Field Demonstration of a Membrane Process to Recover Heavy Hydrocarbons and to Remove Water from Natural Gas

The objective of this project is to design, construct and field demonstrate a membrane system to recover natural gas liquids (NGL) and remove water from raw natural gas. An extended field test to demonstrate system performance under real-world high-pressure conditions is being conducted to convince industry users of the efficiency and reliability of the process. The system was designed and fabricated by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) and installed and operated at BP Amoco's Pascagoula, MS plant. The Gas Research Institute is partially supporting the field demonstration and BP-Amoco helped install the unit and provided onsite operators and utilities. The gas processed by the membrane system meets pipeline specifications for dewpoint and BTU value and can be delivered without further treatment to the pipeline. Based on data from prior membrane module tests, the process is likely to be significantly less expensive than glycol dehydration followed by propane refrigeration, the principal competitive technology. During the course of this project, MTR has sold 11 commercial units related to the field test technology, and by the end of this demonstration project the process will be ready for broader commercialization. A route to commercialization has been developed during this project and involves collaboration with other companies already servicing the natural gas processing industry