Natural gas absorption

Since naphtha usually contains unreactive sulfur, hydrotreating or hydrodesulfurization is commonly used -in-naphtha-based-plants JThe catalysts (absorbents) used in the guard beds are expensive and cannot be regenerated. Therefore, if the feedstock contains much sulfur or chbride, some means for remo flng most of these impurities as a. pretreatment should be considered. In the case of natural gas, absorption in an alkaline.solvent such as monoethanolamine or potassium carbonate, which can be regenerated, is commonly used for removing most of the sulfur. 

Condensable hydrocarbon components are usually removed from gas to avoid liquid drop out in pipelines, or to recover valuable natural gas liquids where there is no facility for gas export. Cooling to ambient conditions can be achieved by air or water heat exchange, or to sub zero temperatures by gas expansion or refrigeration. Many other processes such as compression and absorption also work more efficiently at low temperatures. 

Large quantities of sulphur are recovered from petroleum and natural gas. Naturally occurring hydrogen sulphide, HjS, and that produced in the cracking and catalytic hydrogenation of petroleum is first removed by absorption and the regenerated gas is converted to sulphur by partial combustion with air, the overall reaction being,... 

Gas-phase adsorption is widely employed for the large-scale purification or bulk separation of air, natural gas, chemicals, and petrochemicals (Table 1). In these uses it is often a preferred alternative to the older unit operations of distillation and absorption. 

Fig. 6. Adsorption capacity of various dessicants vs years of service in dehydrating high pressure natural gas (39). a, Alumin a H-151, gas 27° C and 123 kPa, from oil and water separators b, siUca gel, gas 38° C and 145 kPa, from oil absorption plant c, sorbead, 136-kPa gas from absorption plant ...

Control of NO emissions from nitric acid and nitration operations is usually achieved by NO2 reduction to N2 and water using natural gas in a catalytic decomposer (123—126) (see Exhaust control, industrial). NO from nitric acid/nitration operations is also controlled by absorption in water to regenerate nitric acid. Modeling of such absorbers and the complexities of the NO —HNO —H2O system have been discussed (127). Other novel control methods have also been investigated (128—129). Vehicular emission control is treated elsewhere (see Exhaust control, automotive). 

Natural gas Hquids (NGL) a Hquid hydrocarbon mixture which is gaseous at reservoir temperatures and pressures, but recoverable by condensation or absorption (qv). 

Natural gas Hquids are recovered from natural gas using condensation processes, absorption (qv) processes employing hydrocarbon Hquids similar to gasoline or kerosene as the absorber oil, or soHd-bed adsorption (qv) processes using adsorbants such as siHca, molecular sieves, or activated charcoal. Eor condensation processes, cooling can be provided by refrigeration units which frequently use vapor-compression cycles with propane as the refrigerant or by... 

Absorber oil units offer the advantage that Hquids can be removed at the expense of only a small (34—69 kPa (4.9—10.0 psi)) pressure loss in the absorption column. If the feed gas is available at pipeline pressure, then Httle if any recompression is required to introduce the processed natural gas into the transmission system. However, the absorption and subsequent absorber-oil regeneration process tends to be complex, favoring the simpler, more efficient expander plants. Separations using soHd desiccants are energy-intensive because of the bed regeneration requirements. This process option is generally considered only in special situations such as hydrocarbon dew point control in remote locations. 

LPG is recovered from natural gas principally by one of four extraction methods turboexpander, absorption (qv), compression, and adsorption (qv). Selection of the process is dependent on the gas composition and the degree of recovery of ethane and LPG, particularly from large volumes of lean natural gas. 

Absorption. Oil absorption is another process used for recovery of LPG and natural gas Hquids from natural gas. Recovery is enhanced by loweriag the absorption temperature to —45°C and by keeping the molecular weight of the absorption oil down to 100. Heat used to separate the product from the absorption oil contributes to the cost of recovery. Therefore, this process has become less competitive as the cost of energy has iacreased. A simplified flow diagram of a typical oil-absorption process is shown ia Figure 2. 

The bottoms, consisting of absorption oil, absorbed propane, and higher boiling hydrocarbons, are fed to the lean-oil fractionator. The LPG and the natural gas Hquids are removed as the overhead product from the absorption oil which is removed as a ketde-bottom product. 

Adsorption. Adsorption processes have been used to recover hydrocarbons that are heavier than ethane from natural gas. Although the adsorption process has appHcations for the recovery of pentane and heavier hydrocarbons from lean gas, the percentage recovery of LPG components in these plants usually is low compared to the normal recovery of LPG in modem turboexpander or oil-absorption plants. 

Fig. 4. A fast-cycle absorption unit for recovery of hydrocarbon Hquids from natural gas.

Less propane and butanes are produced compared to natural gas Hquids by the adsorption process than are obtained normally for the same gas by the oil-absorption process. Because adsorption efficiency increases with a decrease in temperature, the adsorption cycle should operate at the lowest temperature that is economically feasible. 

Natural gas contains both organic and inorganic sulfur compounds that must be removed to protect both the reforming and downstream methanol synthesis catalysts. Hydrodesulfurization across a cobalt or nickel molybdenum—zinc oxide fixed-bed sequence is the basis for an effective purification system. For high levels of sulfur, bulk removal in a Hquid absorption—stripping system followed by fixed-bed residual clean-up is more practical (see Sulfur REMOVAL AND RECOVERY). Chlorides and mercury may also be found in natural gas, particularly from offshore reservoirs. These poisons can be removed by activated alumina or carbon beds. 

Fixed-bed desulfuri2ation is impractical and uneconomical if the natural gas contains large amounts of sulfur. In this case, bulk sulfur removal and recovery (qv) in an acid gas absorption—stripping system, followed by fixed-bed residual cleanup is usually employed. 

Compared to natural gas and oil, complete combustion of coal requires higher levels of excess air, about 15% as measured at the furnace outlet at high loads, and this also serves to avoid slagging and foifling of the heat absorption equipment. 

Furnaces for Oil and Natural Gas Firing. Natural gas furnaces are relatively small in size because of the ease of mixing the fuel and the air, hence the relatively rapid combustion of gas. Oil also bums rapidly with a luminous flame. To prevent excessive metal wall temperatures resulting from high radiation rates, oil-fired furnaces are designed slightly larger in size than gas-fired units in order to reduce the heat absorption rates. 

Conversion of Lean Oil Absorption Process to Extraction Process for Conditioning Natural Gas, U.S. Patent 4.696,688, Sep. 29, 1987. 

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