Revolutionary water-based H2S removal system will generate huge savings for oil firms
Shipping of oil and gas liquids around the region and the world is hazardous at the best of times. Add to that Mercaptan levels of 500-1000ppm plus and similar levels of H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide) and you have a product that needs processing before sale. Higher H2S content and high levels of produced water are inevitable consequences facing most of the region’s major oil companies.
The presence of H2S in hydrocarbons poses three major, and expensive, challenges to the region’s entire hydrocarbon value chain, from drilling and production, through to the refining, shipping and trading firms.
Firstly, from a safety perspective contact with H2S in gas form is toxic, and at certain concentrations deadly. Secondly the compound is so corrosive it can degrade and destroy installations and process equipment at an alarming rate. Thirdly, high levels of mercaptans and Hydrogen Sulfide reduces an end product’s value.
No Heat Resources is bringing a new weapon to the oil and gas trader’s armoury to reduce the processing and time required for the removal of mercaptans and H2S and one which is revolutionary in the potential impact it could have for it’s adopters in the Middle East, explains David Snodgrass, managing director of No Heat Resources Middle East.
“We’re bringing new technology from Asia called HydraScav which is a targeted additive for H2S and mercaptan removal in a single process. It’s a water-based product which has significant implications for companies shipping liquids with non-specification levels of mercaptans and H2S,” he says.
HydraScav is not a Triazene based scavenger for treating H2S, and there is no requirement for caustic washing to deal with the mercaptans, instead it is a blend made from inorganic compounds that form an aqueous solution. It is extremely fast acting and converts Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Mercaptans into sulfate salt in water. The result is water and soluable sulfate salt that is non hazardous with a very low Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD).
The reaction is stable and non-reversible.
HydraScav is effective in water, gas, condensate, crude and naptha.
“HydraScav drastically reduces the amount of chemicals operators and traders require and most importantly, costs. The reaction with the hydrogen sulphide and Mercaptans is non-reversible, non-corrosive and instant. The required injection rate with HydraScav is a fraction of our competitors,” explains Snodgrass.
The H2S is converted instantly to a non-hazardous salt in water that is easily disposed of. The reaction is instant and irreversible and has no effect on oil, gas or fuel quality.
HydraScav can be pumped into a discharge line under pressure as a cargo leave the vessel and with good contact, HydraScav will react instantly with both the Mercaptans and the H2S and will keep reacting as long as the liquids are circulating.
“HydraScav is also very used in normal production as a production scavenger or H2S remover and can be used anywhere in the production process from the well head to the flare tip, including pipelines, and is compatible with most production fluids. HydraScav can be pumped into a gas pipeline under pressure, where it encapsulates the H2S and drops it into the water phase, where it then separates out. It stays in the water but has been rendered safe by the process, so it can be reinjected downhole or pumped to a dehydration pit,” explains Snodgrass.
No Heat is working with several Middle Eastern oil and gas companies to reduce the H2S in the production or formation water, leading to save H2S free disposal.
Rival chemicals to the No Heat’s product are abundant and cheap to produce, but as companies move towards being more environmentally sensitive, and conscious of what damage the toxic chemicals they produce do, Snodgrass says the cleaner, greener solution is vastly more appealing.
New refining and processing facilities tend to be built with Sulphur Recovery Units which remove the H2S, but often oil and gas companies just want to quickly and safely get rid of the H2S.
“Their primary task is producing oil and gas, and they don’t necessarily want to get into the sulphur retail business, although it can be a profitable bi-product,” says Snodgrass.
HydraScav’s environmental credentials are not limited to general good health, safety and environmental practices, but with no emulsions or bi-products, disposal costs and problems associated with some caustic products. HydraScav is an attractive option.
As towns and cities in the region expand and distances to upstream facilities are cut, early and safe removal of H2S from oil and gas production and storage facilities is more vital than ever.
“The bottom line is that for clients the savings are significant, but it’s difficult to change established and proven practices in the oil and gas industry. We are excited to introduce our technology and guide people’s perceptions of what can be done to treat and eradicate H2S and mercaptans in the energy business,” he concludes. For a fuller exploration of the H2S and mercaptins removal system visit ArabianOilandGas.com
