Hydrate-Based Separation for Industrial Gas Mixtures

Muhammad Khan, Pramod Warrier, Cornelis Peters and Carolyn Koh
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Muhammad Khan: Chemical Engineering Department, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin 39524, Saudi Arabia
Pramod Warrier: Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Center for Hydrate Research, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Cornelis Peters: Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Center for Hydrate Research, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Carolyn Koh: Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Center for Hydrate Research, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: The removal of acidic gases and impurities from gas mixtures is a critical operation in the oil and gas industry. Several separation techniques, e.g., cryogenic fractionation, polymeric membranes, zeolites, and metal–organic frameworks, are employed to treat gas mixtures depending upon the nature of separation and contaminants present in the gas mixtures. However, removing N 2 , H 2 , H 2 S, and CO 2 contents from industrial gas mixtures is a challenging step due to economic factors, high energy consumption, and effective separation. Hydrate-based separation for selective gas removal is a promising and efficient separation technique over a range of temperatures, pressures, and acidic gas contents. The enclathration of CO 2 , H 2 , N 2 , H 2 S, and other natural gas constituents effectively removes acidic gases and other contaminants from process gas streams. This work presents a novel process design to remove acidic gases and other contaminants from industrial waste gases and natural gas mixtures to achieve the desired selectivity in gas mixtures. Multi-phase equilibria calculations were also performed for various binary and ternary gas mixtures (e.g., CO 2 + CH 4 , H 2 S + CH 4 , CO 2 + N 2 , CH 4 + CO 2 + H 2 S, and CO 2 + H 2 S + N 2 ) over a range of compositions and T, P conditions. The former calculations established the suitable region in terms of temperature and pressure for adequate separations. To determine the optimal process conditions (T & P) for efficient separation, fractional cage occupancy and gas mole fraction in each phase were also computed. A detailed analysis of the hydrate-based separation shows that the number of stages necessary for desired separation efficiency depends on the nature of the gas mixture and hydrate stability.

Keywords: gas hydrates; gas separation; phase equilibria; sour gases; CO 2 capture; process design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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