In this study, the potential of Joule Thompson cooling effect for natural gas dehydration was studied using numerical simulation method. Population balance model (PBM) was used to simulate the non-equilibrium water condensation process. Meanwhile, empirical nucleation model and diffusion growth model were taken under consideration in order to predict the onset of the water nucleation and the non-equilibrium mass transfer rate. The simulation condition was set at 78 of CO2content,feed pressure of 71 bar and temperature of 300 K. The Joule Thompson effect has been validated with the experimental data. The non-equilibrium results were then compared with the equilibrium results in order to investigate the pressure drop required for the water nucleation. Results showed that,alarge homogeneous nucleation of water occurred at the pressure drop larger than 30 bar. This has resulted in an extremely high condensation rate for the vapor in the natural gas under high pressure drop. Hence, the transition of non-equilibrium to equilibrium can be achieved within 5 milliseconds condensation time, indicating the possibility of Joule Thompson cooling effect in high efficient natural gas dehydration. © 2016 The Authors.