Chapter 8. NGL Recovery-Lean Oil Absorption-1

151PTE312 Petroleum Process Simulation
Chapter 8
NGL Recovery
By
Lean Oil Absorption
Lectured by:
Dr. Rana Malhas
1
Chapter 8: NGL Recovery-Lean Oil Absorption
Objective:
By the end of this chapter you have to be able to answer the following
questions:
1. What is lean oil and its function?

2. What are three primary systems in an oil absorption plant?
3. What are the factors affecting the efficiency of the absorption tower?
4. Why do we need presaturation system?
5. What are the problems in recovery systems?
6. What are the main cause of flooding?
7. How does the rejection system work?
8. What are the functions of ROD system?
9. What are the main standards of lean-oil quality?
Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 2
Natural Gas Liquid (NGL)
• With the demand for fuel gasoline growing quickly, producers began
trying to get more usable products from the natural gas.
• An increased-yield process, called lean oil absorption, was developed

in the 1920s.
• Previously, when kerosene was a highly valued product and natural

gas was simply an unwanted byproduct, most natural gas was wasted.
Gas was commonly flared off.
• Then gasoline began to surpass kerosene sales around 1912. The first
gas processors learned to increase the yield of drip gas by
compressing the gas and allowing it to cool.
Natural Gas Liquid (NGL)
• Lean oil is a hydrocarbon liquid, usually lighter than kerosene.
• In contact with natural gas, lean oil absorbs some of the heavier
hydrocarbons from the gas, which can be separated from the oil
later.
• Using this process, operators recovered more gas condensate as well

as butane. This was the beginning of the NGL market.

Lean Oil Absorption
• In the 1950s, processors improved the yield from lean-oil absorption
by adding refrigeration to the process.
• The three primary systems in an oil absorption plant , as shown in

the following figure, are:
1. Recovery: An absorber contacts a lean oil to absorb C2+ plus from
raw natural gas.
2. Rejection: The rich oil demethanizer (ROD) strips methane and
lighter components from the rich oil.
3. Separation: The still separates the recovered NGL components as
product from the rich oil, and the lean oil then returns to the
absorber.

Lean Oil Plant System
• Oil Absorption Plan System

Lean Oil Absorption
• There are many ways to configure a gas processing plant, depending
on the nature of the gas being processed and market demand.
• In the recovery phase, products are removed from the inlet gas by a
combination of refrigeration and oil absorption.
• The rejection processing systems eliminates the remaining methane

from the product stream.
• This leaves only the desired product and absorption oil to handle in
the third processing system, separation.

Recovery System
• In the recovery system, all product to be recovered is removed from

the inlet gas. The main equipment in this section is the absorber.
• Absorption is a process in which a liquid solvent removes some of

the components of the gas. When the absorption oil contains little
of components that to be separated from the gas, it is called lean
oil.
• The physical properties of the absorption oil vary with each plant.
• Most of the remaining equipment in the recovery system is used to

increase the operating efficiency of the absorber.

The Absorber
• Lean oil enters the top of the absorber and cascades down over a
series of trays through a steady flow of gas.
• By the time oil reaches the bottom of the absorber , the light oil has
become rich oil.
• Hydrocarbons with lower vapor pressures, such as gasoline and

butanes, are more easily absorbed than hydrocarbons with higher
vapor pressures, such as propane and ethane.
• The efficiency of the absorption tower is affected by:
✓Pressure;
✓Temperature;
✓Quality of the lean oil;
✓Ratio of lean oil to gas.
Lean Oil
• The lower the molecular weight of the lean oil, the lighter the oil
will be. A problem is that light oil vaporizes more easily in the gas
phase, especially during the regeneration step.
• The oil-to-gas ratio is usually expressed as the gallons per minute

(gpm) of lean oil circulated per million cubic feet of gas through
the absorber. The gas volume measured at 60 °F and 14.7 psia is on
million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d).
• The effect of the lean-oil-to-inlet-gas ratio is shown in the

following figure. Note that the percentage yield of propane and
ethane goes up when the amount of lean oil is increased for every
million standard cubic feet per day of gas.

Lean-Oil-to-Inlet Gas Ratio
• Lean-oil-to-inlet-gas ratio
Presaturation
• As hydrocarbons products such as methane, ethane and propane
make the phase change from gas to liquid and become part of the
oil inside the absorber, they give up their latent heat.
• This increases the temperature of both the oil and the gas. As a
result, these higher temperatures lower the efficiency of the
absorber.
• One method to minimize this is by using a presaturation system as

shown in the following figure.
• The low-pressure, methane rich vapors from the rich-oil

demethanizer are mixed with the lean oil and chilled then separated
from the presaturated lean oil in an accumulator.
Presaturation
• A typical low pressure presaturation system using vapors from rich oil demethanizer

Absorber Potential Problem
• Problems in the recovery system are often due to flooding and

freezing in the absorber due to hydrates formation.
• When the absorber floods, some of the lean oil fed to the absorber
will leave the top of the absorber with the residue gas.
• As shown in the following figure, any carryover form the lean-oil

absorber will be caught by the residue gas scrubber.
• A high liquid level alarm (HLA) installed on the scrubber alerts the
operator when lean oil is being carried.

• Many plants have a differential pressure indicator (DPI) to
measure the pressure drop across the absorber.
• When the absorber floods, there is a large increase in the

differential pressure.
• The main three things that can cause flooding:
➢ A sudden increase in either gas or lean-oil flow.

➢ Too much lean oil for the volume of the gas being handled.
➢ Dirt or freezing that plugs the gas or lean-oil flow paths.
Chapter 8: NGL Recovery Cryogenic 15

• A residue gas scrubber diagram

The Rejection System
• A rejection system gets rid of the methane retained by the recovery
system. Operators call it demethanizing the product.
• To reject methane from the rich oil, the pressure is reduced and
temperature is increased. While methane is being rejected, it is
important to keep the products that have been absorbed in the rich
oil.
• Rich-oil demthanizer (ROD) is a vessel where methane is separated

from the rich oil while retaining most of the ethane plus
components in the rich oil.
• Heat is added either to the total feed or to most of the feed.

Rich Oil Demethanizer
• The ROD tower performs two functions:
➢ The bottom section strips the methane from the rich oil.
➢ The top section reabsorbs ethane and other components from vapor
leaving the column. This is shown in the following figure.
• Lean oil in the top section of the ROD functions the same as in the
absorber.
• The rejected methane can be used to:

✓Presaturate lean oil;
✓Used as plants fuel;
✓Recompressed to join the inlet gas or absorber residue gas.

Rich-Oil Demethanizer (ROD)
• Diagram of ROD
The Separation System
• Fluid in the bottom of ROD is a mix of product and lean oil.
• The distillation column used to separate the product from the

absorption oil is called still. Shown in the following figure.
• The necessary vapors are made by partially vaporizing hot oil

pumped through the still’s reboiler. These hydrocarbons vapors
serve as the stripping medium to separate products form the lean
oil.
• At the top of the tower, some of the product is recirculated back to

the top of the still. The is called reflux; it prevents lean oil from
leaving the top of the still with the product.
The Still
• Diagram of the still

Lean Oil Quality
• Good lean-oil quality is essential to the efficiency of the plant.
• The main standards of lean-oil quality are:

➢ 50% boiling-point temperature and
➢ the distillation range of temperatures.
• When these two are met, the molecular weight of the lean oil is
fixed.
• See the following figure as an example of distillation range of

temperatures and 50% boiling-point temperature.

Oil Purification
• Oil purification step is the removing
of the heavy components that
accumulate in the absorption oil over
time.
• Heavy components in the absorption
oil will:
➢ Reduce the amount of products
being recovered;
➢ Increase operating difficulties;
➢ Increase lean oil losses.
• The following figure gives an
example of the need to control the
final boiling point temperature of lean
oil. In this example, the bad lean oil
has a low initial boiling point and • A distillation test graph showing
high final boiling point. Lean oil quality

The Still Possible Problems
• The initial boiling point of the lean oil is an effective method to

measure its ability to separate products from the feed gas.
• The final boiling point of the product is a measure of how much

lean oil is leaving the top of the still with the product.
• Lean oil in the product can be lowered by increasing the amount of

reflux to the still.
• If the reboiler is fired heater, enough flow inside the tubes should
be ensured. Otherwise, when the tubes inside the fired heater with
low or no flow of oil at all, this will form coke and creates hot
spots, which eventually melt through and cause the tubes to fail.

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151PTE312 Petroleum Process Simulation

1. What is lean oil and its function?

• An increased-yield process, called lean oil absorption, was developed

• Previously, when kerosene was a highly valued product and natural

• Lean oil is a hydrocarbon liquid, usually lighter than kerosene.

• Using this process, operators recovered more gas condensate as well

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 4

• The three primary systems in an oil absorption plant , as shown in

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 5

• Oil Absorption Plan System

• The rejection processing systems eliminates the remaining methane

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 7

• In the recovery system, all product to be recovered is removed from

• Absorption is a process in which a liquid solvent removes some of

• Most of the remaining equipment in the recovery system is used to

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 8

• Hydrocarbons with lower vapor pressures, such as gasoline and

• The oil-to-gas ratio is usually expressed as the gallons per minute

• The effect of the lean-oil-to-inlet-gas ratio is shown in the

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 10

• One method to minimize this is by using a presaturation system as

• The low-pressure, methane rich vapors from the rich-oil

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 13

• Problems in the recovery system are often due to flooding and

• As shown in the following figure, any carryover form the lean-oil

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 14

• When the absorber floods, there is a large increase in the

• The main three things that can cause flooding:

➢ A sudden increase in either gas or lean-oil flow.

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery Cryogenic 15

• A residue gas scrubber diagram

• Rich-oil demthanizer (ROD) is a vessel where methane is separated

• Heat is added either to the total feed or to most of the feed.

• The rejected methane can be used to:

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 18

• The distillation column used to separate the product from the

• The necessary vapors are made by partially vaporizing hot oil

• At the top of the tower, some of the product is recirculated back to

• Diagram of the still

• Good lean-oil quality is essential to the efficiency of the plant.

• The main standards of lean-oil quality are:

• See the following figure as an example of distillation range of

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 22

Chapter 8: NGL Recovery –Lean Oil Absorption 23

• The initial boiling point of the lean oil is an effective method to

• The final boiling point of the product is a measure of how much

• Lean oil in the product can be lowered by increasing the amount of

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