Sulfur Recovery from Sour Natural Gas: A Review of Gas Treating/Claus Plant Design and Operations

Sulfur Recovery from Sour Natural Gas: A Review of Gas Treating/Claus Plant Design and Operations B. Gene Goar B. Gene Goar Howe-Baker Engineers, Inc. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Symposium on Sour Gas and Crude, Tyler, Texas, November 1974. Paper Number: SPE-5199-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/5199-MS Published: November 11 1974 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Get Permissions Search Site Citation Goar, B. Gene. "Sulfur Recovery from Sour Natural Gas: A Review of Gas Treating/Claus Plant Design and Operations." Paper presented at the SPE Symposium on Sour Gas and Crude, Tyler, Texas, November 1974. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/5199-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Symposium on Sour Gas and Crude Search Advanced Search American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.AbstractThe decision to build a sour natural gas treating facility for the purpose of sweetening the gas and recovery of elemental sulfur involves many considerations, and usually represents a significant investment. Selection of the optimum gas treating process and sulfur recovery scheme may to a process and sulfur recovery scheme may to a complex problem. Many well established criteria are important to consider during the design phase of such a project. Subsequent operation of these facilities requires a good knowledge of potential problem areas.This paper is a general review of the main factors that should be considered in the selection, design, and operation of a gas treating/sulfur recovery facility.IntroductionToday we are facing a serious energy crisis in this country. All available natural gas reserves will be needed in the future. Some operating companies are reluctant to produce sour gas wells today, because of the high cost of treating the gas to remove H2S and other contaminants to meet sales gas specifications. This picture is changing rapidly as the price for gas increases and the supply of available energy dwindles.In the past (1965–1970), an added incentive for treating sour gas was recovery of the elemental sulfur. At present, the market situation for sulfur is not very favorable. The supply is plentiful and the price is somewhat depressed. However, the price is somewhat depressed. However, the future looks brighter. About 50% of all sulfur produced in the U.S. and Canada is consumed in the manufacture of fertilizers. Since the world population growth and need for fertilizers is on the incline, it is probably safe to assume that the price for probably safe to assume that the price for sulfur will follow an upward trend in the future.Once a sour gas well is drilled or a "sour gas field" drilling activity is completed, the producer must consider such questions as:Is it more economical to lay a sour gasline to the nearest gas treating plant, which may have excess capacity, and pay a treating cost to have the gas sweetened?Or, is it more economical to lease equipment for on-site sweetening? Keywords: Workplace Hazard, oilfield chemistry, gas monetization, specification, liquified natural gas, Upstream Oil & Gas, investment, Corrosion Inhibition, LNG, Corrosion Management Subjects: Production Chemistry, Metallurgy and Biology, Natural Gas Conversion and Storage, Health, Liquified natural gas (LNG), Noise, chemicals, and other workplace hazards, Corrosion inhibition and management (including H2S and CO2) This content is only available via PDF. 1974. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.