29 / 07 / 2021

Details of the Technology – brief on process and the main difference from the traditional GTL technologies.

Creation of a gas processing unit of the required capacity for processing associated petroleum gas in order to obtain the following marketable products:

1. Liquefied motor (household) gas fuel (Propane / butane);

2. Dry fuel gas (mixture of methane, ethane and inert gas) for supply to power generation;

3. High-octane motor fuel (gasoline).

The unit is a universal and unified complex that allows increasing the processing capacity of associated gases. On the basis of this installation it's possible to designe more powerful complexes in future.

The technological solutions adopted are based on a modern method of processing raw materials and cyclone oil refineries, vortex rectification (VR), which are highly environmentally friendly and have low energy consumption.

The main advantages of the offered equipment:

• in the possibility of economically effective transformation of heat energy of dry fuel gas into electrical energy without unnecessary stages of fuel gas preparation;

• the ability to process gas condensate - an unstable feedstock at the site of its production to obtain Liquefied Hydrocarbon Gas

Process flow diagram of the associated petroleum gas processing unit:

Used notation:

C1C2 - methane / ethane

C3C4 - propane / butane.

The unit consists of:

1. Compressor – P 1

2. Compressor – P 2

3. Block whirl refinery – WR 1

4. Block whirl refinery – WR 2

5. Block whirl refinery – WR 3

6. Block whirl refinery – WR 4

7. Installation of catalytic conversion

To implement the project, the following technical solutions were adopted:

• For the processing of associated petroleum gas, a technology was adopted with the compression of associated gas, its successive cooling and separation from the evolved condensate and liquefied gas of the PBT grade (technical propane-butane).

• For gas compression, the use of hermetic pistons compressors without oil supply with frequency converters is envisaged.

• Processing of gas condensate by catalytic conversion with compression of newly obtained propane / butane fractions to obtain motor fuel (high-octane gasoline) is envisaged.

Technological solutions, equipment composition

1. Gas separation unit provides:

• Compression and separation of associated gases with their purification from water;

• Condensation of gas condensate and its supply to the catalytic conversion unit;

• Supply of liquefied propane / butane gas to the warehouse;

• Supply of fuel gas (combustible component - a mixture of methane and ethane, inert component - carbon dioxide and nitrogen) for supplying electricity generation.

• Maintenance personnel of the installation - 2 operators per shift.

2. Power generation unit:

• Service personnel - 1 operator per shift.

3. Direct conversion unit for gas condensate based on zeolite-containing catalysts:

• The unit is designed to reform gas condensate in order to obtain high-octane motor fuel, gasoline, propane / butane and a mixture of dry gases (C1 + C2 + H2) as a by-product;

• The unit includes a catalyst regeneration unit, the service life of the catalysts is 3-4 years.

• Maintenance personnel of the installation - 2 operators per shift.

4. Gas separation unit:

• The unit provides compression and separation of gases after the unit for direct conversion of gas condensate with the supply of uncondensed gases to the burners of the furnaces and the supply of liquefied propane / butane gas to the warehouse.

• Maintenance personnel of the installation - 2 operators per shift.

Indicators of an automated process control system (APCS):

The automation system provides centralized monitoring of the state of objects, signaling deviations of parameters from the norm, regulation of process parameters, remote control of the operation of objects, protection (shutdown) of technological equipment, formation of a log of emergency and technological events, maintenance of a database.

The automation system ensures the operation of the automation object in a round-the-clock mode with the output of all the necessary parameters to the operator's automated workstation (AWP).

Resource requirements:

• Land plot - an area of 50x50 meters.

• The required connection from an external power source is no more than 300 kW per hour. Calculations for the volume of electricity can be changed after the design stage.

Summary:

1. Dry fuel gas can be supplied to power generation or as a source of thermal energy to consumers of combustible gas.

2. The obtained gas motor fuel propane / butane in compressed and liquefied form enters the storage warehouse in tanks, or the product pipeline and can be shipped to consumers in household cylinders, because according to its characteristics, it fully corresponds to household liquefied gas.

3. Obtaining high-octane motor fuel (gasoline).

 

Comparison of various methods of associated petroleum gas processing: Fischer-Tropsch process, membrane technology method, PJSC “GTL” method.

Fischer-Tropsch process

Usually this method is used to obtain synthetic oil from "synthesis gas" - the GTL technology has been known since 1926. Scientists learned to obtain synthesis gas in associated petroleum gas only from methane. Here is an excerpt from the specialazed literature:

“Utilization of associated petroleum gas by the Fischer-Tropsch method makes it possible to obtain“ artificial oil ”or synthetic fuel. Currently, only methane can be utilized, however, developments are underway to introduce this technology into the processing of C3-C4 hydrocarbon fractions. The profitability of this method grows in proportion to the increase in fuel prices. And yet it is believed that this gas treatment technology makes sense only when processing large volumes of raw materials.

Considering the fact that the obtained "artificial oil" is not a finished product, but requires additional refining and finishing processes, as well as significant production costs and low productivity, the use of the Fischer-Tropsch method cannot yet find wide application. For APG utilization at the site where a well or reservoir is being developed, this method is often not advisable. "

 

Additional disadvantages of the Fischer-Tropsch method:

• The cost of processing 50 thousand tons is about $ 50 million (this is the order of the numbers)

• The technology is actually (in practice) owned by the Americans (including catalysts)

• If there is a lack of electricity, it is easier to convert methane directly into electricity (ie Fischer-Tropsch does not make sense here.)

Membrane technology method

One of the relatively new methods for separating gas mixtures is membrane technology, which has recently been significantly developed.

Membrane gas separation technology is widely used in the processes of nitrogen production, hydrogen extraction from hydrogen-containing gas mixtures, and helium and CO2 extraction from natural gas, but it has not been used to solve the problems of associated petroleum gas (APG) utilization. This was due to a number of reasons, the main of which are the presence in APG of compounds that destroy or plasticize classical membranes, as well as the characteristic selective properties of traditional membranes, causing the concentration of heavy hydrocarbons in the residual flow, which can lead to their condensation on the membrane, and obtaining the target the prepared product in the infiltrated stream, i.e. at low pressure, which required its compression for further use. Therefore, classical membranes were used only to concentrate CO2 with the aim of reusing it for injection into the reservoir with increased oil production.

Known Swiss and German firms claiming that they have learned how to make membranes for the "successful" separation of hydrocarbon gases (from 60% to 90% for propane and butane). Russian developers who have successfully applied membrane technologies for the preparation and utilization of APG for Rosneft and Gazprom immediately indicate that the target product is methane.

Hence the disadvantages of technology follow:

• Low purification from hydrocarbon gases directly through membranes (from 60% to 90%), which allows, first of all, to use membrane units as accompanying (in most cases), and the use of membrane units as the basis of technology is possible only for some APG compositions where the target the product is methane! At the same time, the losses of utilized propane and butane can reach up to 30% of their initial content in APG.

• All known schemes for the use of membrane technologies provide for the injection of the obtained gas condensate either into the reservoir or into the oil feedstock, which almost halves the possible volume of propane / butane production.

• The operating experience of a similar APG preparation scheme shows that membrane technologies are good for solving auxiliary problems of methane additional purification from hydrogen sulfide, water and hydrocarbons, where the main target product is methane.

 

 

The method of PJSC «GTL»

1. The method of processing associated gas of PJSC «GTL» in comparison with the above methods has numerous advantages:

• In the possibility of economically effective transformation of the heat energy of dry fuel gas (methane and ethane) into electrical energy without unnecessary stages of fuel gas preparation: there is no stage for cleaning C1 + C2 from inert gases CO2 and N2, which means there are no losses during gas separation (in this case, inert gases serve as a working fluid in gas piston electric generators);

• Maximally complete recovery of propane and butane from APG, that is propane and butane are the same targeted product as dry fuel gas.

• The ability to process gas condensate - into a feedstock with the production of propane and butanes and the receipt of additional volumes of high-octane motor fuel (gasoline).

2. Required raw materials (chemicals, water, air, etc.) and their safety data sheets.

Possible raw materials that we need for the operation of the installation are: water, electricity and chemicals.

1. Volumes of water for commissioning (works of starting-ups and adjustment)  and further operation of the installation are calculated after the completion of the design stage.

2. The exact amounts of electricity for commissioning and further operation of the installation are calculated after the completion of the design stage.

3. Additional reagents and their quantity are also calculated after the design work on the project.

 

3. Treatment plan for hazardous gas components such as C1 (methane), C2 (ethane), C3 (propane), etc.

During the operation of our installation, no hazardous substances, requiring special disposal are released, which is also an additional advantage of the technology.

Taking into account the fact that when using our technology, there is an economically effective transformation of the thermal energy of dry fuel gas (methane and ethane) into electrical energy without unnecessary stages of fuel gas preparation. That is, there is no stage for cleaning C1 + C2 from inert gases CO2 and N2, which means there are no losses during gas separation (while inert gases serve as a working fluid in gas piston electric generators);

Our technology has no additional emissions of hazardous substances.

We convert dry fuel gas into generation for the purpose of further obtaining electricity. There is no wastewater pollution with our technology. There are negligible emissions of CO2, CO and N into the atmosphere.

 

4. Process wastes, their treatment plan and disposal procedure

 

Technology of PJSC "GTL" does not have technological waste in the process of associated petroleum gas processing.

However, the Catalyst used in production has a service life of 3-4 years. This is not a problem, since after the expiration of the catalyst's useful life, it can be disposed of as ordinary waste (in the ground) or resold, since it can be used in road construction.

 

5. Environmental benefits of the technology

 

The environmental advantages of the technology of PJSC "GTL":

• We convert dry fuel gas into generation for the purpose of further generation of electricity. There is no wastewater pollution with our technology.

• The possibility of cost-effective transformation of the thermal energy of dry fuel gas (methane and ethane) into electrical energy without unnecessary stages of fuel gas preparation: there is no stage for cleaning C1 + C2 from inert gases CO2 and N2, which means there are no losses during gas separation (in this case, inert gases serve as a working fluid in gas piston electric generators);

• Maximally complete recovery of propane and butane from APG, that is propane and butane are as targeted as dry fuel gas.

• The ability to process gas condensate - into a feedstock with the production of propane and butanes and the receipt of additional volumes of high-octane motor fuel (gasoline).

• During the operation of our installation, no hazardous substances are released that require special disposal.

 

Approved by:

29.07.2021
Innovations
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GTL has developed, patented and introduced more than one hundred innovative technologies
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