Sweetening and Sulfur Recovery

of Sour Associated Gas

in the Middle East

Peter Hauwert

Presented at the 30th ADIPEC

SPE 172058

Sour Associated gas

Flaring

• Middle East annually flares 29 BCM of gas [1]

• Feed for 20 mtpa LNG plant(12 B$ @ 12 $/MMBTU)

Reserves

• 57% of gas <0.1%v H2S [2]

• 32% contains 0.1-1%v H2SNon-produced gas > 1000 scf/bbl, values available in IHS EDIN

Small SRU

• Relevant for >25% of gas currently not produced

BCM = 109 m3 MT = 109 kg Tscf = 1012 scf = 28 x109 m3

[1] World Bank - Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership (2007)

[2] Golombok (Shell), E&P 2008 (from IHS EDIN database)

<100 ton/d S: <0.1%, <0.5%,<1% H2S

6.2

OutlineOutline

Sulfur recovery process

comparison

Thiopaq O&G Process

Process in desert

environment

Case study

100 kg/d S1 t/d S

10 t/d S

50 t/d S

200 t/d S

10

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

0.1 1.0 10.0 100.0

H2S

co

cen

trati

on

in f

eed

(%

vo

l.)

Feed gas Flow (x106 Nm3/d)

Assessment of RFQs for H2S containing feeds

100% H2S

10% H2S

1% H2S

0.1% H2S

1000 ppm

100 ppm

10 ppm

Small Scale Sulfur Recovery

Small scale sulfur recovery processes

Aqueous iron Thiopaq O&G

CrystaSulf

Catalytic

oxidation

Comparison commercial small scale SRU

Aqueous

iron

Thiopaq

O&G

Crysta

Sulf

Catalytic

oxidation

Sulfur load (tonne S/d) 1-20 1-100+ 1-20 1-20 (-200)

H2S removal (%) 99.9+ 99.9+ >99.8 90 % /pass

H2S specification (ppmv) < 4 < 4 (> 4 bar)

< 25 (atm)

< 4 4-100

Pressure <30 bar LP / HP HP LP / HP

S quality Landfill Agro / Claus Claus Claus

Operational since ‘70s (LoCat)

‘90s (Sulferox)

1993 (biogas)

2002 (NG)

2005 2005

References > 200 (LC)

> 30 (SF)

> 200 (bio)

16 (NG)

< 5 < 5

Operations & HSE - ++ + +

Comments Foam issues Water consumption SO2 needed Input <10% H2S

Comparison small scale SRU

Adapted from: Lee, GPA Europe 30th Annual Conference, (2013)

Thiopaq O&G – Process description

Bioreactor

Decanter

Sulfur

Air out

Air in

Flash gas

Feed gas

Product gas

Condensate

NaOH water nutrients

( )

Feed pre-treatment Absorber Regeneration Solid sulfur separation

Bleed

Flash (optional)

Settler

Absorber

H2S + OH- HS- + H2O

CO2 + OH- HCO3

-

with carbonate buffer (pH 8.0-9.5)

Regenerator

HS- + ½ O2 Sx + OH-

HCO3-

CO2 + OH-

HS- + 2 O2 SO42- + H+

2 HS- + 2 O2 S2O32- + H2O

Control

Thiopaq O&G in the Middle East?

??

?

??

??

“It’s hot!!”

“We don’t have water”

“They’re bacteria”

“Is it proven?”(Feedback we have had from clients)

“what do I do with the sulfur?”

Applicability – Ambient Conditions

• Ambient temperature & solar irradiation

• Feed gas cooling & knockout

o Hydrocarbon dewpoint (30-35 oC)

o Well-fluids and heavy hydrocarbons

o Stabilizes operation of absorber

• Solvent cooling (40 oC)

o Absorption & reaction enthalpy

o Bacteria 35-45 oC optimal

Cooling system (60-100 kW / ton S)

Insulation

Adapted from SolarGIS © 2014 GeoModel Solar

ThioPaq plant constructed in Egypt:

Kijlstra, Laurence Reid Gas Cond. Conf (2001)

Applicability – Remote operation

• Limited operator attention

o Robust operation

o Daily analyses & maintenance

o Simple start-up & shutdown

• Limited maintenance

o Main equipment: static tanks

o Rotating: installed spares

• Consumabes

o Caustic, nutrients & potable water

o No fuel gas, limited power on pumps & coolingPlant operation data in Netherlands plant,

courtesy of Paques B.V.

Applicability – Remote construction

• Modularized construction

o Main vessels road transportable

o Pumps & small equipment skid-mounted

o Controlled manufacturing environment

o Limited site work

• Fast track possible

o No higher alloys (Incoloy / Titanium /Duplex)

o Limited long-lead items

o Standardized design

Case study

• Design: 165 m3/h solvent circulation

o 1 absorber (1.8 m ID x 18.3 m TT)

o 3 aerated tanks (4.0 m ID x 8.1 m TT)

• Consumables: 1 m3/d caustic (50wt%) & 17 (ME)-18 (EU) m3/d water

• Power:

o Feed cooling (78 kW)

o Solvent cooling (158 kW, EU / 226 kW, ME)

o Air blower (110 kW) & Pump duty (35 kW )

• Impact of desert environment – case study

o Typical associated gas composition 0.5%v H2S, 5%v CO2

o 550 kNm3/d [20 MMSCFD] (40 oC, 3 bar) 4 tpd S

o Western Europe vs. Middle East

Case study – Design

Middle East

Western

Europe

Case study – Relative CAPEX

106%100%

Conclusions

• Small-mid scale sulfur recovery processes compared

o Several maturing options available

o Thiopaq O&G technically and commercially attractive

• Thiopaq O&G suitable for sour associated gas treatment

o Good performance also at low pressures

o Robust toward variations in feed

o Sweet spot for associated gas

• Thiopaq O&G applicable in desert environment

o Limited impact of ambient conditions on overall costs

o Low operator attendance

o Modular construction possible

Thank you for your attention

Acknowledgements

Frames

Lennard Spit

Paul Mulders

Hein Kandelaar

Lex Rotteveel

Elwin Janssen

Paqell

Gijs van Heeringen

Hans Wijnbelt

Paques

Erik van Zessen