G. Bowerbank and W. Blas of Shell Catalysts & Technologies discuss low cost strategies to maximise value at existing gas processing facilities. Changing solvents, introducing advanced column internals or a combination of both are relatively simple and cost-effective options for boosting production or revenue with minimal investment.
An advanced mecaptan removal process has been developed and implemented by RATE. The RATE-Oximer process is an oxidative air-based regeneration process, designed to remove mercaptans from liquid and vapour phases. M. Rameshini of RATE describes the key features of the process and its applications.
Legislation to control emissions of sulphur dioxide continues to tighten, via vehicle exhausts, and refinery and smelter emissions, leading to increased recovery of both sulphur and sulphur dioxide.
TechnipFMC’s EARTH ® technology, with its structured catalyst jointly developed by TechnipFMC and Clariant, has been proven to be a cost effective way to drastically improve productivity and energy efficiency of the steam reforming process, while reducing the CO 2 footprint per unit hydrogen and syngas product. The technology can be applied in projects to increase the capacity of ammonia and methanol plants and allows significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. S. Walspurger of Technip Benelux B.V. and S. Gebert of Clariant GmbH report on the EARTH ® technology and its applications.
N. Temnaya and S. Suvorkin of NIIK report on the modernisation of monopressure (UKL-7) and dual pressure (AK-72) nitric acid plants in Russia and the CIS.
New technology makes it possible for methanol producers to diversify their product portfolio and participate in the high growth mono ethylene glycol market. A. Shah of Johnson Matthey reports on the development of the new technology and its commercialisation.
Fugitive dust emissions during the handling and storage of formed sulphur can result in negative environmental impacts and under specific conditions result in an explosion hazard. Enersul has developed a dust suppression system specifically targeted at controlling sulphur dust particles. The Enersul SafeFoam Transfer System (STS) reduces sulphur fines at critical transfer points throughout any sulphur handling system, resulting in a significantly safer and more environmentally friendly sulphur handling system.
The removal of hydrogen sulphide (H2 S) has become increasingly important as the oil and gas industry moves towards more efficient and sustainable production of lower emission clean fuels. BASF and ExxonMobil* have jointly developed a proprietary amine, OASE® sulfexx™ , to help refiners and gas processors achieve sulphur removal targets while reducing their carbon footprint via lower energy consumption. This new solvent technology is suitable for low and high pressure applications and shows superior performance characteristics over generic and promoted MDEA formulations, as well as sterically hindered amines such as FLEXSORB™ SE and SE Plus.
Kreber’s R&D department has been researching the prilling of sulphur in pursuit of the ideal process. In this article, T. Nieboer of Kreber recounts the history of prilling up to today, tracing the developments and highlighting the challenges that still remain.
There is an urgent need to limit the rise in global temperatures to avoid severe environmental and societal impact. This can be expressed as a target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The provision of decarbonised hydrogen at scale is an essential step in helping to achieve net zero. Johnson Matthey’s Low Carbon Hydrogen (LCH) technology permits the needs of scale and urgency to be met. J. Pach of Johnson Matthey presents a serious response to a serious threat.