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Sour gas processing
Recent project experiences demonstrate the effectiveness of integrated solutions
Natural gas is widely seen as a key element in the energy mix that will meet the world’s growing demand over the coming decades – because of its abundance, its accessibility, and its contribution (as the lowest carbon fossil fuel) to solving the global emissions challenge.
Over the decades, gas development projects have evolved a long way, from the relatively simple exploitation of sweet gas reserves that were directly routed into domestic and industrial supply networks, to the exploitation of contaminated and remote gas deposits through liquefaction, marine transport and regasification.
In recent years, production of gas resources has increasingly required the removal of sulphur species as well as H2S, CO2 and H2O, making the gas treating process much more complex – and more expensive: today, the capital expenditure of the treating section can sometimes amount to more than 50% of the total capex in developing a sour gas field. Complexity has also been increased by recent tightening of product specifications for both sales gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), as well as stricter environmental standards.