Natural Gas and Petrochemical Processing
Application Background
From production to end use, natural gas undergoes multi-stage dehydration, desulfurization, and decarbonation. The drying and purification of cracking gas and syngas in the petrochemical industry also depend on granular molecular sieves. This is one of the largest single markets for industrial molecular sieve applications.
End-to-End Natural Gas Processing
|
Process Stage |
Objective |
Description |
|
Wellhead Dehydration |
Prevent hydrate freeze-plugging |
Basic dehydration, dew point ≤ -60 °C |
|
Long-Distance Pipeline Dehydration |
Pipeline corrosion & freeze prevention |
Large stations, beads φ2.5-5.0 mm |
|
Desulfurization (H₂S / Mercaptans) |
Meet pipeline-specification standards |
JZ-ZMS5 for H₂S removal (3.6 Å); JZ-ZMS9 for large-molecule mercaptans |
|
CO₂ Removal |
Meet heating-value specifications |
JZ-ZMS5 adsorbs CO₂ (3.3 Å); JZ-ZMS9 offers higher capacity |
|
Pre-LNG Liquefaction Purification |
Deep dehydration and decarbonation |
Simultaneously removes H₂O + CO₂ to prevent freeze-plugging in the liquefaction unit |
|
LPG / Liquefied-Gas Desulfurization |
Meet product sulfur-content specifications |
Removes mercaptans and other large-molecule sulfur compounds |
Petrochemical Applications
|
Application Scenario |
Description |
|
Petroleum Cracking Gas Drying |
Adsorbs water only, does not co-adsorb olefins — avoids polymerization and product loss |
|
Ethylene-Plant Dehydration Tower |
φ2 mm × 5 mm extrudates, withstands 3-5 MPa high pressure without breakage |
|
Refinery Gas Drying |
3A for high-olefin streams, 4A for saturated-hydrocarbon streams |
|
Hydrogen Drying |
Hydrogen dehydration for catalytic reforming and hydroprocessing units |
|
Liquid Hydrocarbon Drying |
Liquid-phase dehydration, removes trace moisture |
|
Aromatics (Benzene / Toluene) Adsorption |
10 Å pore aperture accommodates aromatic molecules (benzene 5.85 Å / toluene 5.8 Å) |