Crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons Archives

The Science of H2S Removal: Our Oilfield Chemical Solutions

As one of the leading H2S scavenger manufacturers and oilfield chemical suppliers in the industry, Q2 Technologies is committed to delivering high-quality H2S removal solutions to its clients. We understand the importance of removing H2S from natural gas and crude oil, as it is a toxic and corrosive gas that can cause serious damage to pipelines, equipment, and the environment. In this blog post, we will discuss the science of H2S removal and how our oilfield chemical solutions can help.

H2S Scavengers: How they work

H2S scavenger technologies are used to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from natural gas and crude oil streams. There are various chemistries used for H2S scavenging, including nitrite-based, triazine-based, iron sponge, and caustic-based methods.

Nitrite-based scavengers work by oxidizing H2S to elemental sulfur in the presence of oxygen. These scavengers can also provide corrosion inhibition, making them a popular choice in certain applications.

Triazine-based scavengers react with H2S to form stable, non-toxic compounds that can be easily separated from the treated gas or liquid. They are often used in natural gas processing and refining.

Iron sponge is another common H2S scavenger. It works by using iron oxide to react with and remove H2S from gas streams.

Caustic-based scavengers (such as sodium hydroxide) react with H2S to form sodium sulfide, which can then be further treated or disposed of. They are commonly used in refineries and other industrial processes.

Each H2S scavenger has its advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of scavenger depends on several factors such as the composition of the production stream, operating conditions, and environmental regulations. Testing and treating H2S and mercaptans in crude oil is crucial to selecting the right scavenger and ensuring effective mitigation strategies. However, with careful selection and application, H2S scavengers can effectively reduce the risks associated with H2S gas in the oil and gas industry.

H2S Removal Solutions from Q2 Technologies

At Q2 Technologies, we offer a range of H2S scavenger for crude oil and natural gas solutions from liquid non-triazine products, iron-based scavengers, to more traditional triazine-based scavengers, all designed at removing H2S from crude oil and natural gas. Specifically for crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons, Pro3® is a non-triazine scavenger that offers several advantages over other H2S scavengers, including:

High H2S removal efficiency: Pro3® is highly effective at removing H2S from crude oil streams, even at low concentrations. This is due to its unique chemical composition, which enables it to react with H2S and convert it into sulfate byproducts which drop out into the BS&W.
Long-lasting protection: Pro3® provides long-lasting protection against H2S, which reduces the need for frequent scavenger injections. This can help to reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.
Environmentally friendly: Pro3® is a non-triazine-based H2S scavenger, which means it does not contain triazine or amine compounds that can be harmful to the environment.
Compatible with other chemicals: Pro3® is compatible with other chemicals commonly used in oil and gas operations, including corrosion inhibitors and demulsifiers. This makes it easier to integrate into existing operations.

Overall, Pro3® offers a high-quality, effective, and environmentally friendly H2S scavenger oil and gas solution for the industry. Its unique chemical properties and benefits make it a preferred choice for many Producers and Midstream companies looking to improve their H2S removal processes.

In addition to Pro3®suite of products, Q2 Technologies offers several other products from this chemical line including ProM® and Pro3®HT , all H2S scavengers for the removal of hydrogen sulfide from crude oil and liquid hydrocarbon streams. ProM® is an oil dispersible option that is ideal for combating against certain species of mercaptans (a similar sulfur-based compound). Pro3®HT is a specialized product designed for high-temperature applications, with stability and effectiveness up to 150°C (302°F).

Triazine based scavengers, if properly managed, can be a standard approach to treating H2S. We also provide a vast range of field strength concentrations as well as several additives that can be used for greater effectiveness or for compatibility concerns.
We also have a non-triazine/non-amine alternative to MEA triazine: Pro3®GT & Pro3®GT+ are specially formulated to have the same outcome as triazine. However, GT & GT+’s reactions are not subject to the same side effects one experiences when overtreatment occurs with triazine, such as scale or buildup of particulates. Further, Pro3®GT & Pro3®GT+ has more kinetic prowess than triazine, typically using 20% less overall product when compared to triazine.
Lastly, Pro3®Nano is our innovative dry media that can effectively target H2S in sour natural gas streams that tend to have significant production swings or experience massive ranges in H2S. This product can handle any environment and will provide a sweetened gas stream consistently. With a regenerative aspect, this system is a great change to traditional liquid systems, where the product can be re-energized in system.

Conclusion

The importance of removing H2S from natural gas and crude oil cannot be overemphasized, as it is a toxic and corrosive gas that can cause serious damage to pipelines, equipment, and the environment. Q2 Technologies‘ Pro3® H2S Scavenger Chemical, along with its other products, offers a unique and effective solution for H2S removal, with advantages such as high H2S removal efficiency, reduced iron sulfide formation, long-lasting protection, and environmental sustainability. With a range of options available, Q2 Technologies offers tailored H2S removal solutions that meet the specific needs of its clients, making it an ideal partner for any oil and gas operation.

If you are interested in learning more about our H2S removal solutions, explore our insights on cracking the code on treating H2S and discover how our non-triazine scavengers can reduce chemical use by up to 75%. Our team of experts is always ready to answer any of your questions

Removing Mercaptans While Keeping Costs in Line

There are several choices when it comes to treating mercaptans. Since mercaptans are highly complex branched sulfur-based hydrocarbon chains, treating them may require expensive solvents and scavengers, making it quite costly; not to mention that if treated with amine-based scavengers, dealing with fouling and corrosion is another expense to add. These factors were the impetus for developing ProM® for our clients, a mercaptan-treating product for meeting specs economically without having to deal with the effects of amine-based scavengers. By treating with ProM®, one can optimize the treatment process which can minimize the need for expensive blend stock or can even eliminate it. In this blog, we want to show you how our ProM® works and why it’s been a game changer for our clients.

What is ProM®?

ProM® is a mercaptan Scavenger. It has been specifically engineered to use non-triazine, non-amine based chemicals, which makes it safe to be used at refineries. This mercaptan removal technology is effective against Methyl, Ethyl, Isopropyl, Tert-Butyl, n-Propyl, sec-Butyl, Isobutyl, and n-Butyl mercaptans, just to name a few.

How does it work?

As we mentioned, unlike H2S, mercaptans are highly complex branched sulfur-based hydrocarbon chains, so they require lab analysis to determine treatment approach. Let’s say you are considering ProM® as an option, in order to know how much product your specific project needs, we would follow these steps:

First, a lab analysis using method UOP163 and ASTM – D5623 is required to determine the mercaptan levels in ppm/w or the full speciation, respectively.
Once analyzed, the appropriate dosing of ProM® chemical is determined.
Then, we inject the product. Injecting on the suction side of the discharge pump allows for excellent contact and churn, ensuring the reaction is effective. The confluence of the chemical in Crude Oil ensures efficient mixture and treatment.
Finally, a test confirms that quality spec has been reached and the vessel may proceed.

Process for determining ProM® dose.

Mercaptan removal allows for better net back pricing on the barrel while meeting safety standards and protecting assets.

A real life example

A 50,000 bpd condensate splitter was facing fouling issues from MEA-Triazine. Also, they were using very high volumes of MEA-Triazine and still failed to reach crude oil mercaptan specification. As if this wasn’t enough, the terminal was required to blend down various types of crude oil from different storage tanks to achieve a mercaptan specification ranging from 2-5 ppm.

We’d seen that before, so we recommended ProM® to meet mercaptan specifications at the terminal to reduce the amount of blending required and reduce fouling and corrosion problems at neighboring condensate splitters. The results? ProM® chemistry allowed the customer to meet mercaptan specifications that MEA-Triazine was unable to reach. Here’s a link to this case study for your reference.

Why Choose ProM® for Mercaptan Removal?

Lately we’ve been seeing increasing interest on this type of treatment because as we all know, everything keeps evolving, there’s no need to sacrifice one thing or the other anymore, by using ProM® you can:

Meet specs
Protect your assets
Reduce or even eliminate the need for expensive blend stock
Get better net back pricing on your barrel
keep your costs in line

If you are looking for this type of solution, we’ll be happy to help, give us a call or send us an email.

Treating Trucked Sour Crude

Unique Treatment Solutions

Barrels that have moderate to high levels of H2S are typically challenged economically from the start. First, from a safety standpoint – more oversight, training, CAPEX & OPEX, and effort goes into protecting the people and assets involved. Next, the untreated barrel will likely get rejected commercially and will not move via pipeline, which leaves trucking that sour barrel to market as the only alternative. Unfortunately, as a double whammy, that trucked sour barrel typically goes to a market that stacks yet another financial hardship on its value: a dreaded sour oil deduct on the netback price. The value erosion on that barrel can be a significant drain on the Producer, and in some plays the whittling away on the sour barrel can be borderline uneconomic. Ugh!

Trucking as a Lifeline for Stranded Sour Crude

With higher overall WTI per barrel in Q4 2021, more production is likely on the way to realize the price bump. In fact, production in the Permian is heading back to pre-pandemic levels increasing output to an average of 4.826mmbls/d in October, according to a recent ClusterX article citing a U.S. government report. Which is just shy of the record set in March 2020 at 4.913mmbbls/d right before COVID-19 fundamentally disrupted global demand and sent supply reeling. Although the industry has done a good job in the previous years building out the gathering and long-haul pipeline systems, trucking fills in the gaps. Although difficult to pin down an exact number, trucking in the Permian has always filled the takeaway gap and according to several historical reports, several thousand truck haulers operator daily – which means potentially a quarter million+ barrels are being hauled in the Permian at any given time. And in this case for sour barrels, Producers and Midstreamers rely heavily on this critical delivery component. It can be challenging to commit capital to build pipelines to inherently less valued barrels due to the presence of their sulfur content, and so, many sour barrels are stranded in the field to be delivered only by truck.

An Innovative Approach to Treating Trucked Sour Crude

Fortunately, there are treatment solutions available, and economic ones a that! Q2 Technologies recently implemented a system for a leading Midstream company to accept H2S barrels to treat automatically at an existing multi truck lane LACT station. This novel approach makes economic sense to all parties involved; here’s how it works:

How the System Works: Automated H2S Removal at LACT

Once the oil hauler, who is transporting a sour barrel, begins pumping volume at the facility, the lease automatic custody transfer (LACT) sends a signal to the Q2 pumps to being dosing. The crude oil is then treated as it is transferred in the tanks. Once treated, the barrel meets H2S specifications and can be sold into a sweet market. This setup is capable of treating all lanes simultaneously several thousand barrels per day at H2S levels in tens of thousands of ppm.

Benefits for Producers, Haulers, and Midstream Companies

Producers are able to produce their sour barrel and deliver it to a facility that is tied into one of the premier markets in the Permian, in order to fetch the highest netback prices available. Oil haulers are staying busy moving product to market. The Midstream company did not have to reject that sour barrel, thus increasing throughput and generating additional revenue. A win-win-win!

High-Volume Treatment Without Disruption

The comingled lines are routed to a single point where treatment occurs. Oil Haulers transport approximately 190bbls per load, and this facility receives several dozen loads per day of H2S ladened crude oil.

As the crude oil flows towards the tank battery, Q2’s Pro3 product is injected, thus ensuring that treated volume enters the tank battery array. This configuration allows for all truck lanes to offload and be treated simultaneously without pressure or flow upsets.

Sources:

https://content.clusterx.com/articles/1018-oil-production-permian-shale-nearing-pre-pandemic-levels

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pnp_caprec_dcu_r30_a.htm

https://rbnenergy.com/no-time-part-2-can-trucking-and-crude-by-rail-mitigate-the-permians-oil-takeaway-crisis

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/crude%20oil%20-%20electronic

Q2 Technologies company data, 2001-2021.

PRO3® Non-Amine Scavenger Process in the Eagle Ford Shale

ANOTHER PRO-3™ NON-AMINE H2S SCAVENGER PROCESS UP AND RUNNING!

The heat is on in the Eagle Ford Shale as we supply our PRO-3™ Non-Amine H2S Scavenger Process to one more upstream application. Since we are proud of all our projects and pleased to help our clients get more value for their barrel, we want to share how it all looks as it is happening. On the first picture, a trench was being dug in preparation for injecting our PRO-3™ Non-Amine H2S Scavenger into our client’s oil stream. On the second one, the well flowback was being tested in order to start production.

After successful pilot testing and careful planning, all the steps were completed for our clients to start using the PRO-3™ process and get more value for their barrel. Today the project is completely operational and we expect to continue growing with them in the promising Eagle Ford Shale. Together with our partner Additive Direct Services, we brought with us a team of experienced professionals. We made sure that installation flowed smoothly and that operations were not interrupted. We will do the same in the next projects during the fall.

Learn more about Q2 Technologies and our commitment to quality.

Q2 Technologies Brings Innovative Non-Amine/Non-Aldehyde Scavenger for Crude Oil

ENVIRO-SOLVE PRO3 is a non-fouling, water-soluble, oil-dispersible hydrogen sulphide scavenger.

Non-amine/non-aldehyde chemistry
Fast reacting and more effective than MEA triazine
Resistant to temperatures up to 100ºC/212ºF.
Non-fouling
It is highly engineered for the treatment of hydrocarbon streams that will be processed in refineries.

ENVIRO-SOLVETM PRO3 will convert HS into a non-toxic, stable, irreversible sulphate salt and water.

Blog Category: Crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons