Hydrate Formation

with Aspen HYSYS

Revised: Nov 27, 2012

2012 Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved

 Objectives

Understand the hydrate formation calculation within a

pipeline model in Aspen HYSYS

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 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.

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 Background

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.

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 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.

2012 Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved | 5

 Copyright

Copyright 2012 by Aspen Technology, Inc. (AspenTech). All

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