Physico-Analytical Modeling of an Industrial Low-Temperature Natural Gas Separation Line with Three-Section Cold Recovery and Propane Cooling
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study develops and tests a first-principles dynamic model of an industrial low-temperature separation (LTS) train with three-section cold recovery and propane refrigeration (LTS-4 line, Mubarek Gas Processing Plant). Mass, energy and hydraulic balances of the coolers, the recuperators 20T-01 and 20T-02A–C (including tube-wall heat capacity), the separators and the propane evaporator are coupled with Peng–Robinson phase-equilibrium relations into an index-1 differential-algebraic system with 13 + 12N states. A 58-state thermal core was calibrated on 5 h and validated on 7 h of 2 min supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) records that include a 19% throughput step. The 20C-01 gas temperature was predicted with a validation root-mean-square error of 0.49 K (R2 = 0.93), against 1.89 K for a persistence predictor. The linearized core is asymptotically stable; the wall heat capacity, 14.5 times the gas holdup, raises the slowest time constant from 2.4 to 15.2 min. The return-gas loop amplifies the evaporator response to propane-temperature changes by 33%, and one cell per section underestimates the cascade effectiveness (0.64 versus 0.81). Cold-section temperatures were not reproduced (bias up to −5.4 K), indicating an unmeasured disturbance and the need for inter-section measurements.
Source: Processes
DOI: 10.3390/pr14223645
Institutions: Gachon University, Tashkent State Technical University named after Islam Karimov, University of Tashkent for Applied Sciences, Samarkand State University named after Sharof Rashidov, Tashkent University of Information Technology, Nordic International University, Chungbuk National University
Language: English
Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W7225834381
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: