Mercaptans Removal

Equinox specializes in front end development, facility design and construction projects that deal with treatment and purification of sour streams with varying levels of CO2, H2S, and mercaptans.

Mercaptans are organosulfur compounds, that may be targeted for removal during sour gas treating depending on the inlet mercaptan composition and sales mercaptan specification requirements. Common removal technologies include chemical reaction with caustic in the presence of a catalyst, absorption processes utilizing specialized physical solvents or adsorption into solid beds (i.e. molecular sieve). Equinox has extensive experience evaluating, selecting the most appropriate and cost effective Mercaptan Removal technology – for sour gas treating applications – and the removal of mercaptans from sour gas, NGL or Condensate.

Entrained mercaptans in facility inlet streams will be present in both the gas phase and the free condensate liquid phase. Depending on inlet concentrations and sales specifications the mercaptans can be removed downstream of the inlet condensate stabilization process, in the sour gas processing train upstream of refrigeration, or downstream of the refrigeration process by treating the NGLs.

For gas treating applications specialty physical solvents are utilized to remove mercaptans along with H2S. Depending on inlet mercaptan concentrations the gas treating may not achieve sales specifications and additional treating of NGLs may be required.

For condensate applications, the Mercaptan Removal Unit (MRU) will be installed downstream of the Condensate Stabilizer package. Equinox will select the best fit-for-purpose based upon project specific criteria for H2S, CO2 and Mercaptans inlet concentrations and sales specifications.

Wapiti Gas Plant Mercaptans Removal

Equinox delivered FEED, Detail Design for this successful grassroots, sour gas processing facility of 200 MMscfd raw inlet gas with up to 8% H2S and 1,000 ppm mercaptans.

The facility design includes refrigeration for C3+ recovery and hydrocarbon dew point control, with NGL Treating (3,100 bpd) downstream for mercaptans removal. A semi-regenerative caustic reaction process was utilized to remove mercaptans and other trace sulphur compounds from the NGL stream. After a thorough technical and commercial evaluation the Merichem Thiolex system was selected in this mercaptans application.

Pipestone Liquids Hub Mercaptans Removal

Equinox delivered FEED, Detail Design for this successful grassroots facility designed to process and stabilize 22,000 bpd of sour emulsion with raw condensate containing up to 8% H2S and 1,300 ppm mercaptans.

A Condensate Stabilizer package with capacity for 14,000 bpd was installed, with a Mercaptans Removal Unit installed downstream to meet the sales spec of 175 ppmw of volatile mercaptans. The non-regenerative Exion Liquid Treating process was selected in this mercaptans application, after a thorough technical and commercial evaluation.

Equinox specializes in providing engineering for facility design and construction projects that deal with treatment of sour streams.