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Figure 1: The basic direct-injection scavenging installation consists of a chemical injection pump, a means of introducing the scavenging agent into
the natural gas pipeline, a length of pipe to allow for gas/liquid contact, and a downstream device for separating spent or excess scavenging agent
from the gas .
how scavenging applications might be However, for situations where contact higher capital costs because there are
made more efficient. As a follow-up to time is relatively short, some benefit may fewer standard cubic feet of natural gas
this proprietary work, GTI, on behalf of result from advanced contacting devices. to amortize the capital, and therefore
three gas producer companies, began a Scavenging liquids may be partially costs per standard cubic feet are higher.
joint-industry project (JIP) in 2001 to removed downstream using gravity sepa- As a result, direct-injection scavenging
gather specific engineering test data to rators and/or coalescing filter/separators. becomes more favorable for these oper-
develop a software package to improve For facilities with existing sparged- ations because of the lower capital
techniques for designing, troubleshoot- tower contactors, some operators may costs. For example, direct-injection scav-
ing and optimizing H2S scavenging sys- prefer to fill the towers with water and enging has been used to successfully
tems. This package expands on the use them to remove spent scavenging treat slightly sour gas (10 ppmv to 20
capabilities of an existing GTI software agent from the treated gas, effectively ppmv H2S) from underground natural
product, Scavenger CalcBase (GRI- polishing the gas and increasing the effi- gas storage systems that operate for
96/0482), developed to allow rapid ciency of the system. only 4 months during the year.
screening of H2S scavengers for particu- EconomicsThe economics of treat- When gas must be treated offshore,
lar applications. The first phase of the ing natural gas with nonregenerable equipment size and weight greatly affect
JIP project will be completed in 2003. scavengers strongly depends on the con- treatment costs. The large size and
This article provides an overview of the centration of H2S in the gas stream. For weight of tower contactors largely
issues faced when designing or optimizing relatively low concentrations, capital cost makes them prohibitive for offshore
direct-injection scavenging systems and becomes the dominant factor, favoring operations, leaving only the direct-injec-
describes GTIs collaboration with the continuous direct-injection applications tion option. In addition to the size and
industry to develop test data and model- over the more expensive tower-based weight limitations, the handling of spent
ing software to support these activities. method of application. As H2S concentra- scavenger becomes more difficult off-
tion increases, the scavenging agent cost shore. All these factors tend to favor the
How is Natural Gas Treated becomes dominant, favoring solid-based use of liquid scavenging agents in a
using Direct-Injection H2S agents that, in many cases, have lower direct-injection configuration for off-
Scavenging? costs per pound of sulfur removed. shore application. In some cases, spent
Method of ApplicationContinuous For preliminary analyses, scavenger- liquid scavenger can be blended with
direct-injection of scavenging agents treating costs can be estimated using produced water and disposed of via
into a natural gas pipeline is usually published data. GTIs Scavenger CalcBase injection wells or discharged to the sea
applied near the wellhead (after separa- program provides a method for quickly after treatment.
tion from produced water and hydrocar- estimating capital and operating costs The cost for disposal of spent scav-
bons) or at centralized treating facilities for several H2S scavenging processes. enging agent varies widely depending
prior to dehydration. The basic direct- The program is intended primarily for on how these wastes are regulated by
injection scavenging installation consists initial screening of processes using the governing authorities. In some cases,
of a chemical injection pump, a means algorithms based on design equations the spent scavenging agents must be
of introducing the scavenging agent into provided by scavenger vendors. handled and disposed of as a hazardous
the natural gas pipeline, a length of pipe Other important factors include proj- waste, greatly increasing disposal costs.
to allow for gas/liquid contact and a ect life, seasonal operations, installation A careful study of applicable regulations
downstream device for separating spent location (offshore vs. onshore) and for a particular site location is an impor-
or excess scavenging agent from the gas spent scavenger disposal costs. A short tant part of the scavenger-selection
(Figure 1). Piping tees, quills or atomiza- economic project life or seasonal opera- process. It should also be noted that
tion nozzles are used to introduce the tions tend to penalize technologies with while scavenging agents themselves
scavenging agent into the pipeline.
Atomization nozzles enhance mixing
when gas velocities are low. While static
mixers have been used to enhance
A careful study of applicable regulations
gas/liquid contact, test data from GTIs for a particular site location is an important
test loop in South Texas have raised
questions about the benefit of using part of the scavenger-selection process.
static mixers for this application.
may not be hazardous, the spent scav- pipes and contactor vessels are gen- the use of iron-sponge has declined
enging agent could become hazardous erally larger in size. during the years, in part because of the
because of the concentration of contam- Variations in flow rateDirect-injection pyrophoric nature of the spent scav-
inants such as benzene or mercury systems are vulnerable to changes in enging agent.
removed from the gas. flow rate. The H2S removal perform- For direct-injection scavenging sys-
Gas Stream CharacteristicsMost ance drops off severely as flow rate tems, the potential for exposure to toxic
H2S scavenging agents are designed to (and thus gas velocity) is reduced. materials is highest during maintenance
treat gas over a wide range of pressure, Tower-based contractors allow for operations or when handling spent
temperature, composition and flow con- better turndown of gas flow rates. scavenger material. Pump repairs, change-
ditions. However, several gas stream GTI patented a contactor in 2000 for out of atomization nozzles, or repair
characteristics should be evaluated care- direct-injection applications whereby and maintenance of spent-scavenger
fully during the process design phase. the turndown ability is improved to handling equipment are operations that
Water saturationNatural gas is allow operation over a large range have the potential for exposure. During
usually treated before being dehy- (e.g., a factor of ten or better) of gas these times, high levels of volatile organic
drated; however, it is sometimes flow rates. compounds may be present, and operators
necessary to treat a dry gas using Onshore vs. OffshoreFor onshore have more potential of coming into direct
scavenging agents, for example, at a applications, providing adequate contact with a scavenging agent or the
terminal handling offshore produc- length of pipe to promote good spent scavenger material.
tion being brought ashore through conversion of the scavenger and to Process design considerationsMany
a sour gas line to avoid platform reach H2S outlet specifications is factors, including some site-specific,
processing. Water-based scavenging usually not difficult. For offshore require careful consideration during the
agents, such as solutions of triazine operations, adequate pipe length is process design for a particular direct-
and iron oxide-based scavenging usually not available, and it may be injection H2S scavenging system. The
agents, generally require the gas to necessary to treat high temperature following discussion provides a check-
be saturated with water to prevent gas after a compressor. list of several items that need to be
formation of unwanted solid by- Environmental and Safety Considera- addressed during the process design.
products and to achieve the tionsNumerous federal, state and local Inlet and Outlet Knockout
required H2S level. regulations in the United States and sim- SeparatorsVendors of H2S scavenging
Oxygen contentOxygen is usually ilar governing authorities in many other agents frequently recommend the use of
not present in natural gas unless countries regulate the disposal of spent an inlet knockout separator to remove
gas is collected from wells under a scavenger material. In addition to vary- water and/or free hydrocarbon liquids
partial vacuum. In these systems, ing by jurisdiction, the regulatory from the gas before treatment. The pres-
oxygen sometimes leaks into the requirements depend on the scavenging ence of excess free liquids has the poten-
gas and may cause the formation of agent selected and the levels of other tial to increase scavenger usage and
elemental sulfur in beds of iron potentially hazardous components pres- treatment costs because of the addi-
oxide-based scavenging agents, ent in the natural gas stream. tional scavenger required to react with
resulting in a higher than normal All sour natural gas treating processes the H2S present in these liquids. Outlet
pressure drop across the bed. Oxygen share the common hazards (fire, explo- knockouts usually are recommended to
may also cause the formation of cor- sion and worker exposure to H2S) asso- prevent entrained liquid droplets from
rosive nitrogen dioxide when a ciated with handling high-pressure com- reaching downstream glycol dehydra-
nitrite-based scavenger is used. bustible gases containing toxic levels of tors or other process equipment that
TemperatureLow-temperature gas H2S. In addition to these areas of con- could be adversely affected.
can cause scavenger reaction kinetics cern, other potential hazards associated Length of Pipe for ContactThe
to slow down and affect system with the use of H2S scavenging agents length of pipe available for gas/liquid
performance. High temperature can include eye and respiratory irritation; contacting in direct-injection applica-
cause the scavenger to break down benzene, formaldehyde and toxic metals tions is an important design parameter.
and form corrosive products. exposure; and height and confined In general, longer pipe lengths result in
PressureH2S scavenging is more space entry hazards. improved H2S removal and reduced
difficult at low pressures because Formaldehyde and caustic are not chemical consumption.
the partial pressure of H2S is lower used much because of the related AtomizationThe importance of
for a given concentration and because health and safety problems. Similarly, atomizing the scavenging agent as it is
may be increased as a result of high pants and potentially to other parties phase
levels of CO2. expressing interest in it. G = Molar gas velocity, lbmol/hr/ft2
Figure 3: This diagram shows the design of the laboratory direct injection test rig commissioned in June.