Success with Gas Scrubbing Technology in Thailand

A natural gas separation plant which removes carbon dioxide (CO₂) using BASF’s activated methyldiethanolamine process (aMDEA®) was recently brought on stream by PTT Public Company Limited (Petroleum Authorities of Thailand). It marks the first application of this BASF process in Thailand. The facility, located about two hours’ drive from Bangkok in Map Ta Phud, has a capacity of some 590,000 Ncubicmeter per hour (Nm3/h). PTT now operates five gas separation plants, altogether four in Map Ta Phud and one at another site in Thailand.

After removal of the CO₂ the new plant separates the natural gas into methane and higher-value hydrocarbons (such as ethane, propane). While methane is supplied almost exclusively as fuel to power plants, ethane is sold as feedstock for a cracker, and propane for the production of propylene and for higher-value hydrocarbons such as LPG fuel. In the aMDEA process the CO₂ in the natural gas is removed with a special amine-based solvent and thereafter returned to the process. For this purpose the temperature of the solvent is raised by adding energy – and that is exactly what makes the BASF process so advantageous: “With aMDEA less energy is needed for thermal regeneration than with other processes,” according to Mark Claessen, responsible for gas treatment within BASF’s Intermediates business in Asia, “As a result our customers can raise processing efficiency significantly.”

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