Improving LPG Pump Efficiency by Considering Variant Physical-Properties of Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Abstract

In a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant, the gas is received, stored, and finally, pumped to tanker trucks for distribution to consumers. In the pumping stage, a reduction in the efficiency of the pump for values below the density of the LPG is observed. As an option to resolve this problem when pumping LPG with varying density, this analysis evaluates a temperature control system in the plant’s pipeline by means of the installation of heat exchange equipment, attempting to reduce the temperature of the LPG. The theoretical data that the density of the liquid corresponds to 0.540kg/m3 at 288.65K is taken into account, supposing that if the temperature of the liquid can be reduced, the density of the LPG can be increased, thus improving the efficiency of the pump. In this research, a methodology of dimensional analysis is used to combine real operating conditions and simulations on commercial grade Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software; it is proposed to cool the liquid gas stored in the LPG plant during its trajectory from the storage spheres to the pumping equipment. Therefore, the research being reported in this paper focuses on a modification to the LPG pumping process, installing a heat exchanger as an alternative or means to compensate for the loss of efficiency in LPG pumps and evaluating its application in the hydrocarbons industry.