Removal of Acid Gases from Natural

Gas using Gas-Liquid Contactors

 M. Al-Marzouqi
 S. Marzouk
 N. Abdullatif
 Natural Gas Reserves

Middle East
Europe & 2546
EurAsia
2259

Africa Asia Pacific

South & Central
508 524
North America America
263 284

Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2006 – figures in TCF

 Typical Gas Composition

CO2 3  6% 15%

H2S 1  3%
30%

C1 77-81

C2 6-9

C3 2-5

CO2 and H2S must be removed before natural

gas can be utilized or liquefied.
Technologies for Acid Gas Removal

 Chemical Absorption
 Physical Absorption
 Gas Separation Membranes
 Gas Absorption Membranes
 Cryogenic Separation
 Adsorption
 Chemical Absorption

 Very mature technology (70+ yrs)

 Numerous solvents used for removing acid gases.
 Chemical Solvents: Primary (MEA, DGA), Secondary
(DEA, DIPA), Tertiary (MDEA, TEA), Activators,
Hindered.
 Physical Solvents: Selexol, Propylene carbonate.
 Mixed or hybrid (chemical & physical): Sulfinol
(sulfolane, water and amine)
 Current Technology Used
Chemical Absorption (MEA, DEA, MDEA, K2CO3)

Drawbacks:

 Corrosion
 Solvent degradation
 Foam formation
 High energy
requirements
Proposed Technology - Membrane Based Separation

Membrane – Solvent Combination

 Solvent (absorbing liquid)

is involved.
CH4
 Selectivity is determined CO2
by the absorbing liquid.
 High permeability is
possible.
Absorbing
Liquid
 Proposed Technology –
Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors (HFMC)

Fluid 2 Fluid 2 in
(A) out (Shell)

Fluid 1 in Fluid 1
out
(Tube –Lumen)

Among various types of (B)

membrane contactors, hollow
fiber modules offer several
advantages.
(C) Gas

Typically used in different

industrial applications:
Liqui
oxygenations, ozonation and d
degassing
 Advantages of HFMC

 High surface area per unit volume -

resulting in higher efficiency
 Independent control of gas and liquid flow
rates – no foam formation
 Surface area is constant - easier
performance prediction
 Membrane contactors have no moving
parts
 Disadvantages of HFMC
 The membrane itself presents an additional barrier
to mass transfer not found in conventional
operations;
 Membranes have a finite life, so that the cost of
periodic membrane replacement needs to be
considered;
These relatively few disadvantages are often
outweighed by the numerous advantages offered
by HFMC.
For this reason, membrane contactors have
attracted much recent attention in gas
separation.
 Objective

Feasibility study of membrane contactor as

a possible replacement for the current
sweetening unit
Hollow Fiber Membrane module

Chemical structure of the

perfluoroalkoxy (PFA)
The long PFA module equipped with 500 fibers
 The specifications of PFA-HFM module

310 fibers 500 fibers 500 fibers

Fiber ID, OD (mm) 0.25, 0.65 0.25, 0.65 0.25, 0.65
No. of fibers 310 500 500
Active fiber length (m) 0.14 0.14 0.75
Module shell ID (mm) 20.1 20.1 20.1
Lumen cross section (m2) 1.52 × 105 2.45 × 105 2.45 × 105

Inner membrane area (m2) 0.034 0.055 0.29

Fiber packing density 0.324 0.523 0.523

The experimentalsetupusedin thesimultaneousH2S andCO2 removal
from pressurizedgas streams
Simultaneousremoval of CO2 and H2S fromgasstream
 Simultaneousremoval of CO2 and H2S fromgasstream

Effect of feed gas pressure on H2S and CO2 fluxes using different loaded
carbonate solutions as a chemical solvent for fixed gas and liquid flow rates.
The percentage values correspond to the removal at 50 bar (short module –
500 fibers)
 Effectof membranelength (surfacearea)

Comparison between H2S and CO2 % removal for both PFA short and long
modules under the same conditions.
 Effectof Gas Flow Rate

Effect of feed gas pressure on H2S and CO2 flux at fixed liquid flow rate but
different gas flow rates. The percentage values correspond to the removal at 50
bar (long module).
 Effectof Liquid Flow Rate

Effect of feed gas pressure on H2S and CO2 flux for fixed gas flow rate but
different liquid flow rates. The percentage values correspond to the removal at
50 bar (long module).
 Effectof Temperature– Physical Absorption

Effect of feed gas pressure on CO2 and H2S flux using water as a physical solvent at two
different temperatures (65 °C and 100 °C). The percentage values correspond to the
removal 50 bar.
 Effectof Temperature– Chemical Absorption

Effect of feed gas pressure on CO2 and H2S flux using 0.5 M DEA solution as a chemical
solvent at two different temperatures (65 °C and 100 °C). The percentage values
correspond to the removal at 50 bar.
 Effectof Temperature– Chemical Absorption

Effect of feed gas pressure on CO2 and H2S flux using carbonate solution as a chemical
solvent at two different temperatures (65 °C and 100 °C). The percentage values
correspond to the removal at 50 bar.
 Effectof Temperature– Chemical Absorption

Effect of feed gas pressure on H2S flux using different loaded carbonate solutions
(30wt% K2CO3 - 1wt% DEA (A), 20wt% K2CO3 - 10wt% KHCO3 - 1wt% DEA (B) and
10wt% K2CO3 - 20wt% KHCO3 - 1wt% DEA (C)) as a chemical solvent for fixed gas and
liquid flow rates of 2000 and 10 mL min-1. Gas temp = 50° C, Solvent temp = 100° C.
 Effectof Temperature– Chemical Absorption

Effect of feed gas pressure on CO2 flux using different loaded carbonate solutions
(30wt% K2CO3 - 1wt% DEA (A), 20wt% K2CO3 - 10wt% KHCO3 - 1wt% DEA (B) and
10wt% K2CO3 - 20wt% KHCO3 - 1wt% DEA (C)) as a chemical solvent for fixed gas and
liquid flow rates of 2000 and 10 mL min-1. Gas temp = 50° C, Solvent temp = 100° C.
 MembraneStability

i) Feed gas composition: ETHANE 6.9%m, PROPANE 3.6%m, METHANE 81.64%m, CARBON
DIOXIDE 4.2%m, HYDROGEN SULFIDE 1.4%m, ISOBUTANE 0.3%m, NITROGEN 1.4% m and N-
BUTANE 0.56%m).
ii) The solvent composition: 30wt% K2CO3 + 1wt% DEA solution,
iii) Feed gas temperature: 50 oC; Solvent temperature: 100 oC,
vi. Feed gas pressure: 50 bar
Thanks for
your
attention