Comparative Evaluation of Adsorbents for Natural Gas Dehydration at Liquefied Natural Gas Plant

Adsorption dehydration of natural gas plays an important part in LNG production. The primary goal of this research is increasing efficiency of adsorption dehydration of the gas preparatory to its liquefaction. The results of comparative evaluation and determination of the optimum thermobaric parameters of the process of natural gas adsorption dehydration with KSMG type of silica gel and NaA-BS type of zeolite-containing adsorbent are expounded. It is shown that adsorbent load, adsorber metal content, and regenerating, cooling and heating gas consumptions can be reduced by reducing temperature of the natural gas stream undergoing adsorption dehydration. Recommendations are offered regarding installation of the drying unit after the precooling stage to reduce capital and operating costs. The obtained data are highly useful for designing and updating LNG production processes.