Natural Gas Process Project (Lab Report Sample)

Natural Gas Process Project
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Summary PAGEREF _Toc69243188 \h 3Introduction PAGEREF _Toc69243189 \h 3Project Objectives PAGEREF _Toc69243190 \h 4Natural Gas Processing PAGEREF _Toc69243191 \h 4Oil and condensate removal PAGEREF _Toc69243192 \h 4Acid Gas Removal PAGEREF _Toc69243193 \h 5Water Removal (Dehydration) PAGEREF _Toc69243194 \h 5Separation of Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) PAGEREF _Toc69243195 \h 6Extraction of NGL PAGEREF _Toc69243196 \h 6Fractionation PAGEREF _Toc69243197 \h 7References PAGEREF _Toc69243198 \h 9
Summary
Exterran Corporation in Oman performs an important process of separating and purifying natural gases into individual components. This is done to ensure that the final products (NGLs) are valuable and user-friendly. Thus, the goal of this project was to comprehend the industrial applications of various techniques and processes in the production of valuable natural gas. As a result, this project addressed a variety of processes and techniques such as separation/fractionation, cryogenic expansion, extraction, dehydration, and purification. The obtained products have a variety of characteristics that make them valuable and useful in a variety of contexts.
Introduction
Natural gas is a mixture of combustion products created underground by the decomposition of biological materials found in plants and animals. It is mostly found in areas where there is oil, but there are many significant underground natural gas reserves in areas where there is little to no oil. In Oman, Exterran Corporation provides compression, refining, and treatment services through the operation of natural gas compression appliances, oil product and natural gas production and process apparatus, water treatment, and energy production services. Natural gas is widely used in a variety of applications, including heating, cooking, and a variety of manufacturing processes (Kidnay et al., 2019). While natural gas processing is less complicated in many ways than crude oil processing and refining, it is just as important before it is used by end users. Oil, coal, and
The composition of natural gas permitted into major infrastructure pipelines is typically limited. This means that natural gas must be processed before it can be distributed. Although C2H6, C3H8, C4H10, and C10H12 should be extracted from natural gas, they are not all "byproducts."
Project Objectives
The goals of this project include learning about industrial applications for natural gas production, processes associated with processing and purification, and the equipment used by Exterran Corporation throughout the natural gas production phase.
Natural Gas Production
Natural gas is composed of numerous gases in its natural state. Methane is the most important component, but there is also ethane, propane, butane, and a variety of other combustible hydrocarbons present. Furthermore, water vapor, H2S, CO2, N2, and He can be found in raw natural gas. The majority of these substances can be removed through processing. Some, such as ethane, propane, butane, H2S, and He, can be extracted partially or completely and sold separately (Mojammal et al., 2019). Other substances, such as moisture, CO2, and N2, may be removed to improve natural gas quality and aid in the transportation of the gas over long distances via pipelines.
Oil and condensate removal
Natural gas is found in form of mixture of oil and itself. However, the two can be separated to individual components by use of conventional separator or specialized Low-Temperature Separator (LTX). In the Exterran Corporation, LTX is commonly used because of its accuracy.
Pressure variations are used in these separators to cool wet natural gas or isolate oil from condensate. Wet gas enters the separator and is partially cooled by a heating system. The gas is then passed through a high-pressure fluid knockout, which removes any fluids that have passed through LTX. The gas is then routed into this LTX via a choke process, causing the gas to expand as it approaches the separator. The massive expansion of the gas reduces the temperature within the separator. Following the removal of the liquid, the dry gas passes through the heat exchanger and is thus warmed by the arriving wet gas (Cobanoglu et al., 2019). The temperature of the wet gas stream must be adjusted by varying the pressure of the gas in various parts of the separator. This allows the oil, and possibly some water, to condense from the wet gaseous state.
Acid Gas Removal
Absorption in an amine solution is typically used to separate acid gases (H2S and CO2). The retrieved H2S is then sent to coupled Claus-SCOT (Tail Gas Treating) unit for elemental sulfur conversion (Song et al., 2017).
Water Removal (Dehydration)
Dehydration is done through two main processes; adsorption and absorption. Glycol Dehydration involves moisture absorption from the gas stream. The main agent in this method, glycol, appears to have a chemical affinity for water, which means that when it comes into contact with a flow of natural gas containing water, glycol can 'steal' the water out of the gas stream (Chebbi et al., 2019). Glycol dehydration is accomplished by exposing a glycol solution (DEG or TEG) to a wet gas stream in a device known as the 'contactor.' The glycol solution absorbs water from the wet gas, making glycol particles heavier after absorption and falling to the bottom of the contactor, where they can be withdrawn (Hasan et al., 2018). After the dehydrator has been drained of the majority of its moisture content, the natural gas can be extracted. The glycol solution, which contains all of the water extracted from the natural gas, is vaporized by a sophisticated boiler that only vaporizes the water in the solution.
Figure 1: Dehydration section
Solid-Desiccant dehydration systems, on the other hand, are better suited for large gas volumes at high pressure and are typically installed downstream of a compressor station on a pipeline. Two or more towers are used to replace any that become saturated with water. To 'regenerate' the desiccant, a high-temperature heater is used to heat gas to extremely high temperatures. The heated gas vaporizes the water in the desiccant tower, making it dry and allowing natural gas to be continuously dehydrated. Adsorption on activated carbons or other sorbents is used to remove mercury, which is then followed by nitrogen rejection via cryogenic, adsorption, or absorption processes, based on the nitrogen content (Mojammal et al., 2019).
Separation of Natural Gas Liquids (NGL)
Extraction of NGL
This method consists of