Field Demonstration of a Membrane Process to Separate Nitrogen from Natural Gas

The original proposal described the construction and operation of a 1 MMscfd treatment system to be operated at a Butcher Energy gas field in Ohio. The gas produced at this field contained 17% nitrogen. During pre-commissioning of the project, a series of well tests showed that the amount of gas in the field was significantly smaller than expected and that the nitrogen content of the wells was very high (25 to 30%). After evaluating the revised cost of the project, Butcher Energy decided that the plant would not be economical and withdrew from the project. Since that time, Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) has signed a marketing and sales partnership with ABB Lummus Global, a large multinational corporation. MTR is working with the company's Randall Gas Technology group, a supplier of equipment and processing technology to the natural gas industry. Randall's engineering group found a new site for the project at a North Texas Exploration (NTE) gas processing plant, which met with limited success. However, a small test system was installed at a Twin Bottoms Energy well in Kentucky. This unit operated successfully for six months, and demonstrated the technology's reliability on a small scale. MTR then located an alternative test site with much larger gas flow rates and signed a contract with Towne Exploration in the third quarter of 2006, for a demonstration plant in Rio Vista, California, to be run through May 2007. The demonstration for Towne has already resulted in the sale of two commercial skids to the company; both units will be delivered by the end of 2007. Total sales of nitrogen/natural gas membrane separation units from the partnership with ABB are now approaching $4.0 million