Process intensification: H2S and hydrate control for subsea application

The trend in the oil and gas sector is towards subsea production and processing, where increased modularity of process equipment and reduced weight, size, complexity and footprint are key elements. SUBPRO is a Norwegian center for research-based innovation within subsea production and processing, which together with the most important industrial players in the subsea field aims to address challenges for subsea applications. Today on a typical topside platform, acid gas removal, dehydration and glycol injection take place, giving three different chemical systems. We are working on the development of a new regenerative process for simultaneous removal of H2S and water from the natural gas, which could lead to a more compact, smaller installation with lower energy requirements as well as allow for production from high H2S-concentration gas fields. The feasibility investigation of such complex process requires knowledge of the thermodynamic behavior and physical properties of the proposed system, which can only be obtained by experimental data. Time-consuming and demanding experiments at high pressures have been conducted and provided the basis for the development of models and tools to be used by the industry for the evaluation of this combined process.