A systematic simulation-based process intensification method for shale gas processing and NGLs recovery process systems under uncertain feedstock compositions

Handling uncertainty in feedstock compositions is an important challenge for shale gas processing and natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery process systems. If the process system is designed without considering uncertain feedstock compositions, the product specifications could be easily violated. To address this challenge, we develop a systematic simulation-based process intensification method. This method consists of three steps, namely process simulation, capacity-oriented process intensification, and design validation. An iterative feature of the proposed method guarantees the intensified design hedged against uncertain feedstock compositions. The proposed method is illustrated on a conventional process system and a novel condensation-based system. In the novel system, a condensation process is considered in the gas dehydration section and it is integrated with a turboexpander process to improve the overall energy utilization efficiency. The intensified design of the novel system shows a lower total annualized cost than that of the conventional system.