Applications

Natural Gas Processing Plants based on Cool Energy's CryoCell® technology offer a number of advantages over current gas conditioning plants. CryoCell® plants are available in a number of configurations to meet a variety of applications.

For high CO2 content gas fields the CryoCell® technology can reduce capital and operating costs by approximately 25%. It also enables the capture of CO2 in a readily manageable (liquid) form, enabling significant emissions reductions. A CryoCell® plant has a smaller equipment count and footprint, it eliminates the use of chemicals and solvents, is simpler to operate, it has fewer supporting utilities and no corrosion related problems.

Current Applications

The CryoCell® technology has been tested on gas composition ranging from 3.5% up to 60% CO2 content and CryoCell® plants are available in a number of configurations to meet a variety of applications, including:

  • Already discovered on or near shore natural gas fields containing high levels of CO2 and either high or low levels of natural gas liquids, which have been found to be uneconomic to develop with conventional technologies due to high CO2 content.
  • New on or near shore discoveries containing high levels of CO2 and earmarked for production into domestic gas markets.
  • Coal Bed Methane. Often this source of natural gas requires multiple well heads in one area or they are tied into one gas processing facility. The processing plants are usually not large in size and when high levels of CO2 are present, they would be quite suitable for CryoCell® plants.

Gas producers with undeveloped gas fields that fall into the descriptions outlined above and requiring a CO2 removal process with these advantages, are invited to contact Cool Energy to discuss the potential application of the CryoCell® technology to bring these fields into commercial development.

Future Applications

A number of potential applications for CryoCell® in both its existing form, and after further development, have been identified.

  • Offshore. The CryoCell® technology has been recognised as potentially offering significant weight gains for offshore processing applications. Cool Energy is currently investigating partnering with a large engineering organisation with offshore knowledge and experience to study the economic benefits of this potential application.
  • LNG, PLNG and/or CNG. Further R&D work at the Xyris test facility is aimed at removing sufficient CO2 from the gas to enable liquefaction. If successful this could then be combined with any of the above applications to further expand the range of options and applications available to the technology.
  • Syngas and pre and post combustion CO2 capture. Beyond expanding the capabilities of CryoCell® to enable LNG production there is the possibility of adapting the technology to different fields of applications and this opening up new markets. Adaptation to syngas from coal gasification is seen as the next most logical possible step following the successful adaptation for LNG, whilst post combustion capture applications is regarded as a long term prospect.