Gas treating and processing

Natural gas is a mixture of many compounds, with methane (CH 4) being the main hydrocarbon constituent. When natural
gas is produced from an underground reservoir, it is saturated with water vapor and might contain heavy hydrocarbon
compounds as well as nonhydrocarbon impurities. In the raw state, natural gas cannot be marketed and therefore must be
processed to meet certain specifications for sales gas. Additionally, it might be economical to extract liquefiable
hydrocarbon components, which would have a higher market value on extraction as compared with their heating value if
left in the gas.
Objectives of gas treating and processing
Before the optimum design of any gas treating plant can be decided, at minimum, one must know:
 the raw gas production capability to the plant
 composition of separator inlet gas and condensate
 relative condensate/gas rates; specifications for the residue gas; and rate of gas sales
Consumer expectations
The end user of natural gas needs to be assured of two conditions before committing to the use of gas in a home or
factory:
 the gas must be of consistent quality, meeting sales gas specifications
 the supply of gas must be available at all times at the contracted rate
Gas treating facilities, therefore, must be designed to convert a particular raw gas mixture into a sales gas that meets the
sales-gas specifications, and such facilities must operate without interruption.
Typical sales gas specifications
Specifications for sales gas describe the required physical properties of the gas such that it can be transported under high
pressure through long distance pipelines at ground temperature without forming liquids, which could cause corrosion,
hydrates, or liquid slugs into downstream equipment. Limits on the content of certain nonhydrocarbon compounds are
also specified. While the specific limits for each item might vary among transmission companies or customers, the overall
specifications for sales gas generally include:
 Maximum hydrocarbon dewpoint temperature at a pressure of 800 psig.
 Maximum allowable CO2 content.
 Maximum allowable H2S content and total organic sulfur content.
 Maximum allowable water-vapor content.
 Maximum allowable temperature of gas leaving the plant.
 Minimum pressure to enter the gas transmission grid.
 Minimum heating value.
 Free of dust, treating chemicals, and other contaminants from the process plant.
In long distance transmission of sales gas by pipeline, the pressure is usually less than 1,000 psig. It is important that no
liquids form in the line because of condensation of either hydrocarbons or water. Hydrocarbon liquids reduce the pipeline
efficiency and might hold up in the line to form liquid slugs, which might damage downstream compression equipment.
Condensed water can do the same. Additionally, water could form solid complexes (hydrates), which accumulate and
block the line. The dewpoint temperature at any pressure is the temperature at which either hydrocarbons or water
condense upon cooling of the gas. Thus, the specifications for sales gas include limits on the hydrocarbon dewpoint
temperature, as well as limits on the water vapor content of the gas.
Knowing the specifications, and knowing the required sales gas flow rate and the composition of the raw gas and
condensate entering the plant, the various process vessels can be designed, and the optimum process conditions of
pressure and temperature can be specified.
Depending on the composition of the inlet fluids and the price at the plant gate, other sales products might be recovered in
the plant as well. These could be any of the following, which also must meet stringent specifications concerning purity:
 ethane
 propane
 butane and pentanes-plus
The possible processing steps, as illustrated in Fig. 5.1, are:
 inlet separation
 compression
 gas sweetening
 sulfur recovery or acid gas disposal
 dehydration
 hydrocarbon dewpoint control
 fractionation and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) recovery
 condensate stabilization

Except for gas sweetening, the processing steps involve no chemical reactions. The gas/liquid product specifications are
achieved by separating the compounds through changing the physical conditions of temperature and pressure to which
the fluids are exposed. Contact with other compounds, such as glycol and absorption oil, affects the relative solubilities of
certain compounds, thereby achieving separation from the main gas stream. Exposure to dry compounds, such as silica
gel or molecular sieves, separate some compounds from the gas stream by physical adsorption. Distillation is used to
separate the various hydrocarbon compounds into liquid fractions on the basis of differences in their volatilities.

Sour gas sweetening

Definition of sour gas
Sour gas is natural gas that contains hydrogen sulfide (H 2S). A natural gas is “sour” when the H2S content of the gas
mixture exceeds the limit imposed by the purchaser of the gas, usually a transmission company or the end user.
 Generally, the limit for H2S content is one grain of H2S per 100 scf of sales gas.
 The limit for H2S content in sales gas in some areas is 1/4 grain of H2S per 100 scf of gas.
 The mass specification of one grain per 100 scf converts a volumetric limit of 16 ppm.
 Sour natural gases can contain H2S in concentrations from several ppm to over 90%.
While the foregoing defines sour gas from a sales gas perspective, the standards and regulations applying to sour gas
service and operations may use a different definition. In this respect, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers
(NACE), which developed the standards for materials for use in sour service, defines sour gas service, to which their
standards apply, on the basis of partial pressure of H 2S and total pressure. NACE Standard MR0175 applies to natural
gas systems having a partial pressure of H2S of 0.05 psia or greater, at an absolute pressure above 65 psia. If the partial
pressure of H2S is at or above these limits, the steel and other equipment exposed to the sour gas must meet the
conditions specified in NACE Standard MR0175 for sour service.
Further discussion of this topic can be found on the Sour gas sweetening page.
Other sulfur compounds
While H2S is the compound responsible for designating a natural gas as sour, there are other sulfur compounds, also
present in sour gas, in much smaller concentrations. The sales gas specifications normally set a limit of 5 grains per 100
scf of gas for total sulfur content. Thus, sweetening solvents must be able to remove other sulfur compounds, as well as
H2S, from the sour gas to meet the total sulfur limitation. Some of the other common sulfur compounds found in sour
natural gas are mentioned next.
Mercaptans are compounds that occur naturally in sour gas. They are hydrocarbon compounds that have a sulfur atom
inserted between a carbon atom and a hydrogen atom. Some examples are:
 methyl
 ethyl
 propyl
 butyl mercaptan
Mercaptans have a strong offensive odor, and certain mixtures of manufactured mercaptan, such as tertiary butyl
mercaptan and isopropyl mercaptan, as well as others, are added to sweet natural gas to odorize the gas prior to
domestic or commercial consumption.
Carbon disulfide (CS2) and carbonyl sulfide (COS) might also be present in gases containing H 2S, but usually only in small
concentrations. These compounds also have a strong sour gas odor and are largely extracted from the sour gas in the
sweetening operation.
CO2 removal
Virtually all sour natural gases also contain CO2, but the converse is not true: many natural gas mixtures can contain
CO2 without any H2S. CO2 and H2S are called “acid gases,” or collectively “acid gas,” as both gases are slightly soluble in
water and form a mildly acidic solution. Most regenerative processes used for H 2S removal from natural gas also remove
CO2. If a natural gas contains amounts of CO2 in excess of the sales gas limit, but no H 2S, there are specific processes
available for CO2 removal.

Dehydration of natural gas

Dehydration of natural gas means extracting water vapor from the gas to a specified maximum limit for residual water
content. There are various processes available for dehydration, such as:

 absorption with glycol

All raw natural gas is fully saturated with water vapor when produced from an underground reservoir. Because most
of the water vapor has to be removed from natural gas before it can be commercially marketed, all natural gas is
subjected to a dehydration process. One of the most common methods for removing the water from produced gas is
glycol. This page discusses the types of glycols that may be used, the process used to remove water with glycol, and
the control of air emissions from glycol dehydration units.

 adsorption with dry desiccant

While dehydration with glycol is the most common process used to meet the water dew point specification for sales
gas, under certain conditions solid adsorbents are also used for this purpose.

 absorption with a deliquescent salt

Deliquescing desiccants are salts that adsorb water vapor; the water then condenses and dissolves the salt. The
water drops down as brine and is removed from the vessel. In the past, the common deliquescing desiccant was
calcium chloride (CaCl2)

 and refrigeration and hydrate suppression with a chemical

The refrigeration process is used in gas plants to remove heat from certain process streams. Refrigeration in natural
gas treating is a process that serves a dual dewpoint control function—namely, it is used to meet the hydrocarbon
dewpoint as well as the water dewpoint specification for residue or sales gas.