• EXHIBIT: 9. Simplified p r o c e s s now d i a g r a m
of the e t h a n e r e c o v e r y s y s t e m
 15

II GAS DESIGN DATA

I
I

EXPANDER PLANT FEED ANALYSIS

COMPONENTS MOL PERCENT

NITROGEN 0.42
METHANE 87.25
ETHANE 6.85
PROPANE 3.12
ISOBUTANE 0.74
NORMAL BUTANE 0.91
PENTANES PLUS 0.71

TOTAL 100.00

DESIGN CONDITIONS
FLOW RATE: 250 MSHSCFD
INLET GAS TEMPERATURE: 73OF
INLET GAS PRESSURE: 685 psie

EXHIBIT 10. Basis for design, turboexpander plant

The residue gas, after exchanging heat with ion and packaging with minimum on-site
the inlet feedstream and cOmpressed to the fabrication. The major equipment, except for
extent possible by the turboexpander driven the demethanizer, can be packaged into sea-
compressors, is further compressed by gas transportable modnles, These would consist
turbine driven compressors to about 700 psig of the turboexpanders, the process compressors
and cooled to 100°F before reentering the and drivers, the high pressure separators, and
LNG process train upstream from the LNG the necessary heat exchange quipment with
feed, medium-level propane exchanger. all W c i a t e d piping. The demethanizer would
The residue gas compressors are driven.by gas be 'Set on its own ftX"htion next to the
turbines similar to GE Frame 5. These com- skid-mounted processing
pressors require approximately 18,000 brake FRACTIONATION FACILITIES
horsepower. Sufficient waste heat will be re- FOR ETHANE EXTRACTION
covered from three of the five turbines to
provide the incremental I50 psig process stream The initial design of the six-train LNG plant
required for the incremental fractionativn load. for two fractionation systems
The demethanizer tower bqttoms is pumped each consisting of a deethanizer, a depropanizer,
to the demethanizer in the modified fractionat- and a debutanizer. As shown in EXHIBIT 11,
ion section of the LNG plant where ethane these'units prepare ethane and propane streams
is recovered for transfer as gas via pipeline for use as refrigerant makeup for the LNG
to the ethylene plant and/or as liquid t o plant and also yie1d.a stabilized condensate
cryogenic liquid ethane storage. stream containing some butanes plus pentanes
The process described above, selected for both and heavier comPOnents.
compatibility with planned LNG production Due t o the need to produce a high purity
and simplicity of operation and maintenance, ethane product at a much higher rate, the
. offers the additional advantage. of prefabricat- installation of the cryogenic expander ethane
16

~ "

: ZJ ----. [ :J

MAKEUP A N D ~ MAKEUP A N D
REINJECTION Q REINJECTION

HEAVY
tar.ARm

E X H I B I T 11. FractLonatLon sectLon, LNG plant d e s i g n

C3,REFRIG ~ETHANE

CRYOGENIC

!l

@ IP
REINJECT00N
HEAVY
HYDROCARBONS

E X H I B I T 12. Modified fractLonation sectLon

 17

recovery process will requue revision of these Section 5

fractionation units. The two fractionation sect-
ions in the initial design will be modified by SUMMARY
substituting larger deethanizers for the smaller CONCLUSIONS
ones originally planned. A modified fraction-
ation section is shown in EXHIBIT 12. In comparing the cryogenic expander process
with the butane absorption process for ethane
A third fractionation section identical to extraction, it was apparent that both schemes
modified sections one and two will-be needed had certain advantages.
to complete the three parallel fractionation
sections required to produce ethane feed for In the case of butane absorption, advantages
a one billion pound. per year ethylene plant. were.:
Since the depropanizer design is unchanged Slightly less horsepower required
from the original LNG plant design, the higher Fewer pieces of equipment required
throughput associated with ethane recovery In the case of the cryogenic expander, ad-
limits the ability of these depropanizers to vantages were:
make refrigerant grade propane. For this reason No delay in LNG schedule
a small depropanizer has been added to produce Lower total investment
high purity propane for refrigerant makeup. Higher ethane extraction potential
The liquid feed consisting of the turboexpander Greater flexibility in timing of instailat-
demethanizer bottoms is fed to the deethanizer. ion, with limited preinvestment
The vapor overhead is partially condensed Increased reliability due to no refrigerant
in the deethanizer overhead condensers against interaction between trains
propane refrigerant. The ethane vapor is with- Lower utility usage
drawn from the accumulators at approximately
Inasmuch as the turboexpander process des-
450 psig and transferred directly to the ethyl-
cribed in this paper is clearly superior in the
ene plant in the petrochemical complex number of advantages which it provides, it
through a pipeline. Deethanizer overhead liquid was chosen as the preferred system. Necessary
is sent to the liquid ethane surge tank, used
preinvestment items have already been in-
as refrigerant makeup or returned to the LNG
cluded in the design of the LNG plant.
system.
In recapitulation, the turboexpander process
Deethanizer tower bottoms are piped to the
provides an efficient means of extracting suf-
depropanizer towers where the overhead is
ficient ethane from the Arun LNG plant feed-
condensed in an air-cooled total condenser.
stream to feed a one billion pound per year'
A portion of the overhead liquid is used as
ethyl'ene plant. The turboexpander unit can
feed to a propane refrigeration tower. The
be installed at any time to coincide with the
remainder is injected into the LNG feedstream
completion of the ethylene plant. Modification
of the liquefaction section.
of the LNG plant fractionation facilities can be
The liquid bottoms from the depropanizers accomplished with negligible effect on LNG
are fed to the debutanizer towers. Recovery production. Only minimum preinvestment in
of butanes is accomplished by total condensing the LNG plant is required for later installation
air coolers and the net overhead product is of the turboexpander plant.adn the units them-
injected either into the LNG system or the selves, because they can be prepackaged and
condensate product. The debutanizer bottoms skid mounted. In addition, they can be con-
afe cooled and sent t o condensate storage. structed with minimal disruption to LNG plant
Refrigeration for the fractionation facilities operations. And finally, the LNG operation
is provided by a separate propane compressor will not be affected by a malfunction of the
system, one per fractionation se5tion. The turboexpander system, and consequently im-
deethanizer overhead condensers and the poses no liability on the LNG plant operation,
propane and butane LNG return subcoolers
are serviced by this refrigeration system. * * *