The heat is on: Improving vaporization and corrosion control for natural gas chromatography

D. Dickerson, AURA Gas Controls, Virginia Beach, Virginia With the rise of global demand for natural gas in tandem with the increase in value of NGL, producers are extracting, processing and transporting larger varieties of hydrocarbons. Global NGL production has expanded by 4% over the last 7 yr, bringing production to more 13 MMbpd,1 with the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and Canada being the largest producers.2 Once extracted, the raw natural gas must undergo a multistage refining process to remove contaminants, such as sand, water, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and any other unwanted compounds. To produce commercial-grade natural gas (a C1 hydrocarbon), the remaining hydrocarbons must be se