Sour gas - A history of expertise - Total.com

06
SOUR GAS
s
Lacq lights the way
Total has many years of
experience in producing
and sweetening sour gas.
Two major milestones have
been the Lacq field in France
and the Ram River project
in Alberta, Canada. The aminebased
processes developed
by Total for separating
sour gas still rank among
the most efficient solutions
currently available.
//. ChAllenGes
A history
of ExpErtisE
s s s
Faced with the new challenges of the Lacq gas
field, Total invented many production and processing
techniques for sour gas that are now used around
the world.
In the 1950s, with the development of the vast Lacq gas field in France,
Total marked a world first by successfully upgrading a very sour gas
(16% H2S and 10% CO2) in high temperature and pressure conditions.
To cope with the corrosive fluids and sulfur deposits, the Group
developed techniques and materials to treat this aggressive gas
efficiently and safely. This strong base of know-how has continuously
evolved; Total’s technology has made its way around the world to permit
the successful development of more than sixty sour gas fields. Flagship
projects include Elgin/Franklin (United Kingdom), South Pars and
Dorood (Iran), Bongkot (Thailand), Kharyaga (Russia), Sleipner (Norway),
and very sour gas reserves in Abu Dhabi. At present, Total is once again
pushing back frontiers with cost-effective production methods for
ultra-sour gas (over 20% of CO2 or H2S) and future-looking sweetening
processes in preparation for increasingly stringent specifications.
In the Group’s hydrocarbon production, the share of gas should reach
35% by 2010.
While the cost-effectiveness of technological solutions is a crucial
factor for the future of sour gas development, safety for people and the
environment is an equally requisite dimension. The Group’s commitment
to minimize the environmental impact of its operations is supported
by major research activities. For sour gas, the focus is on improving
the energy efficiency of sweetening processes, but the teams are also
working on breakthrough technologies like the Sprex ® (for “Simple
PRe-Extraction”) process. Currently in the pre-industrial phase, this
process leads to significant savings in both the energy requirements and
the cost of treating gas. In line with its comprehensive approach, Total
also studies solutions for the management as well as the marketing
of sulfur streams and other by-products of the process. For the longer
term, additional research programs are under way to explore options for
the reinjection and storage of the acid fractions from these gases. nnn