New, Lower-Cost Acid Gas Removal and Sulfur Recovery Technology for Permian Basin Natural Gas Production Operations

Author(s):  
Dennis Leppin
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Lyon ◽  
Benjamin Hmiel ◽  
Ritesh Gautam ◽  
Mark Omara ◽  
Kate Roberts ◽  
...  

Abstract. Methane emissions associated with the production, transport, and use of oil and natural gas increase the climatic impacts of energy use; however, little is known about how emissions vary temporally and with commodity prices. We present airborne and ground-based data, supported by satellite observations, to measure weekly to monthly changes in total methane emissions in the United States’ Permian Basin during a period of volatile oil prices associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As oil prices declined from ~$ 60 to $ 20 per barrel, emissions changed concurrently from 3.4 % to 1.5 % of gas production; as prices partially recovered, emissions increased back to near initial values. Concurrently, total oil and natural gas production only declined by a maximum of ~10 % from the peak values seen in the months prior to the crash. Activity data indicate that a rapid decline in well development and subsequent effects on associated gas flaring and midstream infrastructure throughput are the likely drivers of temporary emission reductions. Our results, along with past satellite observations, suggest that under more typical price conditions, the Permian Basin is in a state of overcapacity in which rapidly growing natural gas production exceeds midstream capacity and leads to high methane emissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 6605-6626
Author(s):  
David R. Lyon ◽  
Benjamin Hmiel ◽  
Ritesh Gautam ◽  
Mark Omara ◽  
Katherine A. Roberts ◽  
...  

Abstract. Methane emissions associated with the production, transport, and use of oil and natural gas increase the climatic impacts of energy use; however, little is known about how emissions vary temporally and with commodity prices. We present airborne and ground-based data, supported by satellite observations, to measure weekly to monthly changes in total methane emissions in the United States' Permian Basin during a period of volatile oil prices associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As oil prices declined from ∼ USD 60 to USD 20 per barrel, emissions changed concurrently from 3.3 % to 1.9 % of natural gas production; as prices partially recovered, emissions increased back to near initial values. Concurrently, total oil and natural gas production only declined by ∼ 10 % from the peak values seen in the months prior to the crash. Activity data indicate that a rapid decline in well development and subsequent effects on associated gas flaring and midstream infrastructure throughput are the likely drivers of temporary emission reductions. Our results, along with past satellite observations, suggest that under more typical price conditions, the Permian Basin is in a state of overcapacity in which rapidly growing associated gas production exceeds midstream capacity and leads to high methane emissions.


Author(s):  
Guo Yu ◽  
Haitao Li ◽  
Yanru Chen ◽  
Linqing Liu ◽  
Chenyu Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractQuantifying natural gas production risk can help guide natural gas exploration and development in Carboniferous gas reservoirs. In this study, the Monte Carlo probability method is used to obtain the probability distribution and growth curve of each production risk factor and production in a Carboniferous gas reservoir in eastern Sichuan. In addition, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to conduct the sensitivity analysis of the risk factors, and the natural gas production and realization probability under different risk factors are obtained. The research results show that: (1) the risk factor–production growth curve and probability distribution are calculated by the Monte Carlo probability method. The average annual production under the stable production stage under different realization probabilities is obtained. The maximum probability range of annual production is $$\left( {43.43 - 126.35} \right) \times 10^{8} {\text{m}}^{3} /{\text{year}}$$ 43.43 - 126.35 × 10 8 m 3 / year , and the probability range is 14.59–92.88%. (2) The risk factor sensitivity analysis is significantly affected by the probability interval. In the entire probability interval, the more sensitive risk factors are the average production of the kilometer-deep well (D) and the production rate in the stable production stage (A). During the exploration and development of natural gas, these two risk factors can be adjusted to increase production.


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Visvanathan ◽  
P. Svenstrup ◽  
P. Ariyamethee

This paper presents a case study of a natural gas production site covering various technical issues related to selection of an appropriate Reverse Osmosis (RO) system. The long-term field experience indicates the necessity of the selection of appropriate pretreatment systems for fouling-free RO operational conditions. The produced water has a variety of impurities such as oil and grease, process chemicals used for corrosion and scaling control, and dehydration of natural gas, etc. This situation leads to a complicated and extremely difficult task for a membrane specialist to design RO systems, especially the pre-treatment section. Here as part of the pretreatment selection, two types of UF membrane modules viz. spiral wound and hollow fibre, with MWCO of 8000 and 50,000 Dalton respectively, were tested in parallel with NF membranes of the spiral wound type with MWCO 200 Dalton. The UF permeate is used as feed for RO compatibility testing. Both configurations of UF failed to be compatible, due to irreversible fouling of the RO membrane. The NF membrane, however, showed interesting results, due to membrane stability in terms of cleaning and fouling. The NF plant with 50% capacity gave a recovery of 75% and the RO plant gave a recovery of 60% versus the expected 92–95%. The long-term tests have indicated that the reminder of the membranes could be installed to achieve full capacity of the plant. This study also demonstrates the importance of selection of proper pre-treatment set-up for the RO system design.


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