How does a demethanizer work?
How does a demethanizer work?
The cooled gas and condensed liquid flow into the demethanizer tower where the gas rises and the liquid descends. The liquid product exits the bottom of the tower to be further processed as required. The cold residual gas exits the top of the tower and flows through the subcooler and into the gas/gas heat exchanger.
What is the purpose of a deethanizer?
The deethanizer is designed to take liquid from the low temperature separator (LTS) and remove ethane and lighter components from the liquid.
What is a demethanizer column?
Therefore, the largest column is usually the demethanizer. This is a tall, two diameter column with trays for internals. The natural gas is chilled usually with a turbo expander down to -120oF.
How does a cryogenic gas plant work?
Cryogenic separation is a processing operation that is commonly used to extract natural gas liquids (NGLs) from raw natural gas. During the process, refrigerants are used to cool the gas stream to very low temperatures. Expansion turbines then push the gas through a narrow pipe into an expansion chamber.
How does a demethanizer tower work in a refinery?
A demethanizer tower is used in a refinery to separate natural gas from a light hydrocarbon gas mixture stream (1) having the composition listed below. Inlet gas at 120°F and 588 psig, stream 1, is cooled in the tube side of a gas-gas heat exchanger by passing the tower overhead, stream 8, through the shell side.
Where does the gas go in a demethanizer?
Gas flows from the Expander to the Demethanizer, where condensate is removed. It should be noted that the Expander Nozzles are used to control the gas flow rate in order to maintain the pressure in the Demethanizer.
What’s the pressure of a demethanizer in El Paso?
El Paso Field Services Co.’s demethanizer at its Eunice, La., gas plant has operated consistently at pressures greater than 500 psig; this operation provides the industry a unique opportunity to collect real plant data for high-pressure demethanizers.
How does the depropanizer of a demethanizer work?
The depropanizer (DPR) operates at about 250 psia and separates propane from the butanes and heavier components. This separation is positioned at the end of the process because isobutane and normal butane have similar boiling points and require a large number of stages and a high reflux ration to separate.