Sour Gas and Related Technologies
Advances in Natural Gas Engineering Series

This three-volume series, Advances in Natural Gas Engineering, focuses on the engineering of natural gas and its advancement as an increasingly important energy resource. Sour Gas and Related Technologies is the third volume in this important series.

Written by a group of the most well-known and knowledgeable authors on the subject in the world, this volume focuses on one of the hottest topics in natural gas today, sour gas. This is a must for any engineer working in natural gas, the energy field, or process engineering.

Sour Gas and Related Technologies includes information about upgrading sour gas and the injection of acid gas as an alternative to sulfur production. There are contributions on both surface and subsurface aspects.

Also included in this volume are experimental data for density, viscosity, and water content that are so important for the proper design of projects for handling sour gas.

There are descriptions of new technologies for the sour gas business including a new method to process sour gas and an update on a technology for dehydration.

This outstanding new reference:

• Covers the most recent advances in natural gas engineering, in both upstream (reservoir) and downstream (processing)
• Covers technologies for working towards a zero-emission process in natural gas production
• Written by a team of the world's most well-known scientists and engineers in the field

Preface xiii

Introduction xiv

Part 1: Data: Experiments and Correlation 1. Equilibrium Water Content Measurements for Acid Gas at High Pressures and Temperatures 3
Francis Bernard, Robert A. Marriott, and Binod R. Giri

1.1 Introduction 4

1.2 Experimental 6

1.3 Recent Results and Modelling 10

1.4 Conclusions 19

References 19

2. Comparative Study on Gas Deviation Factor Calculating Models for CO2 Rich Gas Reservoirs 21
Nan Zhang, Xiao Guo, Qiang Zhang, Rentian Yan, and Yan Ran

2.1 Introduction 22

2.2 Deviation Factor Correlations 22

2.3 Model Optimization 28

2.4 Conclusions 34

References 35

3. H2S Viscosities and Densities at High-Temperatures and Pressures 37
Binod R. Giri, Robert A. Marriott, and Pierre Blais

3.1 Introduction 38

3.2 Experimental 39

3.3 Results and Discussion 41

3.4 Conclusions and Outlook 46

3.5 Acknowledgement 47

References 47

4. Solubility of Methane in Propylene Carbonate 49
Fang-Yuan Jou, Kurt A.G. Schmidt, and Alan E. Mather

4.1 Introduction 49

4.2 Results and Discussion 50

4.3 Nomenclature 54

4.4 Acknowledgement 54

References 54

Part 2: Process

5. A Holistic Look at Gas Treating Simulation 59
Nathan A. Hatcher, R. Scott Alvis, and Ralph H. Weiland

5.1 Introduction 60

5.2 Clean Versus Dirty Solvents: Heat Stable Salts 61

5.3 Summary 77

6. Controlled Freeze Zone™ Commercial Demonstration Plant Advances Technology for the Commercialization of North American Sour Gas Resources 79
R.H. Oelfke, R.D. Denton, and J.A. Valencia

6.1 Introduction – Gas Demand and Sour Gas Challenges 80

6.2 Acid Gas Injection 80

6.3 Controlled Freeze Zone™ — Single Step Removal of CO2 and H2S 81

6.4 Development Scenarios Suitable for Utilizing CFZ™ Technology 84

6.5 Commercial Demonstration Plant Design & Initial Performance Data 86

6.6 Conclusions and Forward Plans 89

Bibliography 89

7. Acid Gas Dehydration – A DexPro™ Technology Update 91
Jim Maddocks, Wayne McKay, and Vaughn Hansen

7.1 Introduction 91

7.2 Necessity of Dehydration 92

7.3 Dehydration Criteria 94

7.4 Acid Gas – Water Phase Behaviour 96

7.5 Conventional Dehydration Methods 99

7.6 Development of DexPro 107

7.7 DexPro Operating Update 112

7.8 DexPro Next Steps 113

7.9 Murphy Tupper – 2012 Update 113

7.10 Acknowledgements 115

8. A Look at Solid CO2 Formation in Several High CO2 Concentration Depressuring Scenarios 117
James van der Lee, John J. Carroll, and Marco Satyro

8.1 Introduction 117

8.2 Methodology 118

8.3 Thermodynamic Property Package Description 118

8.4 Model Confi guration 119

8.5 Results 121

8.6 Discussion 124

8.7 Conclusions 127

References 128

Part 3: Acid Gas Injection

9. Potential Sites and Early Opportunities of Acid Gas Re-injection in China 131
Qi Li, Xiaochun Li, Lei Du, Guizhen Liu, Xuehao Liu, Ning Wei

9.1 Introduction 132

9.2 Potential Storage Capacity for CCS 134

9.3 Emission Sources of Acid Gases 134

9.4 Distribution of High H2S Bearing Gas Field 135

9.5 Systematic Screening of Potential Sites 136

9.6 Early Deployment Opportunities of AGI 137

9.7 Conclusions 139

9.8 Acknowledgements 140

References 140

10. Acid Gas Injection for a Waste Stream with Heavy Hydrocarbons and Mercaptans 143
Xingyuan Zhao, John J. Carroll, and Ying Wu

10.1 Basis 143

10.2 Phase Envelope 144

10.3 Water Content 146

10.4 Hydrates 147

10.5 Dehydration and Compression 149

10.6 Discussion 151

10.7 Conclusion 151

References 152

11. Compression of Acid Gas and CO2 with Reciprocating Compressors and Diaphragm Pumps for Storage and Enhanced Oil Recovery 153
Anke Braun, Josef Jarosch, Rainer Dübi, and Luzi Valär

11.1 Conclusion 163

References 164

12. Investigation of the Use of Choke Valves in Acid Gas Compression 165
James van der Lee, and Edward Wichert

12.1 Introduction 166

12.2 Water Content Behaviour of Acid Gas 167

12.3 Test Cases to Ascertain the Effect of Choke Valves 169

12.4 Test Case 1: 20% H2S, 78% CO2 and 2% C1 170

12.5 Test Case 2: 50% H2S, 48% CO2 and 2% C1 173

12.6 Test Case 3: 80% H2S, 18% CO2 and 2% C1 175

12.7 Conclusions 180

13. The Kinetics of H2S Oxidation by Trace O2 and Prediction of Sulfur Deposition in Acid Gas Compression Systems 183
N. I. Dowling, R. A. Marriott, A. Primak, and S. Manley

13.1 Introduction 184

13.2 Experimental 185

13.3 Experimental Results and Calculation Methods 186

13.4 Discussion and Demonstration of Utility 208

13.5 Conclusions 212

References 213

14. Blowout Calculations for Acid Gas Well with High Water Cut 215
Shouxi Wang, and John J. Carroll

14.1 Introduction 215

14.2 Water 217

14.3 Trace Amount of Gas 221

14.4.1 Case Study 3 222

14.5 Brine vs. Water 226

14.6 Discussion 226

References 226

Part 4: Subsurface

15. Influence of Sulfur Deposition on Gas Reservoir Development 229
Weiyao Zhu, Xiaohe Huang, Yunqian Long, and Jia Deng

15.1 Introduction 229

15.2 Mathematical Models of Flow Mechanisms 230

15.3 The Mathematical Model of Multiphase Complex Flow 236

15.4 Solution of the Mathematical Model Equations 240

15.5 Example 242

15.6 Conclusions 244

References 245

16. Modeling and Evaluation of Oilfield Fluid Processing Schemes 247
Jie Zhang, Ayodeji A. Jeje, Gang Chen, Haiying Cheng, Yuan You, and Shugang Li

16.1 Introduction 248

16.2 Treatment of Produced Water 249

16.3 Treatment of Re-circulating Mud 252

16.4 Test on Gas-cut, Water-based Mud 255

16.5 Conclusion 259

References 260

17. Optimization of the Selection of Oil-Soluble Surfactant for Enhancing CO2 Displacement Efficiency 261
Ping Guo, Songjie Jiao, Fu Chen, and Jie He

17.1 Introduction 262

17.2 Experiment Preparation and Experimental Conditions 263

17.3 Experiment Contents and Methods 264

17.4 Optimization of Surfactants 265

17.5 The Displacement Efficiency Research on Oil-soluble Surfactant Optimization 268

17.6 Conclusions and Recommendations 270

17.7 Acknowledgement 271

References 271

Index 273

Ying (Alice) Wu is currently the President of Sphere Technology Connection Ltd. (STC) in Calgary, Canada. From 1983 to 1999, she was an assistant professor and researcher at Southwest Petroleum Institute (now Southwest Petroleum University, SWPU) in Sichuan, China. She received her MSc in petroleum engineering from SWPU and her BSc in petroleum engineering from Daqing Petroleum University in Heilongjiang, China.

John J. Carroll, PhD, PEng, is the Director, Geostorage Process Engineering for Gas Liquids Engineering in Calgary, Canada. Dr. Carroll holds bachelor and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and is a registered professional engineer in the provinces of Alberta and New Brunswick in Canada. His fist book, Natural Gas Hydrates: A Guide for Engineers, is now in its second edition, and he is the author or coauthor of fifty technical publications and about forty technical presentations.

Weiyoa Zhu is Professor at University of Science and Technology Beijing in China and Adjunct Professor in State Key Lab of Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery at the Northeast Petroleum University. He has published more than 100 technical papers and authored six technical books. His research focus is on fluid mechanics in porous media, the theory and application of the multiphase flow for resource exploitation, new energy development, environmental fluid mechanics, and reservoir simulation.