Balancing act of technology selection within a natural gas plant
Different process line-ups for the sulfur recovery block within the natural gas processing train exists, depending on H2S and CO2 specification of the sales gas. But what is the basis for selecting a certain process line-up and what evaluation parameters are to be used? To demonstrate the selection process applying Jacobs Comprimo® technologies, a case study will be evaluated. Parameters as net present value, total investment cost, operating cost and CO2 equivalent emissions will be discussed. With these figures, a basis is given to discuss the limited added value of more stringent environmental regulations for sulfur compounds at the cost of increased CO2 emissions. An outlook will be presented for catalytic sulfur recovery processes, e.g. EUROCLAUS® or SUPERCLAUS®, capable of achieving recovery efficiencies near regular amine based tail gas treating processes.