Texas plant treats natural gas for use as alternative fuel
Pushed by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is using clean-burning liquefied methane to fuel some of Houston`s city buses. Houston Metro`s primary supply of liquefied methane is a 12 MMscfd amine-treating unit in Willis, TX. The willis plant uses Dow Chemical Co.`s GAS/SPEC process to treat natural gas. The GAS/SPEC process uses a specialty amine solvent to remove carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and hydrogen sulfide from natural gas. To convert natural gas to a liquid, processors cool the gas to cryogenic temperatures and compress it. If the gas contains carbon dioxide, the CO{sub 2} will freeze, subsequently blocking transmission lines and damaging equipment. Processors therefore must remove CO{sub 2} from natural gas to prevent these problems. The natural gas processed at the Willis amine treater contains 1.5--2.5% CO{sub 2}. During treatment, the CO{sub 2} concentration is reduced to 50 ppm. The solvent used in the Willis plant is called GAS/SPEC CS-Plus. Dow makes seven other solvents for use with the process.
- OSTI ID:
- 201282
- Journal Information:
- Oil and Gas Journal, Vol. 94, Issue 8; Other Information: PBD: 19 Feb 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Gas plant converts amine unit to MDEA-based solvent
Evaluation of the Exxon CFZ and CNG-Claus process for the treatment of subquality natural gas. Final report, May-November 1991