The natural gas that provides energy and power to homes and businesses across the country is not the same as the natural gas that is extracted from deep underground. In its raw form, natural gas contains chemical contaminants that reduce its energy capacity and can be harmful to the consumer. To help meet the energy demands of our nation, we provide full-service operations to assist with the removal of sour gases and other applications related to natural gas processing.

Kinder Morgan Treating’s Full-service Operations team offers a range of services including engineering, design, welding, fabrication, coating, assembly, startup assistance, operations, consulting – and with excellent customer service.

Processing Natural Gas

Natural gas comes in two forms – either dry or wet. Dry natural gas is a gas that contains a higher methane content, whereas wet natural gas contains methane and a higher percentage of natural gas liquids, such as ethane and butane.  Dry gas is also commonly referred to as natural gas and is used for electrical power, heating and cooling systems, and industrial applications. Wet gas is processed to separate the liquids and hydrocarbons from pure methane.

There are four main processes to remove impurities from the natural gas stream to bring it to pipeline-quality levels. These processes are:

• Water removal
• Oil and condensate removal
• Separation of natural gas liquids
• Hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide removal

Gas processing is an instrumental piece of the natural gas value chain and a full-service operations natural gas treatment plant is crucial to processing natural gas.

Delivering Natural Gas

From a macro level, the U.S. natural gas pipeline network is a highly integrated network of about 3 million miles of mainline and other pipelines linking the gas wellhead and storage facilities with the consumer. The three major types of pipelines in the natural gas delivery system include gathering pipelines, interstate transmission pipelines, and local distribution pipelines.

From the gathering pipeline system, field compressors are typically needed to push the gas to a processing plant. The processing plant performs such functions as removing impurities like water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, or sulfur that might corrode a pipeline. Compressors often use a small amount of natural gas sourced from the pipeline as fuel to compress the gas for further transport. Propane and butane can also be removed in small amounts at a processing plant.

The natural gas will then move into the high-pressure, high-strength, large-diameter intrastate, and interstate transmission pipeline systems. Throughout the transmission system, there will be compressor stations that are typically located every 50 to 60 miles along the pipeline to keep the gas flowing forward through the pipeline system.

When the gas finally reaches a local distribution company that delivers the gas to consumers, typically small-diameter and lower pressure service pipelines can be used.

Operations

Natural gas goes through various treating processes to get from its raw form to pipeline quality. To do so, you will need a treating company that offers full-service operations. This means they can design and build treating and processing plants to ensure that the natural gas and liquids meet all pipeline and customer specifications. It also means that the company supports startup activities and ongoing operations through consulting, inquiry response, and operations assistance.

A full-service operations company will offer turnkey installation for all of its plants to help provide a seamless equipment installation experience. Once operational, the treating company needs to have an experienced staff of process engineers and operations personnel to ensure the plants are operating efficiently.

Kinder Morgan Treating offers professional engineers, operators, inspectors, and subject matter experts that can help answer your startup questions, operations inquiries, and help with troubleshooting.

Navigating the pipeline and gas treating process is not for amateurs and you will need a company with experience and knowledge in plant operations.

Contact Kinder Morgan for More Information

With approximately 70,000 miles of natural gas pipelines, Kinder Morgan owns an interest in or operates the largest natural gas network in North America.

We also operate several gathering and processing facilities, providing services for all of your gas processing and treating needs, including plant start-ups.

When you need full-service operations, Kinder Morgan should be your first point of contact. Call us at 713-369-8544 or 713-369-8535 today.