Removing Mercury From Natural Gas Effectively and Efficiently

Processing plants with aluminum heat exchangers are susceptible to corrosive attacks by Mercury; to protect the assets of gas processors and address environmental concerns, Mercury Removal is a much-needed step.

Present in the world’s most natural gas fields, Mercury is an element required to be removed from the gases. Processing plants with aluminum heat exchangers are susceptible to corrosive attacks by Mercury; to protect the assets of gas processors and address environmental concerns, Mercury Removal is a much-needed step.

Why Mercury Removal is necessary?

Occurring naturally, Mercury is found in measurable concentrations in an increasing number of hydrocarbons, globally. Mercury is turning into a big problem for Natural Gas Plants and effective mercury removal technologies are in demand. Often associated with natural gas, condensates, refinery product streams, and petrochemical feed streams, mercury is required to be removed effectively with a process that reduces mercury to undetectable levels per cubic meter.

Damages Mercury Removal Limits:

• Liquid Mercury when comes in contact with air or water can cause structural damage to the processing plants having aluminum heat exchanger brazing, causing the corrosive attack.
• Refinery and Condensates lose their value due to the presence of mercury in their composition.
• Mercury causes several negative impacts on health and safety in certain applications.
• Elemental mercury is toxic through inhalation, skin exposure, and ingestion. These different kinds of mercury exposure can induce neurologic diseases, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary and/or renal diseases.

Level of Mercury in Natural Gas:

Natural Gases are present over the globe, and the variation in their geographical area causes the varying levels of mercury in the natural gas reservoirs. In recent years, mercury levels have increased from typical highs of 30 or 40 ug/Nm3 to levels exceeding 1000 ug/Nm3 in the Pacific Rim area. With a greater understanding of levels in specific geographical areas, the expectation in terms of what is required to remove mercury both on- and off-shore varies worldwide.

Mercury needs to be measured to determine which mercury removal option will provide the most cost-effective solution to meet desired results. Whether it is simply removing the mercury from a process stream to meet specifications, protecting the entire plant, or ensuring mercury removal for environmental compliance, mercury levels must be known. Our team of experts analyzes the mercury levels and specifications and is committed to providing the most advanced mercury removal solution to assist you in finding the most efficient, cost-effective, and reliable approach.

Techniques of Mercury Removal with Absorbents:

At Blue Sky Midstream, we offer two types of most-advanced absorbents for mercury removal from natural gases. They are as follows:

1. Regenerable Absorbents:
   Regenerable absorbents contain nano-particles of gold dispersed on activated carbon; they are efficient and long-life materials for capturing mercury species from coal combustion flue gases. We are proud to offer regenerable adsorbents that are capable of being loaded into your current molecular sieve dehydration units to effectively remove water, mercury, and other contaminants, resulting in a clean gas stream. 
2. Non-Regenerable Absorbents:
   Non-Regenerable absorbents comprises a mixture of de-watered residue from the production of ethanol, an activator, an inhibitor, and an antifoam agent, wherein the de-watered residue is the activator in the absorbent. Our proprietary non-regenerable adsorbents are ideal for the final mercury removal stage. This technology advances in treating concentrated mercury streams through a smaller receptacle. We utilize only state-of-the-art mercury removal adsorbent technology and are proud to offer skid-mounted, modular units that are effective for a variety of applications. 

Our experience and research behind the mercury removing absorbents ensure the most effective formulation for mercury removal. The art of cleaning gases with absorbents we also clean upstream from other gas treating processes to remove mercury permanently, thereby preventing the contamination of the downstream process equipment and piping.

Blue Sky Midstream is proud to serve as your one-stop service provider for effective mercury removal, contact us for your concerns.