Elhady 2005
Elhady 2005
Elhady 2005
Operating Experiences of DEG and MEG for Hydrate and Dewpoint Control in Gas
Production Offshore Mediterranean
A.A.A. Elhady, Gulf of Suez Petroleum Co.
Copyright 2005, International Petroleum Technology Conference
gas with sales quality specification. The gas hydrocarbon and
This paper was prepared for presentation at the International Petroleum Technology water dew points are controlled by means of low temperature
Conference held in Doha, Qatar, 21–23 November 2005.
condensation. Diethylene glycol 80% is injected into the gas
This paper was selected for presentation by an IPTC Programme Committee following review
of information contained in an proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
at various points, to hydrate formation in offshore and onshore
presented, have not been reviewed by the International Petroleum Technology Conference in low temperature parts of the process. This paper will
and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily
reflect any position of the International Petroleum Technology Conference, its officers, or attempt to address and clarify the problems that appeared
members. Papers presented at IPTC are subject to publication review by Sponsor Society
Committees of IPTC. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
during start up,2000 to 2002 in the first years of operation, the
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the International Petroleum Technology gas plant operations reported frequent build-ups of pressure
Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not
more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous drop in the low temperature separators. This has caused trains
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, IPTC, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
to be shut down and sales gas out of specification. The
offshore production platform collects the mixed phase
Abstract reservoir fluid from six wells in the wellhead manifold. The
Glycols are widely used prevent the hydrate formation in sub reservoir fluid is then separated into two streams. Each stream
sea pipelines and in gas plants to control dew point. Operating enters one of the two parallel production separators through
experiences of diethylene glycol ( DEG ) and monoethylene two 18” headers where water and liquid hydrocarbons are
glycol ( MEG ) for preventing hydrate in gas pipelines and separated from the gas stream. Each production separator can
dew point control have been performed to evaluate the handle up to 165 mmcmd at the minimum wellhead pressure.
unexpected operational problems in gas processing system. Separated water is discharged under interface level control to
Field test and laboratory experiments were carried out to the oily water treatment system where the hydrocarbons
investigate the type of glycol the fluid solidification condition liquids are separated by means of a tilted plate interceptor.
for monoethylene glycol and diethyllene glycol in the Effluent water with the maximum hydrocarbons content of 15
presence of hydrocarbons and salts . Results led us to make ppm is disposed into sea through a sea sump. Separated
modification in the gas plant and choose the right type of hydrocarbons are pumped into the sub sea pipeline.
glycol with optimum dose to simplify operation and save costs Diethylene glycol 80 % , is injected from onshore into
in gas processing in Egypt. This paper cover all aspects of the combined stream before entering the 30” sub sea pipeline in
process from type of glycol to nozzle placement and order to prevent hydrates formation.. Glycol is transferred to
locations to low temperature separators to enhance the the platform through 3” sub sea line from onshore facilities
performance and quality control of gas processing . This study and injected upstream of the instrument and service gas
will address the operational issues with practical solutions are system in order to
presented. These deal with glycol contaminated by a high salt prevent hydrate formation.
content from completion fluids and hydrate formation in
offshore gas lines, design modification to process equipment
and changing from DEG to MEG for sales gas specification. Overview of the process at gas plant
This paper also addressee the proper glycol type to fit with gas
composition, proper glycol injection rates, nozzle sizing, Gas with associated condensate and water, together with
placement and location according actual field data not injected glycol, arrives at the onshore plant through 30” sub
textbook data that is central in the designed recommended sea gas pipeline and is fed to the slug catcher. A pig receiver
process parameters . is provided upstream of the slug catcher to allow for routine
pigging of the sub-sea pipeline. Gas from the slug catcher is
Introduction then fed to two parallel low temperature separation ( LTS )
modules each consisting of gas/gas exchanger and a Joule
Gas plant is a hydrocarbon dew point control plant , Joule Thomson valve and a low temperature separator. Gas from
Thomson process, JT, which processes gas from an offshore slug catcher is cooled against the cold dry gas from the low
platform in the Nile delta area of the Mediterranean sea. The temperature separators before being expanded in the Joule
nominal plant inlet design capacity is 350 mmscfd, achieved Thomosn valves in order to reach the hydrocarbon dew point
via two parallel JT processing trains of 165 mmscfd capacity specifications. Diethylene glycol 80% is injected upstream and
each. The plant was constructed in 1999-2000. The raw gas downstream of the gas/gas exchangers to prevent hydrates
from offshore wells are conditioned at the gas plant to produce formation. Condensate and injected glycol are separated in the
low temperature separators. Dry gas is then discharged to the
2 IPTC 10103
national grid. Separated hydrocarbon liquids and glycol from Operational problems.
slug catcher and low temperature separators are pre-heated in
one of the condensate pre-heaters and routed to the A review of the overall operation in gas plant revealed a
glycol/hydrocarbon separator. Separated hydrocarbon liquids number of abnormal operating conditions. Specifically, low
are routed to the stabalizer column while the separated glycol temperature separators carryover problems and the plant is not
is routed to the exhaust glycol storage tank. Gas from the making the hydrocarbon dew point specification. In addition ,
glycol/hydrocarbons separator is discharged to the fuel gas high glycol losses due to salt contamination in the system.
system. The stabilizer column produces condensate having a Since the glycol injection rate was several times higher than
maximum Reid vapor pressure of 11 psia.. Stabilized necessary, this further aggravated plugging in spray nozzles
condensate is stored in two floating roof tanks after being and and poor operation performance It should be borne in
cooled in the condensate cooler. Condensate is exported to mind that complete recovery of the glycol is not feasible. Each
onshore storage facilities using two delivery pumps. Exhaust day, a small amount of glycol will be lost as a result of
glycol from the exhaust glycol tank is pumped to two glycol vaporization and solubility in the liquid hydrocarbons phase.
regeneration package. Each package consists of a surge drum, These losses may be minimized by choice of glycol type and
a glycol/glycol exchanger, a regenerator, circulation pumps concentration. And by maintaining the proper operating
and filters .regenerated glycol is stored in a regenerated glycol conditions. Where hydrocarbons emulsions are especially
tank from which it is pumped to the LTS system and the troublesome owing to the presence of heavy ends in the
offshore platform. Figure (1 ) shows overview of the gas hydrocarbon condensate. It may be worth while to provide
plant simplified process. preliminary cooling and
1- Retrieving under pressure the plugged nozzles by temperature separator operating temperature of approximately
using the retrieving tool . –20C is required to make the hydrocarbon dew point of 5 C.
2- Cleaning by back flow through the nozzles. Figure ( 2 ) indicates that feasible operating window for DEG
3- Shut down LTS, depressurize and retrieve nozzles and is very small and would require a lean DEG concentration of
then clean. around 85 wt% injected at a rate to give less than 10%
dilution. This could prove to be very restrictive from an
The above three steps were used as a short term solution to operational point of view. Even at the current typical LTS
avoid nozzle plugging due to impurities. The majority of temperature of around-10C, operational flexibility with
solids are iron sulfide, rust, sand, and mud. Solids can erode respect to lean glycol concentration and allowable diluition is
equipment( pumps, valves ) and also can plug exchangers, limited.
contactor trays. Salts, High salt can enter the glycol solution
when produced brines or salt waters carryover inlet separator. Monethylene utilization feasibility study
Salts are soluble in the glycol decreased the efficiency of the
injection glycol system. Sodium chlorides are usually The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of the
inversely soluble in glycol. That is, the hotter the glycol the existing regeneration package of handling MEG instead of
lower the solubility. The salt will therefore drop out of the DEG (1) . The comparison between MEG and DEG as hydrate
solution and crystallize on the hot spots of the system, inhibitors leads to the following consideration :-
primarily the pre-heater tubes and the fire tube. As the salt
adheres to the fire tub and pre-heater tubes, it forms a heat 1- The MEG injection rate to reach a required hydrate
resistant layer which forces the metal skin temperature to depression is less than DEG.
increase to put out the same heat as before the scale was laid 2- MEG has lower viscosity and more favourable heat
down. As in the case of hydrocarbon contamination, oily transfer properties.
material can coke and the glycol will thermally degrade . 3- Hydrocarbons have a lower solubility in MEG which
Calcium chloride is less soluble in cool glycol, like most leads to lower losses for hydrocarbons vaporization ,
mineral salts, and these types of salts will crystallize in valves, lower emission, lower heat requirement for
fittings, coolers. We have found that the majority of salt hydrocarbon vaporization.
contamination in gas plant is calcium chloride rather than 4- MEG has a lower solubility in condensate, leading to
sodium chloride. A secondary effect of salt contamination is lower losses.
the possibility of corrosion mechanisms occurring due to its 5- MEG is less cost.
corrosive nature. Salts cannot be filtered out of a glycol 6- MEG has a wider operating range regarding freezing
solution . In order to prevent plugging . problem. We have point.
been developing additional filter unit before gas/gas glycol
injections nozzles. The success of such system will The switching from DEG to MEG according study requires
hopefully be the subject of design similar plant . some modification in the existing regeneration system package
. The following recommendations were made based on
Choosing the Proper Glycol utilization feasibility study for handling MEG instead of
DEG.
Operation experience indicates that monethylene glycol is the 1- Change the dehydration chemical from DEG to MEG
most logical choice for a hydrate inhibitor due to its advantage by using the existing DEG skid unit for improved
over diethylene and triethylrne glycol .. The gas plant uses operability.
DEG for hydrate inhibition. 2- Use mixed DEG and MEG.
3- Change the existing regeneration unit or modified for
new MEG injection.
This is quite unusual glycol injection type. Most refrigeration Converting an existing DEG facility to MEG can result in
and JT plants utilize MEG for hydrate inhibition. MEG as it is appreciable cost savings and this a definite step in optimizing
often referred to, has the following advantage over DEG:- our facilities. And excellent dew point control at lower capital
1- Better hydrate point depression per pound due to cost.
lower molecular weight.
2- Lower viscosity at low temperatures Optimum Glycol Concentration
3- Lower solubility of MEG in hydrocarbon condensate.
4- Wider operating range with respect to glycol/water Most glycol injection plants utilize MEG and regenerate the
solution freezing points glycol to achievea 75-85 wt% solution. The main issue here is
5- Lower cost. to produce a glycol solution that will have a freezing point
The main potential advantage of DEG over MEG is somewhat below the minimum operating temperature in the system,
lower vaporization losses at warmer operating temperatures. typically the LTS or downstream of the rich glycol level
For low temperature separator operating conditions of high control valve off the LTS. The gas plant has been designed to
pressure and low temperature, vaporization losses of MEG operate somewhat warmer than typical LTS plants which often
should be negligible. Figures ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) show hydrate operate with LTS temperatures in the –25 to 35C range. Often
temperature and liquid phase freezing point as a function of these colder plants are designed to designed to achieve
glycol concentration for both DEG and MEG. Low significant recovery of natural gas liquids , not just make a
4 IPTC 10103
hydrocarbon dew point specification. However, because of Glycol injection rate calculation
the gas plant warmer operating temperatures, and the reduced
inhibition properties of DEG, a lean glycol concentration of The injection rate calculation had been adjusted based on
closer to 85 wt% is recommended , 80-85 wt% is still a good GPSA engineering data book and Cample gas condition and
target figure for MEG. The effect of increasing lean glycol processing (2). The required glycol injection rate is a function
concentration from 80 wt% to 85% should be minimal .The of the several factors, glycol type, lean glycol concentration,
reboiler temperature must be raised about 5C and the duty minimum operating temperature required, and the amount of
increases slightly.85 wt% still allows for sufficient safety water condensed out of the feed gas. The key relationship is
margin with respect to glycol-water solution freezing the following equation
temperature at high concentrations. Which is presented below:-
are recovered from downstream piping and equipment Offshore installation with DEG
including facilities owned and operated by the sales gas
pipeline company It is not known exactly how much liquid is The unit involved in the offshore case study consisted of
carried over but volumes of 200 –600 GPD have been platform facilities with DEG glycol injected at the fuel gas
recovered down stream. This equates to 0.75-1.3 gal /mmscfd and 30” sub-sea pipeline. The glycol was recovered in a gas
of processed gas. Most of the recovered liquid is glycol with plant and piped back via the glycol 3” to the system to be
some hydrocarbon condensate. It is believed that there is injected over again. The following are the operating
significantly more liquid carried out of the LTS’S than is difficulties such as hydrocarbon contamination of the glycol
actually recovered from the downstream piping/equipment (3). solution, resulting in the plugging of fuel gas system and
This is because most of the carried over liquid hydrocarbons hence complete shut down of platform, glycol entrainment of
are revalorized as they are warmed up passing back through the sales gas, pipeline problem during pigging operation and
the gas/gas exchangers. There are two main problems carry over, the formation of solids, with jamming of pumps
associated with the liquid carryover from the LTS’S. valves and control devices, high consumption of fresh glycol,
and problem with glycol storage tanks. A review of the overall
1- Customer does not want liquids carried into their pipeline operation revealed a number of abnormal operation conditions.
system. Specifically, an excessively high amount of glycol and
2-The hydrocarbon liquid carryover puts the plant sales gas off condensate went to the sales gas. Since the injection rate was
spec relative to the sales gas contract hydrocarbon dew point several times higher than necessary, this further aggravated
specification. Comparison of the sales gas composition from plugging by the solids resulting from the crystallization of the
an actual sample obtained on July, 2001, with that predicted glycol solution. The following recommendations were made
by Hysys indicates substantial hydrocarbon liquid carry over based on an overall analysis of the offshore platform and plant
from the LTS’S. From that time, plant throughput is being operating difficulties.
curtailed because of the first problem. In addition, process 1- Drain and clean the lean and exhaust glycol tanks.
simulation work is indicating that the plant is not making the 2- Reduce the injection rate after recharge with fresh 80 wt%
hydrocarbon dew point spec. There is also some evidence to glycol.
indicate that condensate liquids are condensing out of the gas 3- Installed additional filter units before injection nozzles
upon pressure letdown into the downstream power plants fuel upstream and down stream gas /gas exchangers.
gas reception facilities. Carryover of liquids from LTS’s has a 4- Adjusted operation parameters. We changed out the
negative impact on the sales gas hydrocarbon dew point contaminated glycol with a new batch and in order to have
specification as shown in the table below:- a sufficient glycol injection and recovery process.
Acknowledgement
References
3- Mark bothamley , UTG, " Egypt gas plant group problem Figure ( 3 ) : MEG freezing and hydrate curves
solving ". USA Texas. Oct,2001.
B
Glycol Spray
Nozzle
Glycol Spray
Cold Gas from Nozzle
LTS
Glycol Spray
Nozzle
A
To JT Valve &
LTS
Glycol Spray
Nozzle Glycol Spray
Cold Gas from Nozzle
LTS
Figure ( 2 ) : DEG freezing and hydrate curves Figure 4: shows existing and modified spray nozzles injection
locations