AN IMPROVED AND ENERGY EFFICIENT NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS (NGL) REMOVAL PROCESS

摘要

A new Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) separation process is under development that will provideenergy and cost savings while providing greater flexibility in terms of the amount of ethane that isrecovered or rejected. This allows the gas processor to tailor operations as the value of the NGLcomponents change compared to the value of the natural gas. This will also help maintain a supply offeedstock material to the chemical industry in times of high value natural gas. This process integratesdehydration with NGL recovery in such a way that heat recovery is maximized, pressure losses areminimized, and some high-value equipment such as the compressor, turbo-expander and a separatedehydration unit are avoided.The paper will present the technical and economic advantages of the process based on a techno-economicevaluation of the process compared to the cryogenic turbo-expander process, laboratory andbench-scale results on component solubilities with various hydrocarbon lean oils, and details on thedesign of a pilot plant unit under construction.