Enhanced Natural Gas Dehydration: Comparative Analysis of Three Gas Unit Models

The presence of natural gas hydrates in water is a crucial obstacle, resulting in equipment and pipeline corrosion. Triethylene glycol regeneration is the subsequent step in the two-step process of triethylene glycol absorption, which is the widely employed method for eliminating water. We fully utilized the computer capability of the Hysys program to conduct extensive simulations and sensitivity analyses on three gas dehydration unit models. The regeneration tower’s stripping gas dehydration method, which used treated dry gas as a stripping agent, reduces the water content of the glycol. Using both dry gas and flash gas as stripping gas in the third model can significantly reduce the water content of the gas more than the other two types. The study investigated the impact of several significant factors on the performance of these units, such as feed temperature, reboiler temperature, and stripping gas flow rate. The investigation also identified the optimal operating settings for all models. The study's findings were compelling in demonstrating a significant reduction in the quantity of water. The water removal percentages for the first, second, and third models were 70%, 76%, and 82%, respectively. The findings emphasize the superior performance of the third model of the gas dehydration unit regarding dehydration operations. They also offer valuable insights on mitigating corrosion issues in equipment and pipes from natural gas hydrate.