澳洲大学石油工程讲座60-0490-dehydration-with-solid-desiccants.pptVIP

Rike Service, Inc. DEHYDRATION WITH SOLID DESICCANTS Desiccants attract/adsorb water and are drying agents Equipment Inlet separator or scrubber Two contactors Regeneration gas heater Gas-to-gas heat exchanger Regeneration gas scrubber Skid mounted — two skids required because of heater Capacity varies widely — field units only Mechanics of water vapor adsorption on a solid desiccant are are a matter of dispute and conjecture. Theory No. 1: liquefaction with capillary retention Theory No. 2: chemical combination with free valence on solid surface Probably together in a zone concept. Equilibrium between gas and solid free concentrations is exponential. Surface forces on dry solid pore surface to hold water as liquid. Reduced effective vapor pressure in the tower allows the adsorbed film to be very thin. The adsorbed vapor (water) per unit area of the solid is low; therefore, much adsorbing surface is required. Large internal surface-to-volume ratio is essential. For example, silica gel has 3 million ft2/lb. Solid desiccants should have a high adsorptive capacity in lb. H2O/lb of desiccant. Design Considerations Inlet gas temperature is important High temperature increases water content in gas and lowers adsorptive capacity of the desiccant. Gas stream temperature is near earth plus 5°F for the hot gas mix. Operating pressure affects adsorptive capacity since pressure affects equilibrium. However, unit size is decreased with increased pressure. Drying cycle length depends on economics and convenience, but there must be enough time to have the beds ready for the next cycle. Most have automatic time cycle controls of equal length and divisible into 24 (8 or 12 hours), often matched to personnel schedules. Gas velocity is based on superficial velocities at 80°F. Popular rules of thumb are 27 ft/min. for operating pressures of 1,200 psi and 45 ft/min. for operating pressure of 400 psi. Consider required pressure drop as this may require horsepower for recompression B