Energy Saving through Modeling of Integrated Distillation Column (Side-Stripper) in Natural Gas Liquid Processing

Abstract

In Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) recovery, distillation process is the most common and widely used separation method. The productions of ethane, propane, butane and stabilized condensate are achieved through a series of conventional distillation columns which require massive amount of energy consumption, contributing more than 40% of the overall plant energy thus increasing the operating cost. This work focuses on energy saving in natural gas liquid processing by comparing the integrated side-stripper column with the conventional separation trains at steady state using a commercial simulator, Aspen Plus HYSYS. Energy analysis from the study shows that the integrated column arrangement which implement the side-stripper configuration achieved favourable result as it offers the highest percentage in energy reduction which is up to 68% (for reboiler) and 70% (for condenser). Consequently, this can be linked to the reduction of operating cost for hot and cool duties and trim down the overall production cost for existing NGL recovery plant.