Operational Experience of High Pressure Acid-gas Capture Technology (HiPACT)

Presented at Annual Conference, 13 - 15 September 2017 at Sofitel Chain Bridge Hotel, Budapest by
Nikola Vukoje, NIS, Petroleum Industry of Serbia and Gatot Joyowardoyo, BASF SE
NIS is one of the largest vertically integrated energy companies in Southeast Europe. To fulfil the technical requirements of the national gas distribution network in Serbia, NIS invested in a HIPACT unit in one of its Oil and Gas Preparation and Transportation compounds in Elemir. The HIPACT technology (High Pressure Acid-gas Capture Technology) is an advanced CO2-capture technology that contributes to economical CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) implementation in natural gas processing plants.
 The HiPACT unit at NIS is designed to produce a sales gas specification with a maximum of 3% CO2. The acid off-gas released from the process is injected into disposal wells owned by the company thus preventing its release into the atmosphere. Construction of the unit was completed in December 2014 followed by a commissioning period of 180 days.
After more than 360 days of operation there have been very few operational problems such as foaming and corrosion. The performance has been better than expected as the CO2 slip is maintained around 0.5% much lower than design value of 3%. This gives NIS operational flexibility to deliver high quality gas to its customers. The plant operates at its design capacity and is able to cope with supply fluctuation from the field. From time to time the plant has experienced shutdowns due to external factors (e.g. power supply), however the HIPACT unit has proved easy to operate and very forgiving and the hot re-starts have quickly brought the plant back to stable operation at nameplate capacity. This presentation (and paper) will detail the operational experience of the unit.