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Our desalting rate drops away quickly when we use heavier feeds. What is the problem here?
Feb-2021
Responses to a question in the Q1 2021 issues Q&A Feature
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Gas injection for shale gas recovery
Apr-2015
Injection of CO2 or N2 is a more effective approach than conventional water and sand fracturing to increase oil and gas production from tight or water ...
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Countering hydrate formation in an NGL recovery unit
May-2018
Process modelling can be used to validate data from the plant and identify the most effective approach to process optimisation.
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GTL adds value to gas production
Apr-2012
Distributed GTL plants could provide economic monetisation of shale gas, associated gas and stranded gas
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Acid gas enrichment part II: maximising selectivity
Apr-2008
By recycling about 70% of enriched gas back to the front end of an acid gas enrichment unit, an almost two-fold improvement in SRU feed quality can be ...
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Contamination in gas compression: causes, effects, and solutions
Jul-2020
Identifying and quantifying contaminants including solids, dissolved species, and liquids is essential in the design of a more reliable compression sy ...
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Mar-2021
A process for wet scrubbing off-gases from the SRU helps preserve neighbourly relations.
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Surfactant-stabilised emulsions in amine units for LPG treating
Mar-2018
Emulsion formation by surfactants is one of the most complex problems facing amine units treating refinery LPG.
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A step change in tail gas treating unit performance at low cost with SCOT ULTRA
May-2017
Two projects helped a TGT unit to improve its operability and lower operating costs while meeting tough emission requirements.
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Dealing with depleting sour gas reserves: Part 1
Jul-2015
Depletion of sour gas production in western Canada means that gas plants will have to evaluate their sulphur recovery units for future turndown operat ...
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Troubleshooting a refinery fuel gas treater
Oct-2006
The effect of solvent contaminants on treating plant performance and the importance of basing simulations on actual solvent analyses are shown through ...
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Simplifying hydrogen production
Jun-2017
Catalyst systems developed for the purification and reforming sections of the hydrogen plant target significant barriers to efficient production.
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Formulated solvent reduces shale gas processing costs
Apr-2013
A gas treating facility is upgraded to a formulated solvent to achieve reduced operating costs compared with operations using a commodity amine blend
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Better alkanolamine system operations through chemical analysis
Sep-2010
You can have better operating amine and glycol systems. An alkanolamine acid gas scrubbing system is an elegantly simple concept.
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May-2008
The Shell Claus Offgas Treating (SCOT) process has been developed to remove sulphur compounds from Claus tail gas to comply with even more stringent emission ...
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Estimating gas hydrate inhibitor loss: 
a case study
Apr-2011
A predictive tool is used to understand and predict the loss of methanol during natural gas hydrate inhibition
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Mericon: A practical low-cost solution to spent caustics treating
Apr-2013
Refining and petrochemical operations often generate various spent caustic streams that are “high strength” and require pre-treatment before processing ...
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Combating the threat of mercury
Mar-2012
Emerging legally binding action on mercury emissions highlights the importance of monitoring and quantifying emissions from gas operations
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Operational feedback from the Nkossa Drizo gas dehydration unit offshore Congo
Mar-2017
For more than 15 years the NKossa barge has been in operation offshore Congo. Design of the facility was to perform deep NGL recovery from the associated ...
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Processing schemes for shale gas liquids recovery
Dec-2017
The energy efficiency and liquids recovery of processing schemes employing propane refrigeration improve with additional fractionation.
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Extending the treatment of highly sour gases: part 1
Oct-2013
The removal of acid gas components from highly or super-sour gases requires the optimum choice of process
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Optimise the route to emissions compliance
Aug-2017
Increasingly stringent SO2 emission regulations may demand smart and 
cost-effective alternatives to generic amine based tail gas treating units ...
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Selecting gas treating technologies
Apr-2009
Advances in gas treatment technologies over the past ten to 20 years have widened the range of economically recoverable gas sources
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Improved predictions for amine sweetening facilities
Oct-2001
A review of the work that has been done to avoid the severe problems that benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene can impose on sulphur recovery ass ...
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Proper interpretation of freezing and hydrate prediction results from process simulation
Mar-2006
This paper focuses on the modelling of solid phase behaviour in systems that are frequently encountered in natural gas processing. The ability to perform ...
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Strategies for gas treatment with adsorbents
Apr-2009
Advances in regenerable, solid-bed adsorption processes for natural gas dehydration and treating can improve selectivity and cut input energy costs
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Mericon: A practical low-cost solution to spent caustics treating
Apr-2013
Refining and petrochemical operations often generate various spent caustic streams that are “high strength” and require pre-treatment before processing ...
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Mercury treatment options for natural 
gas plants
Jan-2014
Removing mercury as close as is practicable to the front end of a natural gas processing system is the best choice
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Gas injection for shale gas recovery
Apr-2015
Injection of CO2 or N2 is a more effective approach than conventional water and sand fracturing to increase oil and gas production from tight or water ...
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Heat transfer systems in gas processing
Apr-2015
There are many aspects other than temperature to consider when selecting a high temperature heat transfer fluid for gas processing.
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Oct-2015
Financial and operating performance in gas processing depends on full integration of automation and process technologies.
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Practical flare gas recovery for minimising flaring
Apr-2015
Flares play a critical role as a safety device in refineries, and in most oil and gas producing or processing facilities.
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LO-CAT: a flexible hydrogen sulphide removal process
Feb-2015
The hydrocarbon engineering industry faces tighter restrictions for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) emissions and expanding requirements for sulphur recovery. ...
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Economic treatment options for effluent caustics
Apr-2001
The authors describe how selective application of technologies involving partial oxidation, total oxidation and deep neutralisation could add value to ...
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Acid gas enrichment part II: maximising selectivity
Apr-2008
By recycling about 70% of enriched gas back to the front end of an acid gas enrichment unit, an almost two-fold improvement in SRU feed quality can be ...
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Apr-2011
Microchannel reactor technology is on trial for the small-scale production of liquids from stranded gas
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A promoter for selective H2S removal: part II
Apr-2011
Refinery trials of an MDEA promoter demonstrate low H2S lean loadings and the option for enhanced process stability during high-sulphur operation
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Glycol dehydration of high-acid gas streams
Apr-2011
A model based on mass and heat transfer closely predicts plant performance data for glycol dehydration of high-acid gas streams
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Apr-2011
Fibre optic distributed temperature sensing has several advantages over conventional real-time data sensors in cryogenic leak detection at LNG termina ...
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Formulated solvent reduces shale gas processing costs
Apr-2013
A gas treating facility is upgraded to a formulated solvent to achieve reduced operating costs compared with operations using a commodity amine blend
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Jan-2016
2015 was highlighted by a crude oversupply of 1.3 million b/d, which played a part in keeping oil prices at a low level, fluctuating between $40 and $60/bbl. ...
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Avoid sulphur measurement bias from particulate settling in crude oil
Oct-2017
Petra MAX™ delivers advanced D4294 sulphur analysis in addition to 12 elements from P to Zn including Ni, V, and Fe.
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 2: mechanical considerations
May-2019
The design of a cost effective waste heat boiler faces many, often opposing factors affecting the performance and reliability of the exchanger.
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Modular construction for harsh climates
Apr-2015
Severe Arctic conditions were overcome by the construction of small scale gas processing units in prefabricated modules.
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Meeting emission targets with potential savings
Nov-2017
New solvent and catalyst technologies deliver a step change in tail gas treating performance for green- and brownfield sites.
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Processing schemes for shale gas liquids recovery
Dec-2017
The energy efficiency and liquids recovery of processing schemes employing propane refrigeration improve with additional fractionation.
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Efficiency factors in natural gas fired steam boilers
Jul-2020
A study to obtain maximum operating efficiency from a set of refinery steam boilers.
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Solutions for the treatment of highly 
sour gases
Apr-2012
Process technologies for the cost-effective treatment of natural gas with high and ultra-high acid gas content
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A new acid gas enrichment process
Feb-2008
Patented HighSulf technology is one of the most effective methodologies for acid gas enrichment (AGE) and tail gas treatment (TGTU), and it can be highly ...
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Low temperature SCOT Catalyst 
pays off
Dec-2004
Jacobs Nederland B.V. demonstrates how new improvements in low temperature catalysts have boosted the Shell Claus Offgas treating (SCOT) process
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Novel processing ideas for a 
condensate refinery
Apr-2016
Synergised unit flow schemes for a condensate refinery aim for high value refined products.
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Importance of heat maintenance in sulphur recovery units
Mar-2016
While sulphur recovery in an SRU depends on the condensation and removal of elemental sulphur, its unintended condensation and accumulation can present ...
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Jan-2016
2015 was highlighted by a crude oversupply of 1.3 million b/d, which played a part in keeping oil prices at a low level, fluctuating between $40 and $60/bbl. ...
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Tail gas scrubber sulphur plant by-pass ability aids emergency shutdowns and startups
Nov-2015
From the European Union to the USA, national and international bodies are putting in place increasingly stringent legislation to limit emissions.
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Dealing with depleting sour gas reserves Part 2
Oct-2015
Gas plants in western Canada will have to evaluate their sulphur recovery units for future turndown operation as sour gas production falls.
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Oct-2015
Financial and operating performance in gas processing depends on full integration of automation and process technologies.
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Combining acid gas treating and amine tail gas treating (TIA)
Oct-2015
One of the challenges in designing a natural gas treatment plant is to optimise the combination of the acid gas removal (AGR) unit and the sulphur recovery ...
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Improved feedstocks for ethane crackers
Jul-2015
Cryogenic recovery technology enables wet shale gas to become a valuable source of liquids for petrochemicals production.
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Dealing with depleting sour gas reserves: Part 1
Jul-2015
Depletion of sour gas production in western Canada means that gas plants will have to evaluate their sulphur recovery units for future turndown operat ...
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Controlling the dew point of natural gas
Jul-2015
Meeting water and hydrocarbon dew point specifications for natural gas without acid gas components
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High-purity ethane from wet NGL (TIA)
Jun-2015
Producing high-purity ethane (95+ LV% ethane) in an NGL fractionation plant requires a refrigerated condenser for the deethaniser.
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Optimization and throughput opportunities at PTT PLC’s amine plant
Jun-2015
Removal of CO2 from natural gas is a necessary treating step before cryogenic processing. At the PTT Public Limited Company Gas Processing Plant 5, the ...
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New developments in acid gas removal
Jun-2015
One of the challenges when designing a natural gas treatment plant is to optimize the combination of the acid gas removal (AGR) unit and the sulphur recovery ...
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Moving targets: how ever changing air quality regulations are driving process decisions
Jun-2015
Historically, the concern of process engineers was the design and operation of plants to do primarily one thing, efficiently meet product specifications. ...
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Unload the SRU to reduce plugging problems and operating costs
May-2015
A crude oil refinery may need additional sulphur recovery capacity for any of a combination of reasons:
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Modular construction for harsh climates
Apr-2015
Severe Arctic conditions were overcome by the construction of small scale gas processing units in prefabricated modules.
-
Practical flare gas recovery for minimising flaring
Apr-2015
Flares play a critical role as a safety device in refineries, and in most oil and gas producing or processing facilities.
-
Heat transfer systems in gas processing
Apr-2015
There are many aspects other than temperature to consider when selecting a high temperature heat transfer fluid for gas processing.
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Oxygen enriched sulphur recovery
Apr-2015
Revamping its SRU to oxygen enriched operation increased a refiner’s sulphur processing capacity and significantly reduced operating costs.
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Acid gas treatment for giant LNG plant (TIA)
Apr-2015
Prosernat, an engineering company and licensor of Total’s amine based technology portfolio, AdvAmine, has announced the successful start-up of a major ...
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New wave sulphur recovery in Mexico (TIA)
Apr-2015
Pemex has successfully started up a SmartSulf unit treating amine acid gas and sour water stripper gas at a refinery in Salamanca, Mexico.
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Oxygen enrichment and tube sheet protection (TIA)
Apr-2015
In sulphur recovery units (SRU), adequate protection of the waste heat boiler (WHB) tube sheet is needed. Many protection systems have failed either due ...
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Gas injection for shale gas recovery
Apr-2015
Injection of CO2 or N2 is a more effective approach than conventional water and sand fracturing to increase oil and gas production from tight or water ...
-
LO-CAT: a flexible hydrogen sulphide removal process
Feb-2015
The hydrocarbon engineering industry faces tighter restrictions for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) emissions and expanding requirements for sulphur recovery. ...
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Monetise off-gases for low cost ammonia
Jan-2015
Cheaper ethane supplies present an opportunity for ammonia production using cracker off-gases