Home |
News Room | First Full-Scale Application Set
1/28/03 Des Plaines, ILGas Technology Institute (GTI) today announced that the novel Morphysorb® solvent technology it helped develop has been selected for its first full-scale application, in a Canadian gas processing plant.
The solvent removes acid gases – hydrogen sulfide (H
2S) and carbon dioxide (CO
2) – from sour natural gas. Acid gases degrade the heating value of the natural gas and also can cause operational problems for pipelines that carry the gas to customers.
The Morphysorb process has been under development since 1990. Based on computer simulations as well as successful tests at laboratory, bench and pilot-plant scale, Duke Energy Gas Transmission Company, Canada (DEGTC) has chosen the process for use at its Kwoen processing facility near Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada.
The Kwoen Plant is designed to process 300 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of raw natural gas at 1,000-psia pressure. The incoming sour natural gas contains 20 to 25 percent H
2S and CO
2. The plant reduces the acid gas content by about 50 percent and injects the removed H
2S and CO
2 into a nearby well. The natural gas is then piped to DEGTC’s Pine River Gas Plant for final gas clean-up for pipeline transmission through Canada and the United States.
Compared to commercially available alternatives, the Morphysorb solvent picks up much less methane from the incoming natural gas stream. This results in several performance improvements: less recycle of hydrocarbons to the absorber; reduced losses of methane to the injection well; and higher net throughput. Morphysorb also requires lower circulation rates than competitive solvents (reducing energy requirements for pumping) and operates with no foaming.
The net impact of Morphysorb use in this application is that more hydrocarbon and less acid gas reach the downstream plant, which has only a limited capacity to deal with sulfur in the natural gas stream. Morphysorb removes well over 25 percent more acid gas compared to alternative processes.
Morphysorb is a “physical” solvent that does not react with acid gas components. Instead, the acid gases dissolve into the solvent, much as CO
2 is dissolved into carbonated soft drinks. Release of the acid gas taken up by the solvent is achieved by pressure reduction, in a process called “flashing”.
The Kwoen Plant started up in mid-September 2002, and has been ramping up towards full capacity. Approximately 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas has been processed to date without incident. A performance trial at full flow (150 MMscfd) in one of two trains was held in mid-November, and based on analysis of those test results, DEGTC confirmed acceptance of the process for full-scale application at the Kwoen Plant.
GTI and Uhde GmbH jointly own the Morphysorb process. Funding for its development was provided by Gas Research Institute (one of GTI’s predecessor organizations); the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); and GTI’s collaborative Sustaining Membership Program for industrial research. DOE-NETL-FE also supported the publication of a public version of the performance test results.
According to Dennis Leppin, Director of GTI’s Gas Processing Research Program, Morphysorb technology should yield savings for any company processing high-pressure natural gas with high acid gas content. Its widespread use, he says, could make more gas available at lower cost to gas consumers.
About GTIGTI is the major industry-led natural gas research and development organization in the United States. GTI is dedicated to meeting the nation’s current and future energy and environmental challenges by developing solutions for consumers, government, and industry.
More details about the Morphysorb process.
