Natural gas found at wellheads contains impurities that must be removed before it can be transported through pipelines. The document discusses several processes used to purify natural gas, including removing water, separating out natural gas liquids like propane and butane, and removing acid gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Field processing near wells and centralized processing plants are used to fully treat raw natural gas through methods like oil and condensate removal, water removal, natural gas liquid separation, and acid gas sweetening.
Natural gas found at wellheads contains impurities that must be removed before it can be transported through pipelines. The document discusses several processes used to purify natural gas, including removing water, separating out natural gas liquids like propane and butane, and removing acid gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Field processing near wells and centralized processing plants are used to fully treat raw natural gas through methods like oil and condensate removal, water removal, natural gas liquid separation, and acid gas sweetening.
Natural gas found at wellheads contains impurities that must be removed before it can be transported through pipelines. The document discusses several processes used to purify natural gas, including removing water, separating out natural gas liquids like propane and butane, and removing acid gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Field processing near wells and centralized processing plants are used to fully treat raw natural gas through methods like oil and condensate removal, water removal, natural gas liquid separation, and acid gas sweetening.
Natural gas found at wellheads contains impurities that must be removed before it can be transported through pipelines. The document discusses several processes used to purify natural gas, including removing water, separating out natural gas liquids like propane and butane, and removing acid gases like hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Field processing near wells and centralized processing plants are used to fully treat raw natural gas through methods like oil and condensate removal, water removal, natural gas liquid separation, and acid gas sweetening.
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Gas Sweetening 1
Part 1 1,2 Gas Sweetening Contents PROCESSING NATURAL GAS 1-1 ACID GAS CONSIDERATIONS 1-14 SWEETENING PROCESSES 1-17 SOLID BED PROCESSES 1-18 CHEMICAL SOLVENT PROCESSES 1-27 PHYSICAL SOLVENT PROCESSES 1-41 DIRECT CONVERSION PROCESSES 1-47 DISTILLATION PROCESS 1-56 GAS PERMEATION PROCESS 1-57 PROCESS SELECTION 1-87 DESIGN PROCEDURE 1-93 DESIGN EXAMPLES (OILFIELD UNITS) 1-115 DESIGN EXAMPLES (SI UNITS) 1-128 NOMENCLATURE 1-139 REFERENCES 1-140
PROCESSING NATURAL GAS
Introduction Natural gas used by consumers is significantly different from the natural gas that is brought up from the wellhead. The processing of natural gas, in many respects, is less complicated than the processing of crude oil but is equally important before it is used by the end users. Natural gas used by consumers is composed almost entirely of methane. Natural gas found at the wellhead, although composed primarily of methane, contains a number of impurities that need to be removed. Raw natural gas comes from three types of wells: Oil wells
DOI: 10.1016/B978-1-85617-982-9.00002-8 2 Gas Sweetening and Processing Field Manual
Gas wells, and
Condensate wells. Natural gas from oil wells Termed “associated gas” Gas can exist Separate from oil in the formation and is termed “free gas” or Dissolved in the crude oil and is termed “dissolved gas.” Natural gas from gas and condensate wells Contain little or no crude oil Termed “nonassociated gas” Gas wells produce raw natural gas by itself Condensate wells produce free natural gas along with a semiliquid hydrocarbon condensate Whatever the source of raw natural gas Exists in mixtures with Other associated hydrocarbons such as Ethane Propane Butane i-Butane Pentanes plus (natural gasoline) Impurities Water vapor Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) Carbon dioxide (CO2) Helium Nitrogen Other compounds
Natural Gas Processing
Consists of separating all of the various hydrocarbons and impurities from the raw natural gas to produce what is termed “pipeline quality” dry natural gas. Gas Sweetening 3 1 Pipeline companies impose restrictions on the makeup of natural gas that is allowed into the pipeline. Requires natural gas to be purified by removing Impurities termed “waste products” and Associated hydrocarbons such as Ethane Propane Butane i-Butane Pentane plus (natural gasoline) Associated hydrocarbons Termed “natural gas liquids” (NGLs) Can be very valuable by-products of natural gas processing Sold separately and have a variety of different uses such as Enhancing oil recovery in oil wells Providing raw materials for oil refineries and/ or petrochemical plants, and Sources of energy Some of the needed processing can be accomplished at or near the wellhead (field processing). Complete processing of natural gas takes place at a processing plant, usually located in a natural gas producing region. Extracted natural gas is transported to processing plants through a network of gathering pipelines. Consists of small-diameter low pressure pipelines A complex gathering system can consist of thousands of miles of pipeline, interconnecting the processing plant to more than 100 wells. In addition to processing done at the wellhead and centralized processing plants, some final processing is also done at “staddle extraction plants.” Plants are located on major pipeline systems. Removes small quantities of NGLs that may still exist in pipeline quality gas 4 Gas Sweetening and Processing Field Manual
The processing of natural gas to meet pipeline quality gas
involves the following four main processes to remove the various impurities Oil and condensate removal Water removal Separation of NGLs Sulfur and carbon dioxide removal In addition the four processes above, heaters and scrubbers are installed, usually at or near the wellhead. Scrubbers remove sand and other large-particle impurities. Heaters ensure that the temperature of the gas does not drop below the hydrate formation temperature. Hydrates They have a tendency to form when the gas temperature drops. Hydrates are solid or semisolid compounds, resembling ice-like crystals. Should these hydrates accumulate, they can impede passage of natural gas through valves and gathering systems. To reduce the occurrence of hydrates, the following equipment may be used: Indirect fired heater Hydrate inhibitors Dehydration Low temperature units
Oil and Condensate Removal
In order to process and transport associated dissolved natural gas Gas must be separated from the oil in which it is dissolved Often accomplished by using equipment installed at or near the wellhead. Actual processes used to separate oil from natural gas and the equipment used can vary widely. Gas Sweetening 5 1 Dry pipeline quality natural gas is basically identical across different geographic regions. Raw natural gas from different regions may have different compositions and separation requirements. In some instances, natural gas is dissolved in oil underground primarily due to the pressure that the formation is under. When this natural gas and oil is produced, it is possible that it will separate on its own, simply due to decreased pressure (similar to opening a bottle of soda and allowing the release of dissolved carbon dioxide). Separation of oil and gas is relatively easy, and the two hydrocarbons are separated and exit the separator for further processing. Conventional separators are used which uses gravity separation to separate the heavy liquids (oil and water) and lighter fluid (natural gas). In some instances, specialized process equipment, such as a low-temperature separator (LTX), is necessary to separate oil and natural gas. LTX is used for wells producing high pressure gas along with light crude oil or condensate. These separators use pressure differentials to cool the wet natural gas and separate the oil and condensate. Wet gas enters the separator, being cooled slightly by a heat exchanger. The gas then travels through a high pressure liquid “knockout” which serves to remove any liquids into a LTX. Gas then flows into this LTX through a choke mechanism, which expands the gas as it enters the separator. The rapid expansion of the gas allows for the lowering of the temperature in the separator. After liquid removal, the dry gas then travels back through the heat exchanger and is warmed by the incoming wet gas By varying the pressure of the gas in various sections of the separator, it is possible to vary Gracias por probar PDFelement 6 Professional.
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