Maximizing Hydrocarbon Liquids Recovery While Producing High Purity CO2: New Operation Strategy for Membrane Based CO2 Removal Facilities

Cameron Cynaraź CO2 removal membranes have been successful and very well proven in the onshore as well as offshore markets for over 25 years. In recent years, there is a significant emphasis from Oil and Gas producers to maximize hydrocarbon liquids recovery while removing CO₂ from natural gas.

Cameron operates the Cynara membrane facility at SACROC in West Texas, owned by Kinder-Morgan, which processes 750 MMSCFD of natural gas by removing CO₂ from 90 mol% in the feed gas to 10 mol% in the product gas. Traditionally this facility was focused on maximizing natural gas recovery while producing high purity CO₂ permeate using membranes. In response to the recent growing demand for natural gas liquids, Kinder-Morgan is maximizing the advantage of Cynara membranes to withstand and recover hydrocarbon liquids while removing CO₂ from natural gas. To achieve this goal, several improvements in the existing facility were implemented, including membrane replacement, feed flow optimization, temperature increase, and improved temperature stability.

The recent improvements in temperature control and increased heat capacity, along with membrane replacements, have resulted in large performance gains in certain parts of the facility. Combined with the optimization of feed flow set points and consistent monitoring of plant performance data in real-time, these changes have had a direct result in terms of hydrocarbon recovery gain, without negative effects to the CO₂ permeate purity.