Natural Gas Processing & Fractionation

Natural gas processing is a complex process ultimately designed to clean raw natural gas by separating impurities and various substances and fluids to produce gas that can be transported via pipelines as ‘dry natural gas’, which can be used as fuel by residential, commercial and industrial consumers.

Natural gas processing plants purify the well raw natural gas by removing contaminants such as water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

While the actual steps and processes can vary considerably the following represents a typical natural gas processing flow:

1. The first step in natural gas processing is collection of raw natural gas from a group of adjacent wells for removal of water and natural gas condensate. Condensate is transported to an oil refinery and water disposed of as wastewater.

2. After transfer via pipeline to the gas processing plant acid gases such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide are removed via any number of processes such as polymeric membrane processing.

3. The acid gases removed are then routed to a sulfur recovery unit where hydrogen sulfide is converted into elemental sulfur or sulfuric acid via Claus, Contact or WSA processes.

4. Water vapor is then removed from the gas using glycol dehydration or Pressure Swing Adsorption or possibly newer processes utilizing membranes.

5. Mercury is removed using adsorption processes such as regenerable sieves or activated carbon.

6. Natural gas liquids are recovered using cryogenic low temperature distillation or lean oil absorption processes, which may also be processed via deethanizer, depropanizer and debutanizer distillation towers.

7. Propane, butanes and other bases may be recovered in the stream.

8. The residue gas is sent by pipeline to the end-user markets.

It is critical to record each process, component (physical and IoT), component status, component reading, process input (feedstock, additive, catalyst, etc.), process output (intermediate substance, waste, product), test, related party, party role, storage, shipments and associated appropriate timeframe measurements to provide data for monitoring, complex analysis of product quantities produced and resulting quality measurements.

This is just a brief description of the data and relationships that exist, which are reflected in a series of logical data models of up to 36 feet – each individually – that comprise the Natural Gas Processing model set.

Data is the essential component of this complex process without which natural gas processing could not proceed.

We make the complex understandable by both large-format, clear graphics and data that reflects the actual practices analyzed with full-attribution and definitions.

The Natural Gas Processing & Fractionation industry models addresses these requirements via an integrated set of Enterprise, Business Area, and Data Warehouse logical data models that support the comprehensive planning, transactional, reporting and analytic requirements of the organization.