Evaluation of natural gas processing technology. Task 3, Volume 2. Topical report, September-December 1989

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6087015

Changela, M K; McKee, R L; Neshan, H; Pathak, V K; Quinlan, M P

The report establishes the costs of producing pipeline quality gas on a small scale from subquality natural gas. The processing technologies evaluated include: carbon dioxide (CO2) and acid gas removal employing conventional diethanolamine (DEA) absorption; modified Claus sulfur recovery; triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration; natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery employing the expander, lean oil and Joule-Thomson processes; and cryogenic nitrogen (N2) rejection. The results show that the size and investment cost of a DEA unit for CO2/acid gas removal increase with increasing CO2/acid gas concentration of the feed gas due to the increasing DEA circulation rate requirement. Due to economies of scale, processing costs for DEA units decrease at higher feed flow rates. The Claus process is not economical for very low inlet sulfur rates, but becomes economical at about 20 LT/D sulfur capacity (at a $100/LT sulfur product price). The size and investment cost of a TEG dehydration unit increase as the water content of the feed gas increases due to the increasing TEG circulation rate requirement. Processing costs associated with TEG dehydration units decrease at higher feed flow rates. At the same feed flow rate, the plant investment cost of a cryogenic N2 rejection unit increases with increasing N2 content of the feed gas primarily due to the increasing sales gas compression requirements. Processing costs for cryogenic N2 rejection units also increase with increasing N2 content of the feed gas.

• Research Organization: Pullman Kellogg, Houston, TX (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6087015
• Report Number(s): PB-92-116268/XAB; CNN: GRI-5088-221-1753
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030300* -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
ABSORPTION
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
CAPITALIZED COST
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLAUS PROCESS
CLEANING
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTROL
COST
CRYOGENICS
DEHYDRATION
DESULFURIZATION
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVALUATION
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
JOULE-THOMSON EFFECT
LIQUIDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS RECOVERY
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS
NATURAL GAS PROCESSING PLANTS
OPERATING COST
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
PROCESSING
PURIFICATION
QUALITY CONTROL
RECOVERY
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING