Impact of Pressure Recovery on C2 Recovery Processes – Comparing Performances Between Expander and JT Valves

Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) separation is an important link in any LNG plant. Recently, expander-based process has received increased attention, thanks to better appreciation of the refrigeration integration between NGL and LNG sections. SIMAR, which stands for System Intrinsic Maximum Recovery, is a systematic approach in process design. The main objective of this paper is to investigate advantages of turbo-expanders over Joule-Thomson (JT) valves. The second objective is to demonstrate that SIMAR is a suitable tool for performing such tasks. In view of recent development of new technologies, SIMAR may find use in future process screening and comparison.