NITROGEN REMOVAL FROM NATURAL GAS WITH THE MOLECULAR GATE? ADSORPTION PROCESS

摘要

Since the introduction of the Molecular Gate process at the 2002 GPA annual conference thirty units have been constructed for the removal of nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide from natural gas making the technology the leading process for the nitrogen rejection. The technology removes nitrogen from contaminated feeds while methane flows through the bed of adsorbent to sales at feed pressure. This adsorption of nitrogen is unique and scalable such that it offers the economical processing of smaller flow rates with design rates as low as 0.5 MM SCFD along with growing experience for larger flow rates with the largest operating system at 10 MM SCFD. This paper provides an overview of the technology, pre-treatment requirements and presents field unit experience for several operating plants. Processing costs for nitrogen rejection are also presented.