Republic of the Philippines

PALAWAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering Architecture and Technology

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1
IN
CONTROL AND
INSTRUMENTATION

Submitted To:
Engr. Winston I. Jagolino
Professor, EE 43A – Control and Instrumentation

Submitted By:
Raymond P. Baldelovar
BSPE 4A

Date Submitted:
November 19, 2018
 PROCESSING NATURAL GAS FOR TRANSPORTATION BY PIPELINE

Figure 1: An illustration of how natural gas is processed for transportation by pipeline.

 PROCESSING NATURAL GAS FOR TRANSPORTATION BY PIPELINE

Natural gas transported on the mainline natural gas transportation system must meet
specific quality measures so that the pipeline network (or grid) can provide uniform quality natural
gas. Wellhead natural gas may contain contaminants and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) that must
be removed before the natural gas can be safely delivered to the high-pressure, long-distance
pipelines that transport natural gas to consumers.

A natural gas processing plant typically receives natural gas from a gathering system of
pipelines from natural gas and oil wells. Natural gas processing can be complex and usually
involves several processes, or stages, to remove oil, water, HGL, and other impurities such as
sulfur, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide. The composition of the wellhead
natural gas determines the number of stages and the processes required to produce pipeline-quality
dry natural gas. These stages and processes may be integrated into one unit or operation, be
performed in a different order or at alternative locations (lease/plant), or not be required at all.

The basic stages of natural gas processing/treatment (as shown on the illustration) are:

1. Gas/Liquid Separators: Pressure relief in a single-stage separator causes a natural

separation of the liquids from the gases in the natural gas. In some cases, a multi-stage
separation process is required to separate the different fluid streams.
2. Gas Sweetening: Nonhydrocarbon gases—such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide
(CO2), water vapor, helium, nitrogen, and oxygen—must be removed from the natural gas
stream. The most common removal technique is to direct the natural gas though a vessel
containing an amine solution. Amines absorb hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from
natural gas and can be recycled and regenerated for repeated use.
3. Dehydration: A dehydration process removes water that may cause the formation of
undesirable hydrates and water condensation in pipelines.
4. Nitrogen Extraction: Once the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide are reduced to
acceptable levels, the natural gas stream is routed to a Nitrogen Rejection Unit (NRU),
where it is further dehydrated using molecular sieve beds.
5. Methane Separation: The process of demethanizing the natural gas stream can occur as a
separate operation in a natural gas processing plant or as part of the NRU operation.
Cryogenic processing and absorption methods are some of the ways used to separate
methane from HGL.
 FRACTIONATION
Fractionation separates the hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) into component liquids using
the varying boiling points of the individual HGL. HGL from the processing plant may be sent to
petrochemical plants, oil refineries, and other HGL consumers. A separate illustration will be
provided on the next page for in-depth explanation of this process.
When crude oil reaches the refinery it is heated until it evaporates. As the vapour
(hydrocarbon gases) condense back into liquids, the column sorts the different fractions from each
other and removes them from the sides of the column. The larger hydrocarbons, with the high
boiling points, turn back into liquids at the base of the column and the smaller hydrocarbons stay
as gases. They rise up the column and condense at different levels. At the top of the column there
are a number of hydrocarbons with low boiling points (between 20oC and 70oC) - these remain as
gases.

Figure 2: An illustration of the fractionation process.

 REFERENCES

Delivery and Storage of Natural Gas. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=natural_gas_delivery
https://cz.pinterest.com/pin/364228688600653631/