A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes

Sour gas of the west fields of Kuwait is reported to have a concentration of 12 mol% carbon dioxide and 4 mol% hydrogen sulfide along with moistures. The gas is treated at the gathering center using amine and ethylene glycol units. However, the two processes are energy-intensive and work with solven...

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Main Author: Yousef Alqaheem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-01-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402100058X
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author Yousef Alqaheem
author_facet Yousef Alqaheem
author_sort Yousef Alqaheem
collection DOAJ
description Sour gas of the west fields of Kuwait is reported to have a concentration of 12 mol% carbon dioxide and 4 mol% hydrogen sulfide along with moistures. The gas is treated at the gathering center using amine and ethylene glycol units. However, the two processes are energy-intensive and work with solvents that necessitate proper disposal. On the other hand, polymeric membranes provide an energy-efficient solution for acid gas removal with gas dehydration in one step. A simulation study by UniSim was performed to determine if the cellulose acetate membranes are sufficient to treat 70,000 m3 h−1 of gas by producing a stream that meets the pipeline requirements. Results show that the membranes met the standards but the hydrocarbons recovery was extremely low. It was concluded that the sour gas should contain no more than 3.5 mol% of carbon dioxide and 0.15 mol% hydrogen sulfide to attain a hydrocarbons recovery of 97%.
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spelling doaj.art-e12081cc14ec48c39144b402022ecd272022-12-21T23:03:30ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402021-01-0171e05953A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranesYousef Alqaheem0Corresponding author.; Petroleum Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, KuwaitSour gas of the west fields of Kuwait is reported to have a concentration of 12 mol% carbon dioxide and 4 mol% hydrogen sulfide along with moistures. The gas is treated at the gathering center using amine and ethylene glycol units. However, the two processes are energy-intensive and work with solvents that necessitate proper disposal. On the other hand, polymeric membranes provide an energy-efficient solution for acid gas removal with gas dehydration in one step. A simulation study by UniSim was performed to determine if the cellulose acetate membranes are sufficient to treat 70,000 m3 h−1 of gas by producing a stream that meets the pipeline requirements. Results show that the membranes met the standards but the hydrocarbons recovery was extremely low. It was concluded that the sour gas should contain no more than 3.5 mol% of carbon dioxide and 0.15 mol% hydrogen sulfide to attain a hydrocarbons recovery of 97%.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402100058XKuwait sour gas: gas-separation membraneUniSim simulationPipeline gas specifications
spellingShingle Yousef Alqaheem
A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
Heliyon
Kuwait sour gas: gas-separation membrane
UniSim simulation
Pipeline gas specifications
title A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
title_full A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
title_fullStr A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
title_full_unstemmed A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
title_short A simulation study for the treatment of Kuwait sour gas by membranes
title_sort simulation study for the treatment of kuwait sour gas by membranes
topic Kuwait sour gas: gas-separation membrane
UniSim simulation
Pipeline gas specifications
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402100058X
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