Prepared by // Eng.

Ahmed Mohamed Shoman

Sep. 2010
 Content
.A ) Definitions

.B) Introduction for natural gas

Natural Gas Terminology.
Natural Gas Formation.
Natural Gas Composition.
Natural Gas Properties.
Natural Gas Phase Behavior.

C) Natural Gas Conditioning.

Field Separation.
Gas Sweetening.
Gas Dehydration

.D) Natural Gas Processing

By Refrigerated lean oil Absorption.
By LTS.
By Turbo Expander
 E) Examples for local gas Plants
Ras Shukier gas Plant .
Amreya Gas Plant.
Western Desert gas Plant.
Port Said NGL Plant.
The UGD Company.
D.Z Gas Plant.

.F) Sweetening Trouble Shooting (Amine Unit)

Gas is not Sweet

Amine solution not regenerated
Dirty, degraded amine
Excessive Corrosion
Foaming of amine solution
Inlet gas temperature too low
Wrong or off-spec chemicals
Misuse or abuse of antifoam chemicals in amine units
Incoming gas is not adequately scrubbed and contains salt water
Tray down comers are plugged, causing amine to stack up in the
trays .

G) Fractionation Towers.

o Types of Fractionation Tower.

o Types of Trays.
o Tray Towers Operation Problems.
o Packing Types
A) Definitions:
1- Associated Gases : Gas associated with liquids.

2- Non associated gases: Gas produced from gas wells without liquids.

3- Dry gas : Natural gas is considered 'dry' when it is almost pure

Methane, having most of the other commonly
Associated hydrocarbons removed.
4- Wet gas : When other hydrocarbons are present, the natural
gas is 'wet'.
5- Sour gas : Natural gas which contains H2S and CO2 (acid
gases).
6- Sweet gas : natural gas which doesnt contains H2S and CO2.

7- Hydrated gas : Natural gas which contains H2O.

8- Dehydrated gas : Natural gas after removal of H2O.

9- LNG : Liquefied natural gas , mainly CH4

10- LPG : Liquefied petroleum gases, Commercial Propane-

Butane mixture
11- Condensate : pentanes and heavier , C5+

12- GTL : Gas to liquids.

13- NGL : Natural gas liquids , ethane and heavier.

14-Phase Diagram : A record of the effects of temperature, pressure and
composition on the kinds and numbers of phases that
can exist in equilibrium with each other.

15-Bubble Point : The point at which the first infinitesimally small

vapour bubble appears in a liquid system. The bubble
point curve on a phase diagram represents 0% vapour.

16-Dew Point : The point at which the first infinitesimally small

droplet of condensation forms in a gaseous system. The
dew point curve on a phase diagram represents 0%
liquid.

17-Phase Envelope : The area on a pressure-temperature phase diagram for a

mixture enclosed by the bubble and dew point curves.
This are represents the set of conditions for the mixture
were vapour and liquid phases co-exist in equilibrium.
18-Cricondenbar (Pmax) : The maximum pressure at which vapour and liquid
can co-exist in equilibrium.
19-Cricondentherm (Tmax) :The maximum temperature at which vapour and
liquid can co-exist in equilibrium.

20-Critical Pressure : The vapour pressure at critical temp.

21-Critical Temperature : The temp. above which all the mixture cannot be
liquid

22-Quality Lines : Lines through the two-phase region showing a

 constant percentage of liquid and vapour.
23-Retrograde : The name given to phase behaviour above the
critical temperature and pressure were vapour and liquid phases coexist and the
amount of vaporisation or condensation changes with pressure and temperature
in the opposite direction to normal behaviour. (e.g:condensation of liquids by
occur by lowering pressure or increasing temperature)

24-Equation of State : An equation which describes the relationship

between pressure, temperature and molar volume of
any homogenous fluid at equilibrium.

25- Critical Point : The point on the phase diagram where The bubble
point and dew point lines intersect , where the
distinction between and liquid properties
disappears.
B) Introduction for
Natural Gas.
 Natural Gas is a vital component of the world's supply of energy. It is
one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources.

What is Natural Gas?

Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases( from CH4 to
C8H18) consisting essentially of METHANE ,other hydrocarbons And Non
Hydrocarbon Gases in gaseous state ,which is extracted from the subsurface of
the earth in its natural state ,separately or together with liquid hydrocarbons.

The formation of natural gas:

Natural gas is a fossil fuel like oil and coal. Fossil fuels are, essentially, the
remains of plants and animals and microorganisms that lived millions and
millions of years ago.

Natural Gas under the Earth:

Although there are several ways that methane, and thus natural gas, may
be formed, it is usually found underneath the surface of the earth. As natural gas
has a low density, once formed it will rise towards the surface of the earth
through loose, shale type rock and other material.
With natural gas trapped under the earth in this fashion, it can be recovered by
drilling a hole through the impermeable rock. Gas in these reservoirs is
typically under pressure, allowing it to escape from the reservoir on its own.
Natural gas exists in nature under pressure in rock reservoirs in the
Earths crust, either in conjunction with and dissolved in heavier
hydrocarbons and water or by itself.

It is produced from the reservoir similarly to or in conjunction with

crude oil

Natural gas has been formed by the degradation of organic matter

accumulated in the past millions of years.

Two main mechanisms (biogenic and thermogenic) are responsible for

this degradation

Biogenic gas is formed at shallow depths and low temperatures by the

anaerobic bacterial decomposition of sedimentary organic matter.

In contrast, Thermogenic gas is formed at deeper depths by thermal

cracking of sedimentary organic matter into hydrocarbon liquids and
gas.
 Types of N.G Reservoir:
There are two kinds of N.G reservoir ;
Natural gas reservoir
Oil and associated gas reservoir
See Fig.1 :

Natural gas reservoir

Oil and associated gas

reservoir

Fig.1 "Natural gas Reservoir types"

Natural Gas Composition:

The principal constituent of natural gas is methane. Other

constituents are paraffinic hydrocarbons (CH4 till C8H18) such as
ethane, propane,and the butanes. Many natural gases contain nitrogen
as well as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Trace quantities of
argon, hydrogen, and Mercury may also be present.
(See Fig.2&3)

Fig.2 "Natural gas Composition"

 The composition of natural gas can vary widely. Table 1-1 out-lines
the typical makeup of natural gas before it is refined .
Acid contaminants such as mercaptantsR-SH, carbonyl sulfide
(COS), and carbon disulfide (CS2)may be present in small
quantities. Mercury can also be present either as a metal in vapor
phase or as an organometallic compound.
 Water
Impurities CO2,H2S, Hg
Nitrogen

Methane
LNG

Ethane

NGLs Propane
Methane CH4 70-90% Butane LPG
Ethane C2H6
+ C5
Propane C3H8 0-20%

Butane C4H10

Carbon Dioxide CO2 0-8%

Oxygen O2 0-0.2%

Nitrogen N2 0-5%

Hydrogen H2S 0-5%

sulphide

Rare gases A, He, Ne, Xe trace

14

Fig.3 "Natural gas Composition"

 Finally, we can conclude the following:
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases (paraffin's) and
Impurities;
The hydrocarbon gases normally found in natural gas are:
Methane CH4
Ethane C2H6
Propane C3H8
Butane C4H10
Pentane C5H12
Hexane C6H14
Heptanes & heavier C7H16
The impurities found in natural gas are:
Carbon dioxide CO2
Hydrogen sulfide H2S
Nitrogen N2
Water vapor H2O
Mixture of CH4 & C2H6 referred as sales gas.
Mixture of C3H8 & C4H10 referred as liquefied petroleum
gases (LPG).
C5+ referred as naphtha or condensate and mixed with crude
oil.
The allowable Specifications for Sales Gas is shown as
below :
1. (According to the Egyptian National gas Grid )
2. Oxygen: Max. ( 0.1% ) by mole.
3. Carbon dioxide: Max. ( 3 % ) by mole.
4. Hydrogen sulphide: Max. ( 4 ) PPM
5. Sulphur: Max. (50 ) mgm / SCM
6. Mercury: Max. (6 ) mgm / SCM
7. H.C. dew point: ( +5 ) Deg.C
8. Gross Heating Value : Min. 980
9. Max. 1180 BTU/SCF
10.Water dew point below ( zero ) Deg.C at a
pressure of ( 70 ) kg /cm2 gauge .
Natural Gas Properties:
The N.G properties are shown per table 1-2 .

Ideal Gas Law:

PV = nRT
 Where :
P : Absolute pressure
V : Volume
T : Absolute temperature
R : Universal gas constant
n : Number of moles n = m / M
m : Mass of the gas
M: Molecular weight

: The ideal gas law can be expressed as

PV = (m/M) RT
m = MPV/RT
m/V = = MP/RT is density of gas

Values of gas constant R in various units :

Units R
Atm.cc/g-mol oK 82.06
Btu/lb-mol oR 1.987
Psia cuft/lb-mol oR 10.73
Psia cuft/lb-mol oR 1544
Atm cuft/lb-mol oR .73
mm Hg cuft / lb-mol oR 62.37
In Hg lit/g-mol oR 21.85
Cal/g-mol oK 1.987
Kpa m3 /kg-mol oK 8.314
J/ kg-mol oK 8314

Table 1-3
 Behavior of Real Gases

PV = ZnRT

Where :
Z is deviation or compressibility factor and can be expressed as
Z = [ actual volume of n moles of gas / (ideal volume of n moles of gas
at certain P & T) at same P & T ]
where Z is dimensionless.

Properties of Gaseous Mixtures

Composition of natural gas may be expressed as either mole fraction, volume

fraction or weight fraction.

Mole Fraction yi = ni/ni

:Where
Mole fraction of component iyi :
Number of moles of component ini :
Total number of moles of all components in the mixturesni :

Volume fraction vi = vi/vi

Weight Fraction wi =Wi/Wi

Determination of Z Factor

From the next chart Fig.4 after determination of Pr and Tr we can determine
. Z factor

Pr = P / Pc
Tr = T / Tc
:Where

Pc= Pci*Yi
Tc= Tci*Yi

Where Pci & Tci are found for every gas component
see table:1-4
Fig.4 "Calculation of Z factor"
 Natural Gas Phase Behavior

The natural gas phase behavior is a plot of pressure vs temperature

that determines whether the natural gas stream at a given pressure
and temperature consists of a single gas phase or two phases: gas
and liquid.

The phase behavior for natural gas with a given composition is

typically displayed on a phase diagram, an example of which is
shown in Figure 1-1.

The left-hand side of the curve is the bubble point line and divides
the single phase liquid region from the two-phase gasliquid
region.

The right-hand side of the curve is the dew point line and divides
the two-phase gasliquid region and the single-phase gas region.
4

At point X:
i

Retrograde region
liqu

Xi=xy/zy
d

Yi=xz/zy

z x Vap
y or

4
1-4
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1
 TO GET NGL FROM NATURAL GAS YOU HAVE TO USE THE
FOLLOWING EQUATION

CONDITIONING + PROCESSING = INVESTMENT

Where;
CONDITIONING =(WATER REMOVAL) + (CO2 /H2S/Hg REMOVAL)
+ (HYDROCARBON DEW POINT CONTROL)

PROCESSING = (NGL EXTRACTION) INCLUDING

PRODUCTION OF CONDENSATE, LPG, C2/C3, COMMERCIAL
PROPANE.
A Typical PFD "Process Flow Diagram " for N.Gas Processing chain , are
expressed by Fig-5 . Also , a Typical LNG plant is described by attached
flash file

INCLUDING PRODUCTION OF CONDENSATE, LPG, C2/C3,

COMMERCIAL PROPANE.
Separation between1the Oil &Gas
Sweetening remove the Acid Gases
Dehydration remove the Water vapour
Conditioning H.C Dew Point & Heating Value
Main Target

Extract main component into -

separate products which are
Extraction Methane
Ethane
(Processing)
Main Target
Propone
LPG
Natural Gasoline
27
Fig.5"Natural Gas Process Chain"
C) Natural Gas
Conditioning:
Field Separation.
Gas Sweetening.
Gas Dehydration.