Operating Parameters Optimization of Natural Gas Purification Plant
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The energy consumption in the production process of a natural gas purification plant
is composed of the consumption of fuel gas, electricity, water and other energy sources.
For gas sweetening unit (GSU), dehydration unit (DU) and tail gas treatment
unit (TGTU), the energy consumption per unit of treatment capacity is the energy
consumption of each unit divided by the natural gas treatment capacity.
E 1 =
Q 1
V pg
(1)
E 1 represents the energy consumption per unit processing capacity of GSU, DU and
TGTU, MJ/m 3 . Q 1 represents the whole energy consumption of GSU, DU, TGTU, MJ.
V pg represents the natural gas treatment capacity, m 3 .
For the sulfur recovery unit (SRU), the energy consumption per unit output of sulfur
products is adopted.
E 2 =
Q 2
V ps
(2)
E 2 represents the energy consumption per unit of sulfur products of SRU, MJ/t. Q 2
represents the whole energy consumption of SRU, MJ. V ps represents the weight of
sulfur products, t.
2.2 Particle Swarm Algorithm
On the basis of establishing the model of the purification plant using Aspen HYSYS, the
PSO algorithm [20] is used to optimize the key operating parameters of the purification
plant. (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Flowchart of the PSO algorithm.