AcidGasDehydration:

Why?HowMuch?
Is There a Better Way?
IsThereaBetterWay?
WMcKay@gasliquids.com /WMcKay@DexProDehy.com
WMcKay@gasliquids.com
/ WMcKay@DexProDehy.com
April 17, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana

Nevertakeyoureyeoffthetarget

Section1

WhoAreWe?
Who Are We?

GasLiquidsEngineering AcidGasInjection

Oil&gasEPCMcompanyformedin1987 currentlyemploy~250people

Started acid gas injection early firstprojectwasin1995

Startedacidgasinjectionearly
first project was in 1995

Workedonacidgasprojectsorprovidedtrainingin12countriesoutsideof
Canada,including6statesintheUS

Involvedinabout25%oftheAlbertaacidgasinjectionprojectstodate

Published7booksandover50articlesandtechnicalpapersrelevanttoacid
Published
7 books and over 50 articles and technical papers relevant to acid
gasandCO2 behavior,facilitydesign,andinjectionoperationalissues

Patentedanovelcosteffectiveacidgasdehydrationprocess

Why?
HowMuch?
How?

Section2

Why Dehydrate?
WhyDehydrate?
Why

3Reasons

Corrosion
Hydrate
y
Formation
ImposedSpecs

Corrosion

= ACID!

Hydrates
Definition
Aphysicalcombinationofwaterandsmallmolecules
producingacrystallinecompoundhavingicelike
appearancebutpossessingdifferentpropertiesand
structurethanice.

Problem
Atsometemperature,abovethefreezingpointof
water,thewaterandacidgaswillbegintoformasolid
calledahydrate.
TheHydrateFormationTemperatureandvaries
y
p
accordingtothepressure,gascomposition,andwater
contentofthevapor.
Hydratescausereducedheattransfer,excesspressure
drops blockages and safety concerns
drops,blockages,andsafetyconcerns.

HydrateFormation

PipelineSpec

CO2 pipelineoperatorsimposeminimumqualityrequirementsforcorrosion
i li
t i
i i
lit
i
t f
i
controlandhydrateprevention

Ki d M
KinderMorganCO
CO2 PipelineSpec(June5,2008)
Pi li S
(J
5 2008)

Component

Standard

Purity
Water
Oxygen
HydrogenSulfide
TotalSulfur
Nitrogen
Temperature
Hydrocarbons
Other

95%molepercentofCarbonDioxide
nofreewater,notmorethanthirty(30)poundsofwaterperMMscfinthevaporphase
notmorethanten(10)partspermillion,byweight,ofoxygen
notmorethantwenty(20)partspermillion,byweight,ofhydrogensulfide
notmorethanthirtyfive(35)partspermillion,byweight,oftotalsulfur
notmorethanfourmolepercent(4%)ofnitrogen
notexceedatemperatureof120F
notmorethanfivemolepercent(5%)ofhydrocarbons;dewpointnothigherthan20F
notcontainmorethan0.3(threetenths)gallonsofglycolperMMcf andatnotimeshall
suchglycolbepresentinaliquidstateatthepressureandtemperatureconditionsofthe
h l lb
t i li id t t t th
dt
t
diti
f th
pipeline

PipelineSpec
DNV
RP J202 Design
DesignandOperationofCO
DNVRPJ202
and Operation of CO2 Pipelines
Pipelines(April2010)
(April 2010)

4.8.3Limitationsonwatercontent
ensurethatnofreewatermayoccuratanylocationinthepipelinewithinthe
operationalandpotentialupsetenvelopesandmodes,unlesscorrosiondamageis
avoidedthroughmaterialselection.
normaloperationpressureandtemperatureenvelope
safetyfactorof2isrecommended
shutinpressurecombinedwithminimumambienttemperature
depressurizationscenario
waterdropoutcannotbepreventedwithoutverystringentlimits

Watercontentspecneedstobeestablishedaccordingtothelocal
Water
content spec needs to be established according to the local
transportationconditions

Pipingacrosstheplantsitemightonlyrequire75lb/MMscf(1,580ppmV)
Above ground piping in Arctic permafrost may require 12 lb/MMscf (252 ppmV)
AbovegroundpipinginArcticpermafrostmayrequire12lb/MMscf(252ppm

Section3

HowMuch
Dehydration ?
Dehydration?

AcidGasPhaseEnvelopes

WaterContent AQUAlibrium

WaterContent AQUAlibrium

Section4

HowtoDehydrate?

Methods
Compression

Watercontentinvapour isreducedaspressureisincreased

Desiccant

Absorption

solid calciumchloride
liquid glycerin,glycols(TEG)
Adsorption
p
ggels,alumina,molecularsieve

Refrigeration thermodynamicphaseseparation

External(closed)

A/C car refrigerator arena gas plant liquids recovery

A/C,car,refrigerator,arena,gasplantliquidsrecovery

Internal(autorefrigeration)

Chokeplantdewpointcontrol
DexPro(patented)

Separation mechanicalmembranepermeation

Compression

Absorption

Simplifiedprocessoverview glycol
CO2 flowsfromthebottomupthrougha
contactor
dryglycolflowsfromthetopdown
throughthecontactor
glycolabsorbswaterfromtheCO2 asit
flowsthroughtheglycol
water,andotherabsorbedcontaminants,
d h
b b d
i
areboiledoutofthewetglycolina
reboiler
dryglycolisrecycledbacktothecontactor
d l l i
l db k
h

Refrigeration external

Simplifiedprocessdescription
Condenser
refrigerantiscondensedtoliquid
refrigerant is condensed to liquid
Expansion
liquidrefrigerantisexpandedacross
a JT valve to desired temperature
aJTvalvetodesiredtemperature
Evaporator(chiller)
coldrefrigerantabsorbsheatfrom
CO2 andevaporatesrefrigerant
p
g
Compressor
refrigerantvapour isrecompressed
todesiredcyclepressureand
returnedtocondenser

DexPro
Simplifiedprocessdescription DexPro
TCVorJTV(JouleThomsonValve)
CoolsasmallslipstreamofDryacidgasbyreducingthepressure(expansion)

DexProModule
ColdDryAcidGasmixeswithWetacidgasintheDexProModule

Stage5SuctionScrubber/Compressor/Cooler
St
5 S ti S bb /C
/C l
CondensedwaterfromtheDexProModuleisremovedinsuctionscrubber
CoolDryacidgasincreasesfluidcompressionefficiency

CompressorPerformancevs.InletTemperature

DexPro

Section5

HowdotheyCompare?
How
dotheyCompare?

Glycol&MolecularSieveDehydration 120F

Refrigeration&DexPro 120F

ExampleCase

1,000ton/day 17.25 MMscf/dofdryCO2

water saturated at 120FF@20psia
watersaturatedat120
@ 20 psia (~6psig)
(~6 psig)

pipelineinletdesignpressure 2,000psig(~2,015psia)
4compression(centrifugal)stages

interstage/aftercoolingbetweencompressorstages
95Fcoolingwater/105Fprocess(CO2)

30 lb / MMscf dehydration requirement

30lb/MMscfdehydrationrequirement
~10Fhydratetemperature

Process
No
Triethylene
External
Dehydration
Glycol
Refrigeration
Compression
main
hpgas
5,469.9
5,494.0
5,256.8
refrigeration hpgas
163.3
total
5,469.9
5,494.0
5,420.1
0 44%
0.44%
0.91%
0 91%
CoolingWater
main
gpmUS
1,441
1,446
1,340
condenser gpmUS
94
total
1,441.0
1,446.0
1,434.0
0 35%
0.35%
0 49%
0.49%
Heat
regenerator btu/hr
80,257
t/yr
135.2
RegeneratorVent CO2
Water
t/yr
280.6
Glycol
lb/yr
41.0
Glycollosses
pipeline
lb/yr
17,788.9
vent
lb/yr
41.0
Methanollosses pipeline
lb/hr
23.2
bbl/d
2.0

DexPro
DexPro
5,539.0
5,539.0
1 26%
1.26%
1,447
1,447.0
0 42%
0.42%

Horsepower

Cooling
Regeneration
StillVent
TEGlosses
MeOHlosses

Size
TEGDehyy

DexPro

Weight
30"Contactor
13,000
StillColumn
400
Vent
400
FlashTank
1,000
Reboiler/Surge
2,000
Piping
2,900
Skid
3,400
Wiring
400
Glycol
6,000
miscellaneous
500
Total(lb.) 30,000
ton 15.0

Weight
DexProModule
700
Regulators
20
Analyzer
150
ControlPanel
130
Pump/motor
100
Frame
150
Instruments
100
Wiring
400

Size
30ft.
14 ft
14ft.
8ft.

Size
6ft.
6 ft
6ft.
2ft.

Height
Length
Width
2
Footprint(ft )

112

miscellaneous
Total(lb.)
ton

Height
Length
Width
2
Footprint(ft )

250
2,000
1.0

12

LowestWeight

LowestArea

Economics

DehydrationCapitalCost

No
Dehydration
installed $

AnnualOperatingCost
A
lO
ti C t
Compression $70/MWhr $2,502,206
TriethyleneGlycol
$1.00/lb $
Methanol
$0.25/lb $
AnnualMaintenanceCost
TotalAnnualCost
$ 2,502,206

Triethylene
External
DexPro
Glycol
Refrigeration
$2,100,000 $1,350,000 $600,000

$2,513,218
$843
$
$210,000
$2,724,061

$2,479,409
$
$50,812
$135,000
$2,665,221

$2,533,788
$
$
$ 6,000
$2,539,788

LowestCAPEX

LowestOPEX

PresentValueofOperatingCost
$26,508,403 $28,858,740 $28,235,388 $26,906,550
discountrate 7%
term (years) 20
term(years)
TOTALNPV $26,508,403 $30,958,740 $29,585,388 $27,506,550
difference $

$4,450,337 $3,076,986 $998,147

DexProcapitalcostdoesnotreflectonetimelicensefee
p

BestNPV

DexPro
DexPro
DexPro
hasanumberofkeyadvantages
DexPro
has a number of key advantages

Lowestcapitalcost(CAPEX)

p
g
(
)
Lowestoperatingcost(OPEX)

Besteconomics(NPV)

Norotatingequipment

Simplicityofprocessandequipment

Extremeturndown

Nofugitiveemissionsoroffgashandlingrequirement
f ii
i i
ff
h dli
i

Verysmallenvironmentalfootprint

Very small physical footprint

Verysmallphysicalfootprint

Q
QUESTIONS?
WayneMcKay,P.Eng.
WMcKay@gasliquids.com /WMcKay@dexProDehy.com
www.gasliquids.com/www.DexProDehy.com