Only Raw Sour Gas Available for Engine Fuel? Proven Membrane Process Cleans Gas for Engines

摘要

At many remote natural gas production sites, only raw, heavy or sour gas is available to power field compressor engines and turbines. Heavy or sour gas can damage or foul engine components, causing engine downtime and loss of gas production until the components are replaced. This paper describes the use of hydrocarbon and acid gas-permeable membranes to produce clean fuel gas at these sites. Seven fuel gas conditioning units have been installed at sites around the world. The systems are designed for easy, unattended operation and are essentially maintenance-free. Membrane fuel gas conditioning units are' completely passive and the gas requires no pre-treatment, except for a simple filter separation. Water, acid gases and heavy hydrocarbons pass through the membrane, leaving a clean gas to be used as fuel. These units have been used to fix derating problems due to poor fuel gas quality for Wartsila, Caterpillar, Superior and other engine makers. Skids have been used to produce from 0.1 to 110 million scfd (MMscfd) of clean gas.