Novel Adsorption-Based Gas Treating Technology Platform for Upstream Gas Separations

Abstract

The oil and gas industry has become increasingly focused on cost reducing technologies. Processing and treating systems used to monetize resources can often be heavy and require a large footprint. When operating in challenging locations, such as deep water or the arctic, these systems can be very expensive. To address these challenges, a novel adsorption-based gas separation technology platform has been under development for process intensification. This technology uses rapid pressure- and/or temperature-swing cycles to dramatically reduce equipment size and weight, and overall gas treating footprint by ~50%, relative to conventional technologies. In addition to CAPEX savings, the weight and footprint savings are beneficial in locations where space is at a premium. Furthermore, the technology is well suited for skid-based deployment, which provides execution efficiencies. While the technology platform is broadly applicable for a variety of Upstream gas separations, the current focus of development has been on deep dehydration and CO2 removal before cryogenic gas processes, such as LNG or NGL recovery. Extensive fundamental research, including laboratory and pilot testing, has been completed to demonstrate technical feasibility. Construction of a field research and demonstration facility is underway to demonstrate scaled-up operation over a wide range of operating conditions. This paper will provide background on the technology platform, the key enablers, the scale-up approach, and integration in an LNG process.

Measurements and Modeling of Water Adsorption Isotherms of Zeolite Linde-Type A Crystals

“…Looking forward, the development of a structured contactor utilizing adsorbent microchannels appears to have great promise in reducing cycle time and improving process capacity. − Conventional gas separation systems are usually performed using adsorbents in the form of beads or granules. However, mass transfer and pressure drop drawbacks in these conventional packed beds impose limitations in operating the process at optimum conditions.…”

“…However, mass transfer and pressure drop drawbacks in these conventional packed beds impose limitations in operating the process at optimum conditions. An alternative approach is to use structured adsorbents in monolith to yield high mass transfer kinetics with large film and solid mass transfer coefficients and low pressure drop. , Therefore, isotherm data based on commercial pellets is not useful for describing the water adsorption on coated monolith bed. With the water adsorption isotherm measured on zeolite crystals the water adsorption on monoliths can be reasonably derived for various monoliths with different composition of formulations.…”

Effective Radial Thermal Conductivity of a Parallel Channel Corrugated Metal Structured Adsorbent

“…Supports for structured adsorbents come in a variety of forms. A nonexhaustive review of the literature shows this includes but is not limited to fabrics, − foams, , laminate sheets, − and monoliths. − One of the newer forms of a structured adsorbent, which is akin to fabric, is a microfibrous entrapped sorbent structure, − where the fibers can be made of polymer, metal, ,,,− or glass. ,, Perhaps the newest and most intriguing form of a structured adsorbent are the 3-D-printed monoliths, − where the 3D monoliths can be comprised of zeolite, ,,,, carbon, metal organic framework, , aminosilica, and composites of polymer-zeolite and carbon-zeolite . Of special interest to this work are monolithic parallel channel structured adsorbents that are dip-, slip-, wash-, or slurry-coated. − …”

“…Although the concept of structured adsorbents has been around for some time and essentially evolved from the monolith catalyst industry, their use in PSA or TSA has only recently been commercialized , (this statement excludes the monolithic honeycomb rotary wheel TSA dryers which have been commercialized for many decades , ). This delay in commercialization might be due to a disadvantage associated with a structured adsorbent bed over a packed bed of particulates, i.e., their potentially low effective bed bulk density, but it might also be due to the complexity associated with both adsorbent structure design and fabrication and the associated design of the bed that has to contain it.…”

Investigation of water kinetics in zeolite Linde‐Type‐A crystals by a concentration‐swing frequency response

“…tions with cycle times of seconds to minutes, as proven recently by ExxonMobil's RapAdsorb™ technology for deep dehydration applications with capacities of 20-40 MMSCFD. [5][6][7] Consequently, this provides a great advantage to reduce size, weight, foot print, and energy demand compared to the conventional molecular sieve dehydration, particularly useful in challenging cost environments as found in deep water, arctic, and remote offshore locations. 7 To develop the rapid cycle applications with monolithic structures, fast diffusion in the crystal is prerequisite, setting up an upper limit for applicable gas velocity in rapid cycle design.…”