| Popis: |
Summary Presence of mercury in natural gas can cause catastrophic failures of aluminum heat exchangers in gas-processing plants. In addition, the release of mercury can have serious health and environmental consequences. Recently, a number of methods for detecting mercury content in natural gas have been developed, and several techniques to remove mercury from the gas stream have been investigated. Khalda Petroleum Company, an international joint venture company in Egypt, has recently found mercury as a naturally occurring component of hydrocarbons in the Egyptian Western Desert. Since then, Khalda Petroleum Company has concentrated on measuring and removing the mercury from its produced gas. A mercury removal unit was installed at the Salam gas-processing plant. The mercury contents of the gas at the inlet and outlet of the Salam mercury removal unit have been continuously monitored. This paper gives a short overview of the biochemical effects of mercury, the corrosion mechanism of mercury and aluminum, analysis techniques for mercury in natural gas, and mercury removal techniques from natural gas. It also covers process design, field-analysis procedures, and the performance of Salam mercury removal unit. |
