Investigation of Hydrocarbon Recovery Failure in a Gas Refinery

Resumo

\({\text{C}}_{2}^{ + }\) recovery is considered as a case study in a conventional turbo-expander process. Some practical problems occurred in the multi-stream heat exchanger lead to plant shot down. In order to conquer the problem and avoid expensive cost of multi-line heat exchanger replacement, simulation carried out using Aspen HYSYS to investigate the design variables and effective parameter on the plant performance. Some modifications are suggested and applied to the simulation. Hydrocarbon recovery is measured in the original plant and the modified plant. Methane recovery is not affected significantly by the modifications, but ethane recovery in the modified plant decreased to the half of the original one. Simulation showed that proposed modification is satisfying enough to be applied to the real plant. After modification, hydrocarbon recovery, turbo-expander performance and heat exchanger conditions are compared for the original design and the modified plant. Using the simulation results and recommended modifications, the plant could survive.