TECHNICAL AND OPERATING SUPPORT FOR PILOT DEMONSTRATION OF MORPHYSORB ACID GAS REMOVAL PROCESS

Palla, Nagaraju ; Leppin, Dennis

Gas Technology Institute

关键词: Natural Gas;    Removal;    Compression;    Testing;    Capacity;   

DOI  :  10.2172/822031
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FC26-01NT41028
RP-ID  :  822031

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

GTI and Krupp Uhde have been jointly developing advanced technology for removing high concentrations of acid gas from high-pressure natural gas for over a decade. This technology, the Morphysorb{reg_sign} process, based on N-formyl and N-acetyl morpholine mixtures, has now been tested in a large-scale facility and this paper presents preliminary results from acceptance testing at that facility. Earlier publications have discussed the bench-scale and pilot plant work that led up to this important milestone. The site was Duke Energy's new Kwoen sour gas upgrader near Chetwynd B.C., Canada. This facility has a nameplate capacity of 300 MMscfd of sour natural gas. The objective of the Morphysorb process at this site was to remove 33 MMscfd of acid gas (H{sub 2}S and CO{sub 2}) for reinjection downhole. This represents about half the acid gas present in the feed to the plant. In so doing, proportionately more of the plant ''sales'' gas, which is sent for final processing at the nearby Pine River plant, can be sent down the line without coming up against the sulfur removal capacity limits of Pine River plant, than could with other solvents that were evaluated. Other benefits include less loss of methane downhole with the rejected acid gas and lower circulation and recycle compression horsepower than with competitive solvents. On the downside, the process is expected to have higher solvent vaporization losses than competitive solvents, but this is a comparatively minor drawback when weighed against the value of the benefits. These benefits (and drawbacks) were developed into quantitative ''acceptance'' criteria, which will determine if the solvent will continue to be used at the site and for award of monetary bonuses to the process developer (GTI).