H2S-Selective Membrane Debottlenecking Sour Gas Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated oil and gas production facilities with high hydrogen sulfide levels face bottlenecks in processing and sour gas injection due to limitations in amine units and Sulfur Recovery Units, which restrict overall production efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating hydrogen sulfide-selective membranes upstream of amine units to separate hydrogen sulfide from gas streams, reducing the hydrogen sulfide load on these units and allowing for increased oil production by optimizing the processing and injection of sour gas streams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If amine units and Sulfur Recovery Units are used to process sour gas, then hydrogen sulfide removal is achieved, but these units become bottlenecks limiting overall production
Solution Approach 1:
The gas processing system is divided into multiple pressure stages (high-pressure, medium-pressure, and low-pressure separators and amine units). H2S-selective membranes are inserted at high-pressure and medium-pressure stages to pre-remove H2S before gas enters the amine units, segmenting the H2S removal function between membranes and amine units. This segmentation prevents the amine units and SRU from becoming bottlenecks, allowing increased overall production while maintaining effective H2S removal.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the entire H2S-containing natural gas stream is dehydrated, compressed, and reinjected at high pressure, then safe disposal of H2S is achieved, but processing capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
H2S-selective membranes extract H2S from the sour gas stream at high-pressure and medium-pressure stages before the gas enters the amine units. By taking out H2S early in the processing train, the system increases processing capacity because the membranes can handle larger H2S loads without becoming bottlenecks, while the amine units process a reduced H2S burden, enabling overall increased production.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If gas is sweetened in an amine unit using amine scrubbing, then H2S is removed from gas, but the amine unit becomes a bottleneck limiting production
Solution Approach 1:
H2S-selective membranes perform preliminary H2S removal from the sour gas stream at high-pressure and medium-pressure stages before the gas enters the amine units. This preliminary action reduces the H2S load on the amine units, allowing them to operate at increased capacity without becoming bottlenecks, thereby enabling higher overall production while maintaining effective H2S removal.
4Productivity
If parallel trains for oil production integrated with sour gas processing and sour gas injection are included, then oil production is increased, but facility complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges oil production and sour gas processing into an integrated facility where H2S-selective membranes are incorporated into the existing gas processing train. The membranes are inserted at strategic points in the high-pressure and medium-pressure gas processing sections, combining H2S removal functionality with the existing parallel train configuration. This merging approach increases oil production capability while avoiding the need for completely separate facilities, thereby managing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The use of hydrogen sulfide-selective membranes debottlenecks amine units, increases oil production rates, and enhances the efficiency of sour gas processing and injection by reducing hydrogen sulfide levels in processed gas and injected streams, thereby maximizing the capacity of existing facilities.
Implementation Method 1
a first hydrogen sulfide-selective membrane to remove hydrogen sulfide from the medium pressure stream combined with the gas phase from the second oil-gas separator to form a first permeate stream enriched in hydrogen sulfide and a first retentate stream depleted in hydrogen sulfide
Implementation Method 2
a medium-pressure amine unit for removing hydrogen sulfide from the first retentate stream to form a medium pressure stream depleted in H2S and a low-pressure acid-gas stream enriched in H2S
Implementation Method 3
The H2S and CO2 removed from gas processing in the amine unit (collectively referred to as acid gas) are sent to a Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU) where the H2S is converted to elemental sulfur via the well-known Claus reaction
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are systems and methods for increasing oil production in an integrated oil and gas production plant including hydrogen sulfide removal and sour-gas injection into an underground formation. Hydrogen sulfide-selective membranes are used to debottleneck known systems and methods by removing hydrogen sulfide from bottlenecked plant process steps including sour gas compression, hydrogen sulfide removal and sour gas injection. A method of retrofitting an integrated plant includes adding a hydrogen sulfide-selective membrane upstream of an amine unit to remove hydrogen sulfide from an associated gas stream and form a permeate stream enriched in hydrogen sulfide and a retentate stream depleted in hydrogen sulfide and enriched in hydrocarbon gases. Less hydrogen sulfide is sent to the amine unit and oil production is higher than in the integrated plant without the hydrogen sulfide-selective membrane.