This document describes TriBlue Corporation's Enhanced Condensate Recovery technology. The technology uses membranes to efficiently separate valuable condensates like propane, ethane, and butane from natural gas streams. This allows operators to produce additional revenue streams from condensate sales while also conditioning the gas to meet pipeline standards. A case study shows how the technology helped one operator increase revenues by 217% by extracting condensates from rich gas wells that were previously uneconomical to operate due to high processing costs.

1. Enhanced Condensate Recovery
TriBlue Corporation, Phone: 859 536 8749, Email: info@tribluecorp.com
Overview: High BTU gas wells present an attractive opportunity to create additional revenue streams for
natural gas operators. Natural gas wells rich in higher hydrocarbons may be expensive to operate due to
processing needed to reach pipeline BTU requirements. Condensates driving up BTU values represent a
valuable source of revenue if they can be extracted efficiently and economically. Current technologies to
separate condensates from natural gas streams may be uneconomical for small to midsize producers.
Enhanced Condensate Recovery, developed by TriBlue, is a membrane based technology that is capable
of significantly increasing condensate and NGL recovery within existing operations. The technology is
scalable, meeting the needs of small operators and large operators alike. High capacity, small footprint
and low operating costs make TriBlue Enhanced Condensate Recovery an
efficient and economical option to produce additional revenue streams while
also conditioning pipeline grade gas.
TriBlue Natural Gas Membranes: Membranes in the oil and gas industry
have traditionally served a niche market due to costs and durability concerns.
The performance of contemporary membranes may be quickly degraded if a
variety of compounds contact them. Unfortunately, these chemicals including
benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyl benzene are often found in raw natural gas.
The unique nature of Triblue membranes allows high performance to remain
in the presence of these compounds, negating the requirements of expensive
pre-cleaning.
Carbon dioxide removal has been the primary application of traditional
membrane technology. TriBlue natural gas membranes are fully capable of removing carbon dioxide from
natural gas and are also capable of removing hydrogen sulfide or related sulfur species. The property that
makes TriBlue membranes valuable in the Enhanced Condensate Recovery concept is selectivity for
higher hydrocarbons such as propane, ethane, iso-butane, n-butane, iso-pentane, pentane and C6+
hydrocarbons. Table 1 quantifies the increased selectivity for condensates over methane.
Enhanced Condensate Recovery: TriBlue Enhanced Condensate Recovery takes advantage of TriBlue
membranes’ selectivity for higher hydrocarbons in coordination with a refrigeration unit. As diagramed in
Figure 1, a refrigeration unit is used to remove hydrocarbon condensates from an incoming gas stream.
Triblue’s membranes are positioned to recover a large portion of the condensates and NGLs not recovered
by the refrigeration unit. Unrecovered condensates and NGLs are then recycled through the refrigeration
unit. This action ensures that unrecovered condensates are sent back to the refrigeration unit, and
increases the recovery efficiency of the refrigeration unit. Increasing condensate and NGL composition
within the refrigeration unit, forces the hydrocarbon dew point to rise. A higher hydrocarbon dew point
causes a larger percentage of the condensable hydrocarbons to precipitate at a given temperature.
Increased hydrocarbon precipitation increases efficiency providing improved value with less energy
usage. TriBlue Enhanced Condensate Recovery allows extraction of valuable condensates while also
conditioning natural gas to pipeline grade. Additional revenue streams through efficient condensate
recovery provides operators with a flexible opportunity to diversify sales production.
Figure 1
Table 1

2. Enhanced Condensate Recovery
TriBlue Corporation, Phone: 859 536 8749, Email: info@tribluecorp.com
Case Study: Operators throughout North America produce from wells that
can be rich in condensates. High BTU gas processing costs make such
wells non-profitable depending on the current gas price. One small
producer that TriBlue recently worked with, operated wells with a
237MSCFD flowrate and the gas profile displayed in table 2. The operator
was forced to cease operation when natural gas prices dropped below
$3MMBtu due to processing costs needed to lower the BTU to the required
1170BTU/ft3 for pipeline specifications. Valuable condensates such as
propane and butane actually made the gas less desirable to the operator’s current application. The energy
needed to remove the condensates or the penalty paid to the pipeline for selling high BTU gas left the
operator with poor options
TriBlue Solution: TriBlue Enhanced Condensate Recovery allows the operator to lower BTU while also
separating valuable condensates that can be sold at higher prices. Inexpensive lowering of the BTU to
pipeline specifications alone is enough to make the operator profitable at current decreased gas prices.
The added revenue stream in the form of barrels of condensate give the operator the opportunity to further
increase profitability. In this specific example the small operator is able to increase revenue by 217%.
Figure 2 summarizes the operator’s inputs and outputs with TriBlue Enhanced Condensate Recovery. The
barrels per day of condensate, propane and ethane represent a majority of the increased revenue and make
TriBlue an attractive choice for operators struggling with rich gas.
Enhanced Condensate Recovery also provides operators with flexibility in how gases may be sold.
Current natural gas prices and ethane prices are relatively low based on recent history. In some scenarios
it can be more profitable for operators to use methane and ethane collected to produce electricity through
generators. Numerous producers have decided to produce electricity and sell it to local municipalities due
to low gas prices. The operator discussed herein has expressed an interest to produce electricity and
TriBlue’s flexible membrane system is conducive to such diversification.
Table 2
Figure 2