Page 2 of 3How has gas processing in the region evolved?
Abu Dhabi is actively investing in developing new gas fields, due to come on-stream in the next few years. These fields contain some of the most sour (high sulfur content) gas in the world, meaning significant levels of H2S – a contaminant that must be removed from the gas before it goes to market. Dow is an expert in this area and we continue to work with leading engineering companies to design best-in-class facilities to treat this gas.
Incidentally, as a result of the high sulfur content recovered from the region’s natural gas, Abu Dhabi is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest markets for sulfur, especially as production from the Al Hosn sour gas project ramps up. This is significant given the high demand for sulfur as a raw material for the production of phosphate fertilizers for agricultural use.
We therefore anticipate continued increases in the sulfur content of the natural gas coming out of the ground in the region, as well as tightening environmental regulations. This adds to the complexity of gas processing, and the demand for more customised solutions to better treat sour gas. However, the recent advances in technology have rendered the highly sulfurous fields both safe and economically feasible for development.
What are the biggest challenges in sour gas treatment in the region?
We are seeing a significant increase in the concentration of sulfur in natural gas and refinery gas, along with an increase in efforts to improve air quality through reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions. More sulfur in feed gas is driving a need to upgrade existing plants and design new plants to accommodate greater levels of H2S removal while optimising throughput and cost efficiency. Moreover, we’re also seeing interest in generating more concentrated sulfur streams from acid gas enrichment units. Collectively, these factors are increasing the potential complexity and cost of sulfur removal.
One of the other main challenges facing sour gas processors in the Middle East today is that of efficient amine management. Amines, a chemical compound used to treat sour gas by removing harmful hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from the useable gas, works best in cool conditions, which means the added costs of thin fan coolers or chillers to the sweetening process. Dow’s amine technology works by allowing the amines to operate efficiently for H2S removal even at relatively high temperatures. This eliminates the cost for cooling the amines.
A relatively recent phenomenon we are witnessing is that a large number of mature gas plants require upgrades in order to fulfill evolving feed gas and gas treating specification objectives. Dow has the engineering capabilities to help in the retrofitting of these plants to match new specifications at minimum capex. This is achieved by deploying our process simulation tool to evaluate the extent of upgrade required and providing the optimal UCARSOLTM solvent needed.
Why are companies moving towards hybrid solvent in place of physical and chemical solvents?
An important trend in the Middle East is the tightening of regulations for controlling emissions that are in line with international standards. As a result, it is no longer sufficient to just remove H2S from natural gas to meet regulation, but the removal of other exotic contaminants for e.g. mercaptans. The removal of these requires a different approach and more specialised amine technology. To address this need, Dow introduced hybrid solvents, a combination of chemical and physical solvents which are capable of removing organic sulfur compounds from natural gas streams, with reduced hydrocarbon uptake compared to physical solvents, while still reaching the customer’s stringent gas specifications on acid gas removal. These hybrid solvents can be applied at natural gas plants and refineries, and also be extended to other potential applications in the oil & gas industry.
Over the last few years, Dow has invested in further R&D efforts to develop an accurate simulator tool for hybrid solvents.
Interview with Adriano Gentilucci, commercial director IMEA for Dow, oil, gas and mining
