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Abstract
Mercury is present in many of the worlds natural gas fields. Process plants with brazed aluminium heat exchangers, including LNG facilities and nitrogen rejection units are particularly susceptible to corrosive attack by mercury. There is an increased awareness on the part of gas processors to better protect their assets and address environmental concerns by removing mercury from their facilities. In recent years, mercury levels have increased from typical highs of 30 or 40 g/NM3, to levels exceeding 1,000 g/NM3 in the Pacific Rim area. In supplying purification solutions to the gas processing industry, UOP has developed a number of approaches for mercury removal. Several process options using both regenerative and non-regenerative fixed-bed technologies are now available. The protection of aluminium heat exchangers can be accomplished using a layer of silvercontaining molecular sieve inside the dehydration vessels. The active silver forms an amalgam with any mercury present and its zeolitic substrate adsorbs moisture in the gas to be treated. This approach offers flexibility in being regenerable, as the mercurycontaining gas is by-passed around any cryogenic equipment. If necessary, condensed mercury can be collected and the mercury-entrained gas treated with a small nonregenerative guard bed. Another approach uses non-regenerative metal sulphides to remove mercury from the raw gas upstream of the dryers and the amine unit. Utilising larger vessels, this approach also protects the brazed aluminium heat exchanger and ensures less mercury contamination in and around the process plant. A comparison of the mercury removal processes described above is made and several case histories are presented examining the relative merits of regenerative zeolitic and non-regenerative metal sulphide-based solutions. The plant specific drivers leading to the adoption of these technologies are discussed and the efficacy of each approach is critically assessed.
Introduction
Process systems designed to purify hydrocarbon feed streams commonly found in the natural gas industry are becoming increasingly important. Historically, natural gas components such as sulphur, carbon dioxide and water have been effectively removed using regenerable molecular sieves, non-regenerable fixed bed absorbents, membrane systems and amines. Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in small but measurable concentrations in many oil and gas fields throughout the world. Mercury is most frequently detected in its elemental form and tends to be prevalent in natural gas processing and LNG facilities. Due to advances in detection systems, mercury can now be accurately measured down to single digit nanogram levels in the case of gases and to ppb levels in the case of liquid hydrocarbons. Mercury, when present, can cause severe and catastrophic corrosion of aluminium heat exchangers, which are commonly used in gas plant cryogenic systems. Deposition of liquid elemental mercury in heat exchangers can compromise their structural integrity. One mechanism by which this occurs is referred to as liquid metal embrittlement (LME). LME has been responsible for a number of failures of aluminium heat exchangers over the past 40 years. LME can cause crack initiation and propagation within such equipment, particularly in the proximity of a weld[1]. Several examples of mercury causing equipment failure in gas processing facilities have been documented in North America[2], North Africa and more recently in Asia Pacific. Understanding the effects associated with LME is particularly important as it is difficult to detect prior to failure.
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In order to avoid potential equipment failure, tight limits have been placed on allowable mercury levels in natural gas passing through aluminium heat exchangers. The typical level of mercury removal commonly required today is 10 nanograms/NM3 of natural gas passing to the cryogenic section of a natural gas processing plant. This specification can be achieved by using two types of mercury removal technology, located immediately upstream of the cryogenic unit: Regenerable molecular sieve Non-regenerable absorbent Molecular sieve plus non-regenerable absorbent
These options meet the required mercury specifications and each offers operational advantages. The molecular sieve option relies on a portion of the dryer vessel containing a noble metal impregnated molecular sieve which forms an amalgam with mercury. During the heating cycle of the drying vessel, mercury is desorbed into a regeneration stream and by-passed around downstream cryogenic equipment. Rather than removing mercury at a point immediately upstream of the cryogenic unit, some operators have opted to purify gas as it enters the plant. In this case, the heat exchanger mercury specification can be met using a larger, fixed bed of mercury removal absorbent, treating raw gas as it arrives into a facility. A recent variation in the use of either noble metal containing molecular sieve or non-regenerable absorbent, serves to combine the two approaches. The addition of a small vessel of non-regenerable absorbent to treat desorbed mercury from the molecular sieve unit, permanently removes any mercury from the sales gas. Recognising and understanding the drivers placed on the decision making process to select the best available technology in the most appropriate flow-scheme location is key and often varies markedly from plant to plant.
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A 100% utilisation of active S results in the removal of 1 mole of mercury for every mole of sulphur. Table 2 looks at the effects of entrained liquids on mercury adsorption capacity in a natural gas application using a sulphur promoted activated carbon MRU. The achieved lifetime of the carbon MRU was half that of the estimated lifetime quoted by the supplier. The degree of liquid adsorbed onto carbon during the life of the MRU is shown in terms of total wt% volatiles (200oC). Layer 1 represents carbon recovered from the inlet portion of the bed and layers 2, 3 and 4 represent subsequent layers. Clearly the carbon has co-adsorbed a significant quantity of liquid (20-30%) from the raw natural gas during its shortened service life. Table 2. Impact of liquids on mercury removal using activated carbon in the gas phase Total Total S Hg/S on a Volatiles wt% Total Hg Bed wt% (dry weight (200oC) (dry position wt% basis basis) basis) Layer 1 21.1 7.02 1.89 0.27 Layer 2 21.0 6.57 1.71 0.26 Layer 3 26.8 8.32 2.12 0.25 Layer 4 24.4 7.97 0.29 0.04
The total wt% of active sulphur was measured on each layer of discharged carbon. While sulphur levels on newly installed activated carbon are typically 10-18% wt, the levels on the spent material were measured at 6 to 9% wt. In order to measure the mercury removal efficiency of sulphided carbon, the percentage of utilised sulphur was also measured, on a molar basis. The percentage of sulphur utilised in the equilibrium section of the vessel (layers 1, 2&3) was measured at ~4% wt. By comparison, on a dry natural gas without the attendant issues of liquid entrainment, this percentage utilisation would be expected to be >>10% wt. The data confirms that sulphided carbon is prone to sulphur dissolution and micro-pore blocking when treating wet gas. Apart from the basic requirement to ensure that adequate mercury removal can be achieved on gases at or close to their dew points, from the point of capital expenditure, it is important to ensure that MRU reactor volumes are minimised where possible. This is particularly important when positioning an MRU off-shore where spatial constraints are critical. The contact times required by sulphided carbon products often lead to a larger than practical MRU footprint. The drive to reduce capital budgets and avoid large volumes of spent material has lead to gas processors examining technologies other than sulphided carbon. After carbon is discharged from an MRU, it is usually sent to a specialised plant where mercury is reclaimed via vacuum distillation. There is no useful purpose for the remaining carbon and it undergoes high temperature incineration.
A better solution
UOP has developed a range of non-regenerable absorbents to improve on existing MRU technologies. Gas streams containing thousands of micrograms of mercury can be successfully treated using UOP GB absorbents. Instead of carbon, transition metal oxides and sulphides are utilised. The active component of the GB absorbents is a metallic sulphide and the products are supplied either in their oxide form and are sulphided in-situ by the gas to be treated or are supplied pre-sulphided. Mercury is removed and recovered from the discharged absorbents via vacuum distillation and sold into specialist applications for re-use. Since the remaining active metal is compatible with metal recycling programs, it is sent for recovery via a smelting process and then sold back onto the open market. This process ensures that the MRU product is handled in an environmentally friendly way.[7]
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The absorbents have been developed to treat wet and dry gases, without the same wet gas limitations of other non-regenerable products. A commonly suggested flow-scheme location for a UOP GB product is shown in Figure 1. The UOP GB product range is currently successfully treating liquid hydrocarbon streams in addition to gaseous fluids. Sulphur is anchored to the metallic substrate, preventing subsequent dissolution and slippage onto downstream equipment. Figure 1
CO2 Removal
Dryers
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Figure 2
To ensure the removal of mercury from sales gas as well as protecting plant cryogenic equipment, some gas plant operators have taken mercury removal with HgSIV adsorbents one step further. By installing a vessel of UOP GB non-regenerable mercury absorbent on the regeneration stream from the molecular sieve drying unit, mercury is effectively removed and captured on the GB absorbents. Figure 3 represents a combined approach towards mercury removal using both HgSIV and GB technology. Since the regeneration gas stream is of a comparatively low flow-rate (typically 10% of the inlet gas), the volume of the vessel containing the non-regenerable absorbent is small. This results in a cost-effective way of removing mercury, without the higher levels of capital expenditure associated with installing a larger absorbent vessel upstream. Figure 3
UOP GB
Clearly there are several ways to remove mercury from natural gas processing plants. Capital expenditure limitations, equipment protection requirements and environmental factors all need to be considered. The following case studies illustrate the factors involved in choosing which mercury removal system is most applicable for a given process plant.
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Figure 4 After the activated carbon was discharged from the reactors, the MRU was re-filled with UOP GB-562 absorbent. Figure 4 shows a photograph of the GB-562 parallel flow reactors at GSP-5. Since the GB-562 was commissioned, the plant has continuously recorded effluent mercury levels below the required specification and maintained the start of run pressure drop which was a priority for the customer. This successful performance has been achieved despite the GB-562 treating a liquid entrained, water saturated natural gas.
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Figure 5 details the actual mercury influent and effluent levels at the GSP-5 facility since the start-up of the GB-562 MRU. Despite fluctuating mercury inlet levels, the GB-562 continues to meet desired effluent specification. Figure 5
150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Months On Line
Case 2: Gasco Abu Dhabi, HgSIV 3 Adsorbent The original Adnoc (now Gasco) Habshan gas plant, located in Abu Dhabi, was built in 1983 to process Thamama gas from the nearby Bab and Asab fields. Following the completion of two major development projects (OGD-1 in 1996 and OGD-II in 2001), the plant now includes 8 gas processing trains with the capacity to process 3.5 BSCFD of non-associated and associated gas. In addition to network gas, the Habshan facility produces natural gas liquids (NGL), condensate and liquid sulphur. The OGD-1 expansion raised output at Habshan from 450 MMSCFD to 1,865 MMSCFD. Three new trains were developed; two 350 MMSCFD trains for the treatment of non-associated and associated gas (T1 and T2) and one 625 MMSCFD train for the treatment of non-associated gas (T3). In addition, condensate recovery was raised from 5,000 BPD to 131,000 BPD. Raw gas entering OGD-1 is currently conditioned to remove CO2, H2S, H2O and Hg. From plant start-up in 1996, the OGD-1 gas processing trains have used UOP MOLSIVTM adsorbents. In 1998 following a study effort together with Gasco, a layer of UOP HgSIV 3 Adsorbent was incorporated into each drying vessel as a retrofit solution in order to ensure that the gas passing to downstream cryogenic equipment was free of mercury. To date, MOLSIVTM UI-94 adsorbent and HgSIV 3 molecular sieve adsorbent products have demonstrated excellent operating performance in each of the three OGD1 trains. Each train has successfully used HgSIV 3 Adsorbent in up to 6 year lifetime cycles, to reduce a design inlet mercury level of 200-250 ng/NM3 down to a cold box specification of < 10 ng/NM3. Case 3: Enterprise USA, HgSIV 1 Adsorbent + GB-562 Absorbent The Enterprise Meeker I gas plant, located in Colorados Piceance Basin started up in 2007 with an initial gas processing capacity of 750 MMSCFD, incorporating 35,000 BPD of NGL. A phase II expansion in the form of sister plant, Meeker II, started up in 2008 resulting in a doubling of capacity to 1.5 BSCFD gas and 70,000 BPD of produced NGL.
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Both Meeker I and Meeker II condition raw gas to remove carbon dioxide using amines and water and mercury using fixed beds. UOP UI-94 molecular sieve and HgSIV 1 molecular sieve are used in the drying vessels to remove water and mercury from the raw gas prior to it passing to the cryogenic system. UOP GB-562 is then used to remove mercury from the molecular sieve regeneration stream. The molecular sieve dryers are configured such that two vessels are in adsorption mode and one vessel in regeneration mode at any given time. Each molecular sieve vessel processes 375 MMSCFD of feed gas. Table 4 provides a summary of the mercury removal process conditions for the molecular sieve and the GB-562 MRU. Table 4. Enterprise Meeker I and II Gas treated Gas flow-rate to mol sieve vessels GB-562 operating temperature GB-562 operating pressure Raw gas Hg concentration to HgSIV 1 Regeneration gas Hg concentration to GB-562 Effluent Hg concentration from GB-562 Natural Gas 750 MMSCFD 30-40 oC 70 Kg/cm2 Up to 800 ng/NM3 Up to 2000 ng/NM3 < 10 ng/NM3
Discussion
If mercury is allowed to reside in a gas processing plant un-checked, it can cause severe damage to process equipment and potentially compromise the health and safety of plant operators. UOP has developed two distinctive technologies to remove mercury from various locations within a gas plant. Each technology affords maximum mercury removal and protection and includes within it, a number of non-regenerative and regenerative fixed bed solutions. The well established HgSIV molecular sieve product line ensures that the cryogenic component of a gas plant is protected against potential mercury ingress. Utilising HgSIV provides an option that is low in capital expenditure and long-lasting. The latest technology of non-regenerative UOP GB products offers the option to either remove mercury from the raw gas as it enters the plant or remove desorbed mercury from the HgSIV adsorbent/dryer regeneration gas using a small, cost efficient fixed bed. UOP GB products can operate in more challenging environments than other non-regenerative products and have the capability to treat liquid entrained gas streams.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the cooperation of PTT, Gasco and Enterprise in the writing of this paper.
References
[1] Willhelm, Mark S., Risk analysis for Operation of Aluminium Heat Exchangers Contaminated by Mercury, presented at the AICHE conference, April 2008, New Orleans, Louisiana [2] Lund, D.L., Causes and remedies for mercury exposure to Aluminum Coldboxes, presented at the 75th Annual GPA Convention March 11-13, 1996, Denver, Colorado [3] AICHe Paper Jointly authored by UOP and Equistar, Mercury removal from cracked gas a liquid streams, 2004 Ethylene producers conference [4] Biscan, D.A., Gebhard, R.S., Matviya, T.M., Impact of process conditions on mercury removal from natural gas using activated carbon, presented at the 8th International Conference ON Liquefied Natural Gas, 1986
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[5] B. Edmonds, R.A.S Moorwood and R.Szcepanski., Mercury Partioning In Natural Gases and Condensates, presented at the GPA European Chapter Meeting London, March 1996 [6] 2009 TLVs and BEIs - ACGIH [7] Private correspondence with Begemann Milieutechniek B.V. Mercury waste reclaimers [8] Corvini, Stiltner, Clark., Mercury removal from natural gas and liquid streams
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