PET-002H

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Hydrate Formation in Gas Pipelines with Aspen HYSYS V8.0

1. Lesson Objectives
Understand the hydrate formation calculation within a pipeline model in Aspen HYSYS

2. Prerequisites
Aspen HYSYS V8.0

3. Background
Hydrates are commonly formed in natural gas pipelines when water is condensed in the presence of methane at high pressures. Natural gas hydrates are basically modified ice structures that enclose methane and other hydrocarbons. The issue with hydrates is that at high pressures they have higher melting points than ice and can cause blockages in pipelines and other processing equipment. There are several methods used to prevent hydrate formation in pipelines such as heating or reducing the pressure. A common method used is to add a hydrate inhibitor (anti-freeze) such as ethylene glycol which will decrease the temperature that hydrates will form. In this demo we will be simulating the piping network that mixes streams from 3 gas wells before they are sent to a gas-oil separator. The ambient temperature is 0C, and as the gas streams cool due to heat loss in the pipeline, the risk of hyrdate formation increases. The examples presented are solely intended to illustrate specific concepts and principles. They may not reflect an industrial application or real situation.

4. Problem Statement and Aspen HYSYS Solution

Problem Statement
Using the pre-built Aspen HYSYS flowsheet PET-002H_Hydrate_Formation_Start.hsc, determine the flowrate of ethylene glycol that is required to prevent any hydrates from being formed in the gas pipeline.

Aspen HYSYS Solution

4.01. 4.02. Start Aspen HYSYS V8.0. Open the file named PET-002H_Hydrate_Formation_Start.hsc. Once the case file loads and solves, you will see that there are three gas well streams and an ethylene glycol inhibitor stream being fed into an Aspen Hydraulics Sub-Flowsheet (AH-100).

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4.03.

The Aspen Hydraulics Sub-Flowsheet allows for simulation of pipes, junctions, mixers, swages, and valves. Pipeline and hydraulic network simulations can be solved in Steady State mode or Dynamic mode. Right click on AH-100 and select Open Flowsheet as New Tab.

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Flowsheet TPL1 will appear. Here you will see the piping network used to mix the gas well streams and the ethylene glycol inhibitor.

4.05.

If you place the mouse over the EG Inhibitor stream, a tool tip will appear showing you the temperature, pressure, and flow of the stream. The ethylene glycol stream currently has a flow rate of 0.1 kg/h.

4.06.

We would now like to check if any hydrates are being formed with the current flow rate of inhibitor. Double click on the pipe segment Pipe-104. Go to the Flow Assurance tab and select the Hydrates form. In the plot you will see a blue line and a red line. The red line represents the temperature at each point along the pipe and the blue line represents the temperature at which hydrates will begin to form. With the current flow of ethylene glycol you can see that hydrates will begin to form at approximately 40 meters into the pipe. This suggests that in order to prevent hydrate formation we will need to add more inhibitor to the pipeline.

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4.07.

Move back to the main flowsheet ( Flowsheet Main). Double click on the EG Inhibitor stream and change the flowrate to 50 kg/h. The flowsheet will solve after a few moments.

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4.08.

Now if you go back to the Aspen Hydraulics Sub-Flowsheet and view the Hydrates form for Pipe-104 you will see the following. The hydrate formation temperature is now lower but hydrates still begin to form in the pipe.

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4.09.

We will now increase the ethylene glycol flow again. Go to the main flowsheet and change the mass flow of stream EG Inhibitor to 100 kg/h. The flowsheet will solve after a few moments.

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4.10.

The hydrate formation plot now looks like the following.

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4.11.

The blue line (hydrate formation temperature) is now completely below the red line (temperature profile). This indicates that hydrate formation is unlikely for this pipeline with an inhibitor flowrate of 100 kg/h.

5. Conclusions
Using Aspen HYSYS V8.0 we were able to determine the amount of ethylene glycol is required to prevent hydrate formation in a pipeline network. It was determined that an ethylene glycol flowrate of 100 kg/h is sufficient for this gas pipeline.

6. Copyright
Copyright 2012 by Aspen Technology, Inc. (AspenTech). All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of AspenTech. ASPENTECH MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS WORK and assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. In no event will AspenTech be liable to you for damages, including any loss of profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of the information contained in, or the digital files supplied with or for use with, this work. This work and its contents are provided for educational purposes only. 8

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