New Technique Integrating Hydrate-Based Gas Separation and Chemical Absorption for the Sweetening of Natural Gas with High H2S and CO2 Contents

Given the drawbacks of the traditional MDEA absorption process, we introduced a hydrate-based gas separation approach. Then, to study the effectiveness of this method, we performed some hydrating experiments demonstrating that energy consumption could be remarkably reduced. However, the acid components (H2S and CO2) in the product gas failed to meet the specification requirements of the sales gas. Consequently, a new technique was developed that integrated hydrate-based gas separation and chemical absorption for the sweetening of natural gas with high H2S and CO2 contents. To evaluate the performance of this new integrated method, technical comparisons based on simulation and experimental data were conducted. The results showed that the new integrated method could effectively remove sour components, which resulted in the product gas being able to meet the sales gas specifications. Additionally, the integrated technique consumed much less energy than the traditional MDEA absorption process and its amine regeneration duty was only 42% that of the MDEA method. What is more, upon an economical evaluation being performed, it was shown that the integrated technique tremendously reduced the investment and operating cost.