Energy efficiency, investments and emissions in natural gas sweetening processes

JUAN PABLO GUTIERREZ; LILIANA ALE RUIZ; ELEONORA ERDMANN

Congreso; 23rd World Energy Congress 2016 Istanbul; 2016

World Energy Council

Currently, different technologies are employed for capturing the CO2 from the natural gas. Based on chemical phenomenon, the absorption of CO2 using alkanolamines is probably the more extended process for the acid gas removal. However, membrane technologies are considered an alternative in particular cases for their better performances, cleanness, energy requirements, operative costs and location flexibility.In this article, three different configurations for the CO2 removal were studied for treating a conventional natural gas stream from the north of Argentina. In the methodology, a regular process using MDEA, an absorption process using recompressed vapor and a membrane system were analyzed with the aim of estimating the energy requirements and capital costs. In addition, compression and pump power, removed CO2, greenhouse gases emissions, water consumption, equivalent heat and investment costs were estimated for the three cases and compared. For the purpose, the processes were simulated and studied using Aspen Hysys v8.8. After comparing the scenarios, the impact on the global energy efficiency was discussed.