CHEE 465

Fundamentals of NG processing
Chapter 3
Natural Gas Processing

Source: Matrix PDM Engineering

Dr. Muhammad Shariq Khan
Fall 2020
 Why Natural Gas Processing?

 Natural gas coming from the well contains hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen sulfide, and water together with many other impurities.

 The objective of a gas processing plant is to separate natural gas, associated

hydrocarbons,1 acid gases, and water from a gas-producing well and condition
these fluids for sale or disposal.

 The processing philosophy depends on

 The type of project being considered
 Level of treating required
 difference between the feed gas and product specifications.
 Natural Gas Processing
Objectives
 To produce a sales gas
stream that meets typical
specifications.

 To maximize natural gas

liquids (NGLs) production,

 NGLs are often extracted

to enhance project
economics.

Table Sources: GPSA Engineering Data Book (2004).

 To deliver a commercial gas having specified range of gross heating value.

 customers on the transmission grid expect heating values to fall in a
range compatible with their combustion equipment.

MMscf: Million standard cubic feet per day

 Typical setup of
Gas Processing Plant - producing sale gas

Sources: Handbook of Natural Gas Transmission and Processing (2012).

 Typical setup of
Gas Processing Plant - producing sale gas
Step 1: Slug catcher, which catches liquid slugs.

Step 2: Produced gas from the outlet of the slug catcher is directed to a high-pressure
(HP) separator, where final separation of liquid from gas takes place.

Step 3: Gas sweetening unit (GSU), remove acidic components like hydrogen sulfide
(H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the gas stream

Step 4: Simultaneous removal of the organic sulfur compounds such as mercaptans (R-
SH), carbonyl sulfide (COS), and carbon disulfide (CS2) in the GSU is also desired,

Step 5: Sweetened gas from the GSU then flows to the gas dehydration unit (GDU) to
reduce and control the water content of gas.

Step 6: The dry sweet gas is then sent to the hydrocarbon dew point controlling unit
(DPCU) typically requires only minimal extraction of C5+ components.

Step 7: The gas pressure boosted by the high-pressure compressors this is done to
reduce pipeline diameter
 Typical setup of
Gas Processing Plant - producing sales gas & NGL
 Typical setup of
Gas Processing Plant - producing sales gas & NGL

The typical specification to be met is H2S removal to less than 4 ppmv, CO2 to less
than 1%–2%, water to less than 10 ppmv, and mercury to levels of 0.01 mg/Nm3..

The level of CO2 removal depends on the whether the NGL recovery unit is on ethane
recovery or propane recovery.

Feed gas stream entering an NGL recovery unit must be also dehydrated in a molecular
sieve unit to a relatively low level.

Almost every NGL plant will have a mercury removal unit installed. Mercury can result
in severe corrosion of the brazed-aluminum heat exchangers, 0.01 mg/Nm3.

Fractionation of the NGLs to produce purity products such as petrochemical-grade

ethane feedstock or fuel-grade propane

Removal of nitrogen is necessary step for conditioning of the NG that leads to reduced
transportation volumes and an increased heating value.
 Cryogenic distillation
 membranes
 pressure swing adsorption