3.

2 Natural gas processing objectives

Raw natural gas stream must be treated to comply with emissions regulations and pipeline gas
specifications. Typical pipeline gas specifications are shown in Table 3-1. The specifications are
to ensure gas qualities and provide a clean and safe fuel gas to the consumers. The product gas
must meet the heating values or Wobbe Indexes specifications, which are required to ensure
optimum operation of gas turbines and combustion equipment to minimize emissions. Pipeline
operators also require the product gas to be interchangeable and similar in properties with
existing pipeline gas.

When the gas is high in heavy hydrocarbon contents, they must be removed to meet the heating
value specification. The removed liquid can typically command a higher value than natural gas
for the same heating value. Propane and butane can be sold as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Ethane can be used as feedstock to petrochemical plants. The C5+ components can be exported
to refineries as a blending stock for gasoline. The characteristics of various types of natural gas
liquid (NGL) products can be found in GPSA Engineering Data Book (2004).

3.3 Gas processing plant configurations

The gas processing plant configuration and complexity depend upon the feed gas compositions
and the levels of treating and processing required in meeting product specifications and
emission limits. Liquid values can also be the drivers for process complexity, which determines
the levels of NGL components to be recovered. Figure 3-1 shows two simplified gas processing
plant schematics. The first scheme is to remove condensate, sulfur, and the heavier components
to meet sales gas specifications. The second scheme is to process the feed gas for recovery of
the NGL components to increase plant revenues. The residue gas is typically recompressed to a
sales gas pipeline. It can also be sent to a natural gas liquefaction plant for liquefied natural gas
(LNG) production, used as fuel gas to power plants, or as a feedstock to petrochemical plants.
The gas processing plant must be a “fit-for-purpose” design, meeting the project economics and
environmental requirements. While contaminants and sulfur must be removed to meet
emissions requirements as shown in the first scheme, the extent of processing in the second
schemes is project specific. It depends on the commercial agreements between upstream
producers and downstream product distributors and buyers. More details on the contractual
terms are discussed later in this chapter.

Natural Gas Liquids Recovery

8.1 Introduction

Most natural gas sources contain hydrocarbon liquids that must be removed to meet the
hydrocarbon dew point and heating value specifications of the pipeline gas before they can be
used by the consumers. The removal of heavy hydrocarbons is necessary to ensure pipeline
transportation safety. The hydrocarbon liquids consist of two components, the natural gas
condensate (C5þ) and the natural gas liquids (NGLs) (C2–C4). These components can be sold at
a premium over natural gas for the equivalent heating value. The C5þ condensate is separated
in the condensate stabilization unit that has been discussed in Chapter 5. The C3–C4 liquids are
valued as a liquid fuel. The C2 component can be sold as petrochemical plant feedstocks.
Separation of the NGL components are discussed in this chapter. The richness of the NGL
components can be identified by the term “GPM,” that is, gallons per mole of hydrocarbon (C2þ)
liquid. The value of “GPM” and the higher heating value of the hydrocarbon component are
shown in Table 8-1. The C2þ NGL recovered from an NGL recovery unit is termed “Y-grade” NGL.
The acceptable Y-Grade is a mixture of NGLs composed principally of ethane, propane, butane,
pentanes, and natural gasoline, which typically meets the specifications given in Table 8-2. The
Y-grade liquids must be free from sand, dust, gums, gum-producing substances, oil, glycol,
inhibitor, amine, caustics, chlorides, oxygenates, heavy metals, and any other contaminants or
additive to the product added to enhance the ability to meet specifications. This chapter covers
the production of NGL from hydrocarbon dew pointing to propane and ethane recovery,
including their history, and various technologies and design options as well as NGL fractionation.

8.3 Liquid recovery processes

There are different levels of NGL recovery. It can vary from the simple hydrocarbon dew pointing
unit to the more complex cryogenic turboexpander units. Within each category, there are
variation in the designs that can be applied to meet specifications and operation requirement.
These processing units are discussed in the following sections.

8.3.4 Turboexpander NGL recovery processes

The term “turboexpander” refers to an expander/compressor machine as a single unit. It

consists of two primary components: the radial inflow expansion turbine and a centrifugal
compressor integrated as a single assembly (see Figure 8-7). The expansion turbine is the power
unit and the compressor is the driven unit. In cryogenic NGL recovery processes, the
turboexpander achieves two different but complementary functions. The main function is to
generate refrigeration to cool the gas stream. This is done by the expansion turbine end that
expands the gas isentropically by extracting the enthalpy from the gas stream, causing it to cool.
The other function is the use of the extracted energy to rotate the shaft to drive the compressor
end of the turboexpander, which recompresses the residue gas stream. The first turboexpander
unit was built in 1964 for NGL recovery in the city of San Antonio, Texas. The gas is supplied at
700 psig pressure and is letdown in pressure to about 300 psig to the demethanizer. Methanol
injection was used for hydrate inhibition. Until this time, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) recovery
was mainly achieved with refrigerated lean oil, which is described in the later section.