Although the processing of natural gas is in many respects less complicated than the processing and refining of crude oil, it is equally as necessary before its use by end users.
The natural gas used by consumers is composed almost entirely of methane.
However, natural gas found at the wellhead, although still composed primarily of methane, is by no means as pure.
Raw natural gas is 1st collected and processed at the collection point to remove natural gas condensate and free liquid water, and then it is transported to an oil refinery.
In the gas processing plant, purification is done so as to remove acidic gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.Gas processing plants employ fractionation processes to convert the raw material (gas gathering system) to intermediate and finished products.
The intermediate products are transported to other processing plants (refineries and chemical plants) through dedicated pipelines between the gas processing plant and the industrial consumers.
Natural gas processing is considered to be a complex process.
In Gas Processing Plants, major transportation lines are laid down to impose restrictions to the impurities present in the natural gas.
However, natural gas liquids can be valuable by-products of natural gas processing.
These separated liquids have various uses such as:
- Enhancing oil recovery in oil wells
- Providing raw materials for oil refineries
- Used as sources of energy
These scrubbers primarily remove large particles like sand and heaters to ensure that the temperature does not fall below a certain level.
