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Cryogenic Demethanizer Calculator

Turboexpander C1/C2 split — Fenske / Underwood / Gilliland

Size a turboexpander-fed cryogenic demethanizer separating methane (residue gas overhead) from ethane and heavier (NGL bottoms). Uses Fenske-Underwood-Gilliland (binary C1/C2 key, C3+ all to bottoms) per GPSA §16. Distinct from Rich Oil Demethanizer — that calc models the lean-oil refluxed-absorber alternative.

Feed

MMscfd
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Recovery & Spec

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mol %

Operating Conditions

psia
°F
°F

Equations

Fenske minimum stages:

Nmin = log[(xLK/xHK)D·(xHK/xLK)B] / log α

Underwood minimum reflux (binary key, q=1):

Rmin = (1/(α−1))·[xLK,D/xLK,F − α·(1−xLK,D)/(1−xLK,F)]

Gilliland (Eduljee fit):

(N − Nmin)/(N+1) = 0.75 · [1 − ((R − Rmin)/(R+1))0.5668]