Page 62 - Handbook of Natural Gas Transmission and Processing Principles and Practices

1.11. Natural Gas Processing
As discussed in Section 1.4, natural gas as it leaves the reservoir contains water vapor and all the
impurities. Therefore, raw natural gas produced from wells must be processed to meet the quality
standards specified by pipeline companies, which must be compatible with the pipeline design and
the customer's requirements. Off specification natural gas will cause operational problems
associated with corrosion and plugging, which may result in unsafe operation.
If the raw gas contamination levels and acid gas content are low, the gas can be treated and dried
at the field processing facility near the wellhead and sent directly to the sales gas pipeline.
However, if the contaminant levels are high and the gas is sour then it is typically collected and
piped to a gas processing complex where the gas is treated, conditioned, and dried to meet pipeline
gas specifications. The design and operation of the different processing units are discussed in the
following chapters.

FIGURE 1.13 Transportation tariffs (Economides et al., 2005).

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