We have relaunched our website! Please go to https://www.bcinsight.crugroup.com/ to get a Free Trial or Subscribe to our magazines. If you are subscriber, please login to the new website to get your news, content, and downloadable copies of your magazine.
Summary
When producing from shale reservoirs, technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have been used successfully to access hydrocarbons that otherwise could not be. A less publicised issue in producing from certain hot shale gas reservoirs (T > 100°C) is the presence of H2S and organo-sulphur compounds in the production fluids. In trying to understand the non-biogenic sources of H2S, Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd has been involved in studying the decomposition of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing when exposed to high temperature and high pressure. R.A. Marriott, J.J. Marrugo-Hernandez and R. Prinsloo of ASRL discuss the findings of the study.Abstract
Fossil fuels, at present, provide around 85% of the world’s energy need1. At the same time, energy demand is expected to grow worldwide by an average of 1.2%. As such, CO2 emissions could increase by 30% by 2030, even if the increases in energy efficiency and the intensification in renewable and nuclear energy is accounted for. Keywords: shale gas, shale reservoir, H2S, organo-sulphur compounds, production fluids, Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd, ASRL, chemical additive, H2S production, downhole conditions, hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling, cinnamaldehyde, CarSul, fracturing fluidSummary
BASF has developed a new generation of promoter system compatible with MDEA solutions named OASE® yellow. The new promoter system increases the selectivity and capacity of the amine solvent, resulting in improved performance of tail gas treating units and allowing the processing of more sour crudes. A. Kern and G. Vorberg of BASF discuss two case studies demonstrating the benefits of OASE yellow.Abstract
Refinery sulphur recovery units (SRUs) are faced with the challenge of processing increasingly sour crudes, while maintaining, or even reducing, the level of sulphur emissions. Keywords: BASF, promoter, MDEA, OASE® yellow, selectivity, amine, solvent, tail gas treating unit, TGTU, sour crudeSummary
What are the limits for future single stream sulphuric acid plant capacities? H. Storch, C. Bartlett, and S. Mohsler of Outotec discuss design considerations for large capacity sulphuric acid plants with reference to the world's largest acid plants built to date.Abstract
Historical data of the capacity of sulphuric acid plants built by Outotec within the last 40 years reveal a trend to larger capacity plants. Fig. 1 shows the capacity of Outotec designed plants since 1971, displaying an obvious growth in average plant capacity over the years. Keywords: sulphuric acid plant, large capacity, Outotec, largest acid plant, historical data, Ma’aden, mega plant, equipment size, LUREC converter, absorber, construction, fabrication, transportSummary
With the ongoing changes in gas field and refinery feedstock compositions, many sulphur recovery units around the world are facing turndown scenarios to such an extent that it is difficult to meet stringent environmental regulations. Equipment and instrumentation behave differently under turndown conditions, and not always in ways that are desirable. Start-ups and shutdowns can place demands on the equipment that are more severe than years of normal operation. In this article, Optimized Gas Treating, Sulfur Recovery Engineering and Comprimo share some of their learnings and experiences of these scenarios.Abstract
Sulphur recovery units are designed to meet a specific set of targets given an initial set of premises such as feed flowrates, feed composition, feed temperatures, and pressure. During the design phase, considerations are generally given to different operating scenarios such as varying feed quality, feed rate (turndown), equipment fouling, and catalyst aging to help assess the robustness of the design. Keywords: start-up, shutdown, turndown, gas field, refinery, feedstock composition, sulphur recovery unit, SRU, environmental regulations, process equipment, operation, Optimized Gas Treating, Sulfur Recovery Engineering, Comprimo, experiences, design, thermal cycling, waste heat boiler, tube sheet, refractory, ferrules, burner backfiring, reaction furnace, converter, condenser, cofiring, BTX, acid gas knockout drum, air blower, reheater, incinerator, hydrocarbon upset, SemCAMS GA, SUPERCLAUS, EUROCLAUS, ControTraceSummary
The Indonesian government's decision to enforce the processing of more copper and nickel ores domestically rather than export them to China has led to the rapid development of domestic smelter capacity as well as nickel acid leaching projects.Abstract
Indonesia is now far and away the largest producer of nickel in the world, and production is growing rapidly. Indonesia produced 30% of the world’s nickel ore in 2019 (Figure 1), with a larger proportion than ever being processed locally to nickel pig iron (NPI). Keywords: FERRONICKEL, NPI, PIG IRON, PYRITES, HPAL, LEACH, LEACHING, SXEW, SX/EW, ELECTOWINNING, BATTERY, BATTERIES, COVID, CORONAVIRUS, STORAGE, ACIDSummary
A look at the major factors influencing the sulphur market around the world.Abstract
World production of elemental sulphur reached 66 million tonnes in 2019, and continues to come almost exclusively from recovered sulphur from refineries and sour gas plants, with mined sulphur less than 1% of production. Additions to sulphur capacity are coming from new refinery projects, especially in the Middle East and Asia, and large sour gas projects, again dominated by new production in the Middle East. Keywords: REFINERY, RECOVERY, FUEL, STANDARD, IMO, SOUR, MAP, DAP, PHOSPHATE, AMMONIUM, URANIUM, COVID, CORONAVIRUS, ADNOC, OCP, MOROCCO, ABU DHABI