MEMBRANE FUEL GAS CONDITIONINGEngine Emissions Compliance and Site Rated Power Maximization by

Conditioning Fuel Gas

By

2014 Gas/Electric Partnership Conference XXIICypress, TX

Kaaeid Lokhandwala Sachin Joshi

Hesham Hussain

Membrane Technology & Research Inc.39630 Eureka DriveNewark, CA 94560www.mtrinc.com

Why Fuel Gas Conditioning?

• Oil-Rich Shale Production is increasing substantially and gas produced with the oil is very rich in C2+ components

• The produced raw gas is at low pressure and requires boosting into the pipeline infrastructure

• Compression Engine Fuel Choices are limited in the absence of clean residue gas lines in many production areas.

Poor Quality Raw Gas Issues

• Significantly increased unscheduled downtime - Detonation and Damage to engine parts

• Increased maintenance costs • Deration of Power to Compressors and Gensets.• Emissions Compliance

• Membrane Fuel Gas Conditioning is a Simple Process TechnologyWhich Operates Without Attention and Consumables.

Membranes and Regular Filters – A Comparison

Gas Composition Changed By Membranes

AerosolsFree-Liquid Droplets

Regular Filter Removes free liquids only

Methane 73.168

Ethane 13.534

Propane 9.065

Butanes 0.829

Pentanes 0.518

C6+ 0.614

Methane 84.760

Ethane 8.182

Propane 4.347

Butanes 0.264

Pentanes 0.142

C6+ 0.164

Heavy Hydrocarbons Removed(Gas Phase)

Methane 73.569

Ethane 13.558

Propane 9.020

Butanes 0.813

Pentanes 0.493

C6+ 0.480

Feed Gas

Fuel Gas

High Pressure

Low Pressure

Counter Intuitive InnovationBig Heavy Hydrocarbons Pass through

Small Methane is Held back

Small molecules pass through Big molecules pass through

Advantages of Membrane Systems

• Simple passive system• High on-stream factor (typically >99%)• Minimal or no operator attention• Small footprint, low weight• Ambient temperature operation in many applications• Large turndown ratio• Low maintenance• Lower capital and operating costs• Minimum on-site piping required• Complete standardized skid mounted units

Membrane Structure and Packaging

Generic Fuel Gas Conditioning Flow sheet

Compressed Gas To PipelinePipeline Compressor

And After-cooler

Slip Streamof Raw Fuel

Gas FromWellhead

Gas Engine

Condensate

Propane 4.60

i-Butane 1.97

n-Butane 1.53

Pentanes 1.74

Hexane 1.05

C6+ 0.91HP

LP

Heavies Return To Suction

Propane 1.48

i-Butane 0.52

n-Butane 0.30

Pentanes 0.28

Hexane 0.126

C6+ 0.078

• Raw Feed Gas Very Rich in Heavy Hydrocarbons, especially C2, C3 components.

• Engine Capacity De-rate• Emissions Non-Compliance• Detonation - Engine Knocking, Accelerated Parts Wear

Alternatives Considered

Compressor Station Issues and AlternativesFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

JT Process Refrigeration Membranes

Separated Heavies (NGL) Phase Liquid Liquid Gas

Liquids Storage at Station Yes Yes No

Reduce Ethane (C2) No No Yes

Moving Parts No Yes No

Low Temps – Hydrate Issues Yes Yes No

Raw Feed Gas – BTU Variability Handled? No Likely No Yes

Raw Feed Gas– Pressure Variability Handled? No Likely Yes

Issues

Type & No. of engines - 3xCAT 3516B + 1xCAT 3520B

Total site rated engine HP - 5865 hp

Total engines fuel demand - 0.75 MMscfd

Total gas compressed - 14 MMscfd

Compressor suction - 25 psig

Compressor discharge - 890 psig

Fuel generating capacity - 1.5 MMscfd

Fuel spec quality (HHV) - 1050 BTU/SCF

No. of membrane Vessels - ONE (1)

Engine Driven Compression - Fuel Gas ConditioningAgave Energy Co, NM

Performance Data – Compressor Station (Sep 7, 2013)Reduced Heavy Hydrocarbon Content

Stream Raw Feed Gas

Conditioned Fuel Gas

Methane Number 53 74

HHV (Btu/scf) 1139 1028

Component (mol%)Nitrogen (N2) 1.69 2.98

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 4.76 1.76

Methane (C1) 76.78 87.77

Ethane (C2) 9.77 5.38

Propane (C3) 4.68 1.54

Butanes (C4) 1.43 0.38

Pentanes (C5) 0.56 0.12

Hexanes plus (C6+) 0.34 0.06

Site Performance DataFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

* Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40, Part 60, Subpart JJJJ, New Stationary Pollution Source (NSPS).

Reduced Emissions (Test – Sep 7, 2013)

Emission Parameter Rich Fuel(NO Membranes)

Lean Fuel(Post Membrane Processing)

Parameter Pre-Catalyst Post-Catalyst Pre-Catalyst Post-CatalystBSFC (btu/hp hr) 7973.1 7858.3

NOx ppm 83.85 92.72 84.08 89.54lb/hr 1.30 1.43 1.30 1.35

Permit Limit (lb/hr) 3.04CO ppm 591.18 28.76 553.19 25.94

lb/hr 5.57 0.27 5.20 0.24Permit Limit (lb/hr) 0.49

VOC ppm 115.56 49.00 57.98 21.97lb/hr 1.71 0.73 0.86 0.33

Permit Limit (lb/hr) 0.67Reduction in Pre-Catalyst Levels

(Rich v/s Lean Fuel) - 49.8%

Compressor Station - Engine Emissions DataFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

One (1) Caterpillar G3516ULB Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE)

4.5 MMscfd – Total Gas Processed

Acknowledgement: Ivan Villa, Jennifer Knowlton, Agave Energy Co, NM, USA

Increased Compression Capacity per Site (Test – Sep 7, 2013)

Compressor Station – Capacity IncreaseFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

Parameter Raw Fuel GasNO Membranes

Conditioned Fuel GasWith Membranes

No of engines tested 1 x CAT 3516 1 x CAT 3516

Total gas compressed per engine (MMscfd) 4.5 4.5

Capacity per engine (hp) 951 951

% Load utilized by the engine 72% 62%

% Increase in compressor capacity - 10%

Additional gas potentially compressed (1 engine) - 0.45 MMscfd

(4.5 MMscfd x 10%)

Additional gas potentially compressed (CS – 4 engines) - 1.8 MMscfd

Additional Revenues (CS – 4 engines) - $ 2,299,500 per year*

* NG pricing based on $3.5/mscf

Data Acknowledgement: Ivan Villa, Jennifer Knowlton, Agave Energy Co, NM, USA

Feed Gas

Heavy Hydrocarbons Recycled as Gas Phase

To Suction Drum

Salt DrawCompressor

Station

Increased Condensate Recovery

33 bbl/d C3+ Additional Condensates Recovered

ConditionedFuel

RawFuelGasConditionedFuel Gas

TotalCondensatesSenttoNGL

Plant

$$$AdditionalRevenuesperyear

C3+ BurnedinFuel(bbls/d)

37.1 3.8 33.3 $519,760

1. Fuel Consumption – 0.75 MMscfd2. NGL pricing - $ 50-80 bbl/d

To NGL Recovery Plant

Raw Natural Gas

Compressor Station – Increased Condensate RecoveryFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

Gas Plant

Processed gasTo Sales Line

Additional NGL Recovered in

Gas Plant

Compressor Station – Overall Monetary BenefitFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

Annual Monetary Benefits• Increased Site Capacity $ 2,299,500• Increased C3+ Recovery $ 519,760

Total $ 2,819,260

Benefit due to Reduced Downtime (50% reduction in shutdowns, 2 shutdowns/month avoided, each outage 8 hrs)

• Increased Annual ProductionRevenues $ 392,000

Data Acknowledgement: Ivan Villa, Jennifer Knowlton, Agave Energy Co, NM, USA

Membrane Impact • Reduced Heavy Hydrocarbons & BTU Content – Engine

Performance significant improved

• Increased the Total Compressor HP Capacity at Site – Allows moving of higher gas volumes

• Added Revenues – Condensate Recovery - $$$

• VOC (NMHC) Emissions Reductions – Meet Strict emissions requirments

• Improved Emissions Catalysts Life. Maintain CO/NOx within emissions requirements

• Reduced Unscheduled Downtime and Engine Maintenance costs

Compressor Station – Summary of BenefitsFuel Gas Conditioning - Agave Energy Co, NM

Generic Field-Wide Perspective

Field Compression 1

2

3

4

5

6

4 MM

8 MM

8 MM

9 MM

20 MM

60 MM

11 MM

Total Field Compression HP: 12000 hpTotal Flow Improvement = 6 MMSCFDTotal NGL Saved to Gas Plant = US $ 1.25 Million/yrTotal Additional Gas Moved = US $ 7.35 Million/yr

(Gas Valued at $ 3.5/MSCF)

Total Central Compression HP: 7800 hpTotal Flow Improvement = 6 MMSCFDTotal NGL Saved to Gas Plant = US $ 0.78 Million/yrTotal Additional Gas Moved = US $ 0.42 Million/yr

(Gas Moved at $ 0.2/MSCF)

MidstreamCompression

MidstreamGas Plant

Gas To Sales

Total Additional Value Distributed to Producers ~ US $ 8 Million/yr.

Total Additional Value to Midstream Operators ~ US $ 1.8 Million/yr.

Additional Value Realized by Conditioning Fuel Gasin Oil Rich Shale Production

NGL to Sales

Successfully Proven in Most Producing Shale Areas - > 75 installations

Conclusions

• Solubility Selective Membranes Have Been Successfully Proven in Well head Natural Gas Conditioning Applications

• More than 200 combined Installations of these membranes Worldwide in Oil/Gas Industries.

• Standardized Fuel Gas Conditioning Units Designed for Unattended Operation Reduce Deployment Time and Cost

• Lowering of BTU value of Fuel Gas - Emissions Reductions

• Significant Monetary benefit from recovery of C2 and C3+ components otherwise lost to fuel.