Water Equilibrium in the Dehydration of Natural Gas With Triethylene Glycol

To develop reliable design data for glycol contactors, gas-liquid equilibria in the system water-methane-triethylene glycol (TEG) were investigated experimentally. Equilibrium values vary little at the very high TEG concentrations used in modern contactor design, but increase significantly with increasing water concentration in the contacting TEG, and with increasing equilibrium temperature. Various methods of data correlation are described and compared with experimental data. The correlation provides the means for extending the results of this investigation to other pressures and temperatures. Introduction Water removal is a fundamental operation in natural gas processing. Hydrate formation, corrosion, and the formation of liquid water that might separate in the transmission lines are some of the problems caused by an excess of water in the gas. Of the methods available for gas dehydration, water absorption is by far the most generally used. Glycols, especially triethylene glycol (TEG), are the preferred absorbents. A survey of the literature on the water dew point of natural gas over glycol solutions reveals point of natural gas over glycol solutions reveals significant disagreements. A sampling of published dewpoint data for gas in equilibrium with TEG (Fig. 7) illustrates the prevailing confusion. Scant, but still contradictory, information was published for glycol concentrations in excess of 99.8 weight percent. Data in that range are needed in designing percent. Data in that range are needed in designing modern glycol contactors where the water dewpoint temperature must be reduced by more than 100 deg. F. The main reason for discrepancies in experimental results is the difficulty of measuring accurately very small amounts of water in gas. Water is easily adsorbed on the surfaces of experimental apparatus. Normally acceptable data scatter looms large in relation to the low water concentrations that must be measured. Attempts to establish water dew points on the basis of plant performance have been points on the basis of plant performance have been more successful. However, accuracy is limited by the difficulty in establishing the relative contribution of various factors that interrelate in plant operation. plant operation. Faced with these doubts, contactor designers have chosen to provide for TEG circulation rates that are overly high so as to insure more than adequate water removal. Such a practice is undesirable, however, where space and power are at a premium, as on offshore production platforms. Thus, the range of this investigation was governed by the need to extend equilibrium information to the contact temperatures and TEG concentrations necessary m optimize glycol contactors on offshore production platforms. production platforms. New procedures were developed for sampling and analyzing very small concentrations of water in gas and in TEG. To avoid experimental difficulties encountered by previous authors, equilibrium was reached and samples were taken under dynamic conditions. Experimental equilibrium results were smoothed and correlated by several methods. Thermodynamic equations were used to check on the internal consistency of data and to calculate equilibrium constants at conditions outside the range of the investigation itself. The White expression, fitted to the COFRC experimental data, adequately describes the results within the range of temperatures and concentrations studied. DEFINITIONS AND METHODS At water dewpoint temperature, the water contained in a natural gas reaches saturation. Part of that water will condense if the gas is brought to a lower temperature or to a higher pressure. Thus, the "dewpoint temperature" describes the water content of the gas. When dewpoint gas contacts TEG, the water content of the gas decreases. The lower water content corresponds to saturation water at a lower temperature; that is, the dew point will be lower. The initial dewpoint temperature is the contacting temperature. The temperature corresponding to the lowered water content is the equilibrium dewpoint temperature, and the difference between the two temperatures is the dewpoint depression. SPEJ P. 297