Natural Gas Dehydration Process Simulation and Inlet Conditions Case Studies Using Aspen HYSYS - TEG Dehydration

Abstract

: To meet sales gas specifications and to optimise the economic value of the raw gas stream, it is vital to remove water from the gas stream. Water in pipelines can cause pipe plugging, corrosion, decrease in combustion efficiency, an increase in operating pressures, etc. The objectives of this paper were to verify the findings of the theory in literature by simulating a natural gas dehydration unit using TEG, performing various case studies of temperature and pressure variations as well as evaluating the costs involved. The Aspen HYSYS process simulator was used to simulate the natural gas dehydration unit in the simulation environment. The Aspen Process Economic Analyser was engaged to analyse the economic viability of the unit. Finally, Microsoft Excel was used to plot graphs and analyse the results of the simulation. Results showed that the unit was able to reduce the water content in the gas from 37.98 Ib/MMSCF to 2.493 Ib/MMSCF which falls below the maximum sales gas water content specification of 7 Ib/MMSCF. It was also seen that increasing the temperature of the feed gas, increases the gas` ability to hold more water, increasing the feed gas pressure, decreases the water holding capacity of the gas as stated in literature. It can be concluded that this unit operating at these operating conditions is optimal for industrial and commercial use.