NiTech® Nitrogen Rejection is Pipeline Solution

BCCK’s NiTech® Nitrogen Rejection Process Provides Solution to Meeting Tighter U.S. Pipeline Restrictions

As the demand for natural gas continues to escalate in the United States and around the globe, unconventional gas sources are receiving more attention as viable energy options. Global environmental pressure is fueling demand for natural gas as a clean-burning, environmentally friendly power generation alternative to aging coal–fired power plants. Natural gas facilities have relatively low emissions of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter and far lower levels of “greenhouse” gas emissions, an advantage which politically supports a global shift from oil and coal to natural gas. In addition, current economic conditions in the United States have sparked an interest in becoming less dependent on foreign energy markets, with a preference for finding a proven and reliable energy source within the continental United States. With U.S. storage volumes of natural gas currently well above the five-year average, the abundance of natural gas readily available is politically appealing in a society intent on shifting energy dependence away from foreign sources. Various sources of natural gas are found throughout the United States and the infrastructure required to handle an increase in the demand for natural gas is sound and accessible.

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NiTech® Nitrogen Rejection Technology

NiTech® Nitrogen Rejection Technology: Efficiency Without the Complexity Typically Associated with Nitrogen Rejection

Gregory L. Hall, P.E.
BCCK Engineering, Inc.

In 1994, a new technology for separating nitrogen from natural gas was introduced with a full-scale processing plant located near Mist, Oregon. Several years of research and development by BCCK Engineering, Inc. preceded the installation of the facility. Prior to the installation of the Mist unit, BCCK engineers spent a significant amount of time optimizing the nitrogen rejection unit (NRU) simulation to ensure that hydrocarbon recovery was as efficient as possible, while providing a design that was economical and uncomplicated. To ensure a less complicated design, BCCK scheduled interviews with operators of conventional cryogenic NRUs to survey operational concerns. The results of these discussions prompted BCCK to develop and patent a nitrogen rejection technology, NiTech®, which requires no cryogenic rotating equipment, as these elements are consistently responsible for facility downtime and excessive operating expense. This work also provided a design with only three main components, which reduces capital costs and delivery time when compared to conventional technology. The success of the flagship NiTech® NRU in Oregon prompted the installation of ten additional NiTech® facilities in the domestic United States. Although each unit is centered around the core NiTech® design, each facility has unique challenges due to differing gas compositions, flow rates and operating conditions.