Valuable hydrocarbons recovered by fuel conditioning. [Heavy hydrocarbons]

To move natural gas from wellhead to processing plant, producers rely on compressor booster stations at remote locations. Sidestreams of readily available raw natural gas are the best fuel source option for these booster stations. At Philips' Hulex booster station the fuel treater has generated approximately $40,000 per year in new income by recovering valuable heavy hydrocarbons. It also increases the fuel's methane content and octane rating and removes hydrogen sulfide. This new technology works well for bulk separations with small gas volumes at remote and/or unattended locations, where value is placed on engine reliability. It generally is not appropriate for applications requiring very sharp separations, those that involve very large gas volumes or where high quality engine fuel is available.