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Module2 Lect1

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12 views15 pages

Module2 Lect1

Uploaded by

kausal9680900814
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Module 2_Lecture 1:

Production and treatment of LPG


and LNG

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Introduction
• LPG and Natural gas – most widely used as gaseous fuel in domestic and industrial
applications.

• The purity of natural gas varies from mine to mine, thus, the retreatment process is
necessary. However, in LPG, the gas is produced from the distillation unit, it is
relatively pure.

• Liquefied petroleum gas is composed of propane (C3H8), butanes (C4H10), or


mixtures thereof , small amounts of ethane (C2H6) and pentane (C5H12 ) may also be
present as impurities.

• LPG is filled under pressure, stored and transported to the consumer. LPG is in
gaseous form at ambient temperature and pressure, and it is almost twice as heavy
as air.

• LPG is colorless and odorless. Therefore, a distinctive fuel odor is added before it is
filled into cylinder to enable easy detection in case of leakage.

• LPG is different from natural gas. Natural gas is predominantly a methane & with
small quantities of ethane, Propane & butane.

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production

• Gases from ADU, Isomerisation and alkylation unit off gas –used for LPG

production

• LPG production – based on the principles of separation.

• C3-C4 fraction can be separated from the fractions in following ways

• Distillation at low temperature

• Absorption and desorption

• Compression and expansion

• Combined methods

• A low temperature fraction will be used if high purity is needed

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LPG

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LPG

• The gases passes through dryer- remove any moisture

• The gas is compressed to 10 atm and chilled into the absorber

• Cold lean oil as a absorbent used in absorption.

• Methane, hydrogen and oxides of carbon, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen and it

compounds are not soluble in this cold oil.

• Deethaniser – remove ethane from C2-C4 fraction

• Debutaniser – top fraction consists of butane and propane

• Bottom products are solvent and other hydrocarbon higher than C4

• A purity of 98% propane and 95% of butane at a recovery rate of 70-80% is

reported.

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Natural gasoline

• Natural gasoline is a complex combination of hydrocarbons (predominantly C5


through C8) separated as a liquid from natural gas and natural gas
concentrates.
• When natural gasoline (like refinery gasoline) is feed, C5 and C6 are absorbed
by lean oil. These fractions can be separated and blended with gasoline.
Methane, ethane, propane and butanes have been also extracted.

• The term natural gasoline has also on occasion in the gas industry been
applied to mixtures of LPG, pentanes, and higher molecular weight
hydrocarbons

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LNG

• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): Natural gas that has been liquefied at -162°C and

changing it from a gas into a liquid that is 1/600th of its original volume and This

dramatic reduction allows it to be shipped safely and efficiently aboard.

• It can be stored in insulated cryogenic tanks for use as an engine fuel

• LPG and LNG technologies do not differ much to a great extent.

• The liquefaction of Natural gas needs more cooling, thus investment is more

• Improved cascade cooling can be used to liquefy the methane

• Turbo expanded liquefaction – new technology

• In Asia, the first plant working in this area is Naharkatiya oil field at Duliajan -

produces 60,000 tonnes of LPG and 12,000 tonnes of LNG.

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LNG

Conventional processes of a base load LNG plant

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LNG
• The pre-cooling stage
• cools the gas to a about -30 to -50 °C in the precooling cold box.
• the cooling element is generally propane or a mixture of propane and ethane
and small quantities of other gases.
• the precooling cold box also cools the cooling medium for the liquefaction
and sub cooling stage.
• The liquefaction process
• takes the gas down from -30 °C to about -100 to -125 °C, typically based on
a mixture of methane and ethane and other gases.
• It cools the LNG stream as well as the refrigerant for the final stage.
• Sub-cooling process
• bring the gas to final stable LNG state at around -162 °C. The refrigerant is
usually methane and/or nitrogen.

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LNG
• Liquefaction of natural gas requires the removal of sensible and latent heat over
a wide range of temperatures using one or more refrigerants
• A complicated refrigeration system
• compression refrigeration
• absorption refrigeration.
• In LNG plants, a compression refrigeration cycle is generally used.
• LNG processes can be classified into three general categories based on the
type of refrigeration cycle and equipment used:
• a cascade process using pure refrigerants,
• a mixed refrigerant process using refrigerant mixtures, and
• an expander process

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Production of LNG
Reverse-Brayton cycle

• The reverse-Brayton cycle uses gas phase refrigerant.


• Natural gas liquefaction processes have been developed by combining
characteristics of different refrigeration cycles.

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Single expander process

Low pressure N2
High pressure N2

• Nitrogen expander processes have been widely used for LNG


• Refrigeration is carried out through compression and work-expansion using
nitrogen as the refrigerant

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Dual expander process

• This process comprises two expander cycles: warm and cold expander cycles
• Both expander cycles enable natural gas to be liquefied and subcooled at small
temperature differences, reducing the specific power requirements but increasing the
size of the heat exchanger required
• Nitrogen refrigerant can be substituted with methane refrigerant in the existing process

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Cascade process

Cascade refrigeration cycle

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut


Cascade process

Classic cascade process

Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut

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