Selection of optimal program for reconstruction of Baolang United Station light hydrocarbon recovery system

Over years of operation, light hydrocarbon recovery system may present some defects such as low quality of LPG products and low C₃ recovery rates. Taking the Baolang United Station light hydrocarbon recovery system of Henan Oilfield as an example, and through HYSYS simulation and calculation, two programs for reconstruction are proposed. For Program I, expansion cooling process is added to the existing system. For Program II, DHX process and expansion cooling process are added to the existing system. Both programs are compared in respects of C₃ recovery rate, LPG productivity, NPV, internal rate of return and investment recovery period. The results show that DHX process and expansion cooling process in Program II are more beneficial with C₃ recovery rate up to 96.24% and enabling the income from liquefied products to increment by RMB 415.8×10⁴ yuan/yr. Satisfactory reconstruction performance can be obtained with Program II.