SWEETING OF NATRAL

GAS
 Natural gas
A naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbon
gases that is highly compressible and expansible.
Impurities can also be present in large
proportions, including carbon dioxide, helium,
nitrogen and hydrogen sulfide.2*
Natural Gas Components
Natural gas is a mixture of various hydrocarbon gas known in scientific
names i.e. methane, ethane, propane, and butane. Over 70% of natural gas
is formed by methane, the major component. To maximize its use, natural
gas must be extracted. In addition to hydrocarbon, other
components, for instance, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen
and water can also be found. The composites can be separated from the
gas through the natural gas processing at the gas separation plants. Each of
them has a wide variety of uses
 Typical composition of Natural Gas
(HAND BOOK OF NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION AND PROCESSING)

NAME FORMULA VOLUME(%)

Methane CH4 >85
Ethane C2H6 3-8
Propane C3H8 1-2
Butane C4H10 <1
Pentane C5H12 <1
Carbon dioxide CO2 1-2
Hydrogen sulfide H2S <1
Nitrogen N2 1-5
Helium He <0.5
 ACID GAS TREATING
What is the acid gas and why we treat it ?
Natural gas, while ostensibly being hydrocarbon in nature, contains large
amounts of acid gases, such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.
Natural gas containing hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide is referred to
as sour, and natural gas free from hydrogen sulfide is referred to as sweet.
The corrosiveness nature of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide in the
presence of water (giving rise to an acidic aqueous solution) and because
of the toxicity of hydrogen sulfide and the lack of heating value of carbon
dioxide, natural gas being prepared for sales is required to contain no
more than 5 ppm hydrogen sulfide and to have a heating value of no
less than 920 to 980 Btu/scf .
The actual specifications depend on the use , the country where the gas is
used, and the contract. However, because natural gas has a wide range of
composition, including the concentration of the two acid gases, processes for
the removal of acid gases vary and are subject to choice based on the desired
end product.
There are many variables in treating natural gas. The precise area of
application of a given process is difficult to define. Several factors must
be considered: (1) types and concentrations of contaminants in the gas.
(2) the degree of contaminant removal desired.
(3) the selectivity of acid gas removal required.
(4) the temperature, pressure, volume, and composition of the gas to be
processed.
(5) the carbon dioxidehydrogen sulfide ratio in the gas.
(6) the desirability of sulfur recovery due to process
economics or environmental issues.
REMOVAL PROCESSES
In many cases, process complexities arise because of the need for recovery
of the materials used to remove the contaminants or even recovery of the
contaminants in the original . There are many methods to removal include :
1-Solid Bed (for small H2S concentrations)
2-Chemical solvent (Amine large gas volume).
3-physical solvent .
4-direct conversion.
5-gas permeation ( low gas volume stream).4*
Amine process
Chemical absorption processes with aqueous alkanolamine solutions are used for
treating gas streams containing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. However,
depending on the composition and operating conditions of the feed gas, different
amines can be selected to meet the product gas specification .
Amines are categorized as being primary, secondary, and tertiary depending on the
degree of substitution of the central nitrogen by organic groups .
1-Primary amines react directly with H2S, CO2 and carbonyl sulfide(COS).Examples
of primary amines include monoethanolamine (MEA).
2-Secondry amines react directly with H2S and CO2 and react directly with some of
COS. The most common secondary amine is diethanolAmine (DEA) .
3-Tertiary amines react directly with H2S, react indirectly with CO2, and react
indirectly with little COS. The most common examples of tertiary amines are
methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) .5*
 REFERENCES
1-http://www.processgroupintl.com/technologies/view/8/gas-sweetening
2-http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Terms/n/natural_gas.aspx
3-(HAND BOOK OF NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION AND PROCESSING)
4-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8kRgHtwcxIgdy38ed_VLhg
5-HAND BOOK OF NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION AND PROCESSING
6-GAS CONDITIONS AND PROCESSING BY ROBERT N MADDOX(VOLUME 4)
7-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amine_gas_treating