Comparative Analysis of Optimized Gas Dehydration Processes for Recovery of High Purity Glycol

Natural gas, a valuable energy resource, requires dehydration to prevent operational issues during transportation and comply with pipeline specifications. Triethylene glycol (TEG) is commonly used for gas dehydration, and optimizing its regeneration process offers potential cost savings and operational efficiencies. This research focuses on the regeneration of triethylene glycol (TEG), which is utilized for gas dehydration in the context of natural gas processing. The aim of the research is to compare the performance of diethyl ether and cyclohexane as alternative stripping agents in TEG regeneration to the usual method, which uses methane as the stripping agent. The study's primary objectives were to identify which case achieved highest glycol purity and utilized the least energy in the reboiler. The TEG regeneration systems were simulated under optimal operating conditions using the process simulation software, Aspen HYSYS. The gathered data revealed some intriguing conclusions. The diethyl ether case had the greatest glycol concentration (99.97 wt%) and the second-lowest energy consumption in the reboiler (77,710 BTU/h). The cyclohexane case, on the other hand, had the lowest glycol concentration (98.92 wt%) and the lowest energy usage in the reboiler (74,660 BTU/h). The base case using methane as the stripping agent achieved the second-highest glycol concentration (99.62 wt%) and the highest energy consumption in the reboiler (139,400 BTU/h). These findings emphasize the importance of additional optimization and research. Future research should focus on economic analysis, conducting additional research on the cyclohexane stripping agent to maximize glycol purity, exploring alternative stripping agents, assessing environmental impact/carbon emissions, and investigating hybrid stripping approaches.