6.

Environmental Impact
6.1 Environmental Hazards Associated with Condensate Composition,
Transportation and Refining
Like all fossil fuels, condensate contains harmful toxicants. It can affect the environment,
animals and humans. It is generally more flammable and explosive than normal crude oil.
Operating in areas where condensate has escaped is dangerous for crew due to the danger of
explosions, oxygen displacement and the threat of asphyxiating and anaesthetizing which can
occur within a few human breaths. Whether escaped condensate causes an oil spill or not
depends on whether it has vaporized, burnt off or escaped in liquid form. When forming a
spill, it is considered to be dangerous due to its toxicity and because it is difficult to contain
and manage. However, it dissipates and breaks down more easily than heavier oils. The main
hazards associated with condensate spills are linked to explosions, fire and exposure to
vapors. In addition to the danger for humans, this might kill or harm birds, marine mammals
and other organisms in the vicinity.

Natual gas condensates may contain hydrogen sulfide (H2S), thiols (RSH) also known as
mercaptans, carbon dioxide (CO2), straight chain alkanes having 2 to 12 carbons,
cyclohexane and aromatics  (benzene, toluene, xylenes and ethylbenzene). Mercury (Hg) and
other heavy metals may be present in trace quantities in condensates. Some of these materials
affect air, water and soil- three important elements of the environment.

1. Hydrogen Sulfide: Hydrogen sulfide is highly corrosive. It is also highly flammable

which can lead to explosions. Being heavier than air, it tends to accumulate at the
bottom of poorly ventilated spaces. It is lethal to most animals. It has been implicated
in several mass extinctions that have occurred in the Earth's past. It is also responsible
for many incidents of occupational toxic exposure, especially in the petroleum
industry. 
2. Thiols (Mercaptans): When condensates recovered at the gas plant contain high
levels of mercaptans, process deficiencies, such as polymeric fouling or amine solvent
contamination can occur.
3. Carbon Dioxide: Carbon dioxide is not normally considered a pollutant because it is
a normal constituent of air. However, excess of carbon dioxide is considered as a
pollutant because it leads to adverse effects on the environment. The higher
 concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is likely to increase the temperature
of the atmosphere. The excessive heating of earth and its atmosphere can have
adverse effect on our climate which will affect all the living beings. The climate will
become gradually hot. Carbon dioxide has also made the oceans about 30 percent
more acidic, affecting a wide variety of sea organisms. That percentage is also
expected to rise in the coming years.
4. Cyclohexane: Cyclohexane by itself is not likely to cause environmental harm at
levels normally found in the environment. Cyclohexane can contribute to the
formation of photochemical smog when it reacts with nitrogen dioxide, ozone and
other volatile organic carbon substances in air.

5. Sulfur Dioxide: It may be found in condensate distillation unit. When sulfur dioxide
combines with water and air, it forms sulfuric acid which is the main component of
acid rain. Acid rain can cause deforestation, acidify waterways to the detriment of
aquatic life, harm sensitive ecosystem and corrode building materials and paints.
SO2 emissions that lead to high concentrations of SO2 in the air generally also lead to
the formation of other sulfur oxides (SO x). SOx can react with other compounds in the
atmosphere to form small particles. These particles contribute to particulate matter
(PM) pollution Gaseous SOx can harm trees and plants by damaging foliage and
decreasing growth. Additionally, the condensate or its fractionated products often
does not meet total sulfur specifications for sales or pipeline transmission.
6.2 Sanchi Oil Tanker Collision: The Largest Condensate Spill

Figure 1: Iranian oil tanker Sanchi engulfing in fire in the East China Sea
Back on January 6th, 2018, an Iranian oil tanker called the Sanchi  smashed into a Chinese
cargo ship in the East China Sea. It caught on fire, burned for a week straight and sank
eight days later killing all 32 crewmembers including two Bangladeshis and spilling its
contents into the ocean. The Sanchi was nearing the end of its voyage to South Korea
through one of the most heavily traversed parts of the world’s oceans when it collided with
the CF Crystal, a bulk carrier flagged in Hong Kong that was delivering grain to China from
the United States. It was full of 136,000 tons—about one million barrels of natural gas
condensate, a super light and super expensive petroleum product that barely needs to
be refined before use. A condensate spill of this size had never been seen before. Almost
invisible type of toxic condensate contaminated some of the most important fishing grounds
in Asia, from China to Japan and beyond.

Unlike the crude oil in well-known disasters like the Exxon Valdez and the Deepwater
Horizon, condensate does not clump into black globules that can be easily spotted or produce
heart-wrenching images of animals mired in muck. There was no visible slick that can be
pumped out. Experts said the only real solution was to let it evaporate or dissolve. It remained
toxic absorbing in water for a long time. But it also dispersed more quickly into the ocean
than crude oil.
Experts said that there had never been so large a spill of condensate; up to 111,000 metric
tons was poured into the ocean. It had almost certainly already invaded an ecosystem that
included some of the world’s most bountiful fisheries off Zhoushan, the archipelago that rises
where the Yangtze River flows into the East China Sea. Since the Sanchi sank, marine life
was endangered by the condensate’s spreading instead of burning off. And the even dirtier
bunker fuel powering the tanker was also released into the sea, exposing delicate marine life
to the extremely toxic substance. Serious ecological injury had been caused by the
condensate. An article by The New York Times discussed the environmental impact further,
saying that the portion of the East China Sea in which the spill took place is a location of
edible fish spawning at that particular time of the year, as well as a migration path of whales.

Figure 2: Rescue ships working to extinguish fire on the Sanchi tanker

Exposure to condensate is extremely unhealthy to humans and potentially fatal. Experts
strongly advised against eating fish contaminated with it. The authorities ordered a ban on
fishing in the areas affected. According to Paul Johnston, a scientist at Greenpeace Research
Laboratories at the University of Exeter in England, working out the impact was actually a
huge task — probably next to impossible.
Some of the condensate may have burned off in the fires, sparing the sea but contaminating
the air. Officials said they were testing air samples in the provinces around Shanghai. But the
biggest issue seemed to be that nobody knew the scale of the problem or which parts of the
high seas were affected.

This particular incident showed the importance of safe handling, storage and transportation of
condensate. Carelessness and negligence can lead to severe environmental damage.

6.3 Conditions for Safe Handling

Condensate and condensate products should be kept away from ignition sources such as heat,
sparks or open flame. Smoking is strongly prohibited for handling. Precautionary measures
may be taken against static discharge. Non-sparking tools should be used. All safety
precautions should be read and applied carefully. Appropriate personal protective accessories
should be used during handling. Outdoors or well-ventilated area is safe for handling.
Breathing vapors or mists should be avoided.

6.4 Conditions for Safe Storage

Used and produced materials may contain or release poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas. In a
tank, barge or other closed container, the vapor space above the condensate may accumulate
hazardous concentrations of hydrogen sulfide. Atmospheric oxygen content, H 2S and
flammability should be checked prior to entry. Containers should be kept tightly closed and
properly labeled. Appropriate containers must be used. Protection of containers against
physical damage is to be ensured. This material should be stored and used in cool, dry, well-
ventilated areas away from heat, direct sunlight, hot metal surfaces and all sources of
ignition. Outdoor or detached storage is preferred. Indoor storage may be used with
appropriate fire codes. Any incompatible material must be kept away.
Empty containers can retain residue and may be dangerous. Pressurizing, cutting, welding,
brazing, soldering, drilling, grinding or exposing such containers to heat, flame, sparks or
other sources of ignition are strongly forbidden. They may explode and cause injury or death.
Empty drums should be completely drained, properly bunged and promptly shipped to the
supplier or a drum reconditioner. All containers should be disposed of in an environmentally
safe manner and in accordance with governmental regulations.
6.5 Precautions for Accidental Release
 Spill or release should be stopped immediately if it can be done safely.
 Spill should not be allowed to spread over a wide area.
 Spilled material should be prevented from entering sewers, drains, other unauthorized
drainage systems and natural waterways.
 Use of water should be as limited as possible to minimize environmental
contamination and reduce disposal requirements.
 If spills occurs into or upon navigable waters and the contiguous zone or adjoining
shorelines causing a sheen or discoloration on the surface of the water, local
authorities should be informed as soon as possible.
 If current ventilation practices are not adequate to maintain airborne concentrations
below the established exposure limits, additional engineering controls may be
required.

6.6 Strategy to Reduce Damage after Spill

Water bodies can be protected by diking, absorbents or absorbent boom if possible. Unless
the sewer or drainage system is designed and permitted to handle such material, flushing
down is not permitted. The use of fire-fighting foam may be useful in certain situations to
reduce vapors. The proper use of water spray may effectively disperse product vapors or the
liquid itself, preventing contact with ignition sources or areas that require protection. Solid
water stream patterns cannot be discharged into the liquid resulting in splashing.
7. Treatment of Pollutants
7.1 Mercaptans (Thiols)

Mercaptans removal can be accomplished through a number of methods. The most common
method in use today is the reaction with caustic (sodium hydroxide, NaOH). Oxidation by a
strong oxidant reagent, such as sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), O 2 and hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) among others has also been employed. The chemical equations for mercaptan
oxidation are shown in below:

2 R–SH + 1⁄2O2 = R–S–S–R + H2O (oxidation by O2)

R–SH + 3 H2O2 = R–SO3H + 3 H2O (oxidation by H2O2)

Other methods for mercaptans removal from hydrocarbon streams are available and include
oxidation using ozone, biological removal processes, catalytic decomposition, adsorption into
solid beds (i.e., functionalized activated carbon) and specialized (e.g., physical and hybrid)
solvents. Only the two latter methods are commonly used in the industry, however.

The use of NaOH for mercaptans removal is perhaps the most common method worldwide.
The reaction with caustic is effective. But it is also a reversible equilibrium. NaOH is readily
available at low cost. However, nonregenerative caustic treatment produces a waste spent
caustic stream that must be treated or managed properly. Regenerative caustic treatment
produces disulfide oil and a waste caustic bleed. 
 Figure 3: General regenerative caustic mercaptan removal process

7.2 Hydrogen Sulfide

The easiest method of removing H2S from condensate is to simply direct the condensate to
the cooling tower where the H2S will be stripped from the condensate and be exhausted with
the effluent air from the cooling tower. This is a very inexpensive method of disposing of the
H2S. However, it may create an odor nuisance or even a hazardous situation. A more safe
method of treating the dissolved H2S is to direct the condensate to the cooling tower by
adding chelated iron to the cooling water. The chelate or ligand (L) is usually EDTA,
ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, whose only purpose is to increase the solubility of iron in
water. The iron reacts with the dissolved H2S as follows.

2Fe3+ + H2S = 2Fe2+ + S + 2H+ ……………………(1)

The ferrous iron (Fe2+) is not capable of reacting with H2S. So, it must be reoxidized back to
the ferric state (Fe3+) to be reused. This is accomplished when the cooling water is circulated
in the cooling tower and comes in contact with air as follows.

2Fe2+ + 1/2 O2 + 2H+ = 2Fe3+ + H2O

The sulfur which is formed in reaction 1 is a solid. If it is left as solid, it will eventually plug
the cooling water system. To prevent this from happening, a sulfite (usually in the form of
sodium sulfite) is added to the cooling water. The sulfite reacts with the sulfur as follows to
form a water soluble thiosulfate.
 Na2SO3 + S = Na2S2O3

Scavenger for H2S Removal

A scavenger in chemistry is a chemical substance added to a mixture in order to remove or
deactivate impurities and unwanted reaction products. Operating conditions such as
condensate temperature, pressure, volume, composition, degree of mixing and contact time
with the scavenger strongly influence the selection of an H 2S scavenger for removal of H2S
from the condensate. One factor demanding particular consideration in scavenger selection
for hydrocarbon liquids is the downstream processing of the condensate after the H 2S has
been removed. For example, processing of condensate in a refinery often requires
maintaining a low nitrogen content in the condensate to avoid poisoning of the catalysts in
the reforming process. Most of the non-regenerable liquid H2S scavengers are amine based.
An oil-soluble scavenger will remain dissolved in the oil phase which may cause an increase
in the nitrogen content of the hydrocarbon liquids depending on the volume of scavenger
used in the treatment. On the other hand, a water-soluble scavenger can separate from the
hydrocarbon phase relatively easily due to solubility and density differences. Therefore,
water-soluble scavengers tend to offer a chemical treatment option for H 2S removal with little
or no interference with the downstream refining processes.

7.3 Sulfur Dioxide

Growing concerns on environmental processes enforce the governments to pass restriction
rules for permissible sulfur content thresholds. Hence, desulfurization plants become an
inseparable and essential part of refineries. At present, the hydrodesulfurization (HDS)
technique is almost the dominant desulfurization process which is widely used in the world.
This process is based on surface adsorption of sulfur compounds on appropriate metallic
catalyst surfaces. Subsequently, hydrogenation of the corresponding sulfur compounds takes
place under high partial pressure of hydrogen and high temperature. Thus, the sulfur
compounds are converted to corresponding hydrocarbon and hydrogen sulfide gas as a
byproduct. The oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process can be considered as an alternative
process for the HDS method. The ODS process consists of the two steps: first, sulfur
compounds are oxidized to their corresponding sulfoxides or sulfones by an oxidative agent
and then, highly polarized sulfoxides or sulfones are extracted by an appropriate polar solvent
or adsorbed on high capacity sorbents. Some researchers also explored the systems using
adsorbents to selectively remove the sulfur compounds in liquid hydrocarbon condensates
which is one of the promising approaches as this process can be conducted at ambient
conditions without using costly material and a complementary process for HDS and ODS and
other desulfurization methods.

7.4 Carbon Dioxide along with Hydrogen Sulfide

If the natural gas can be run through an amine system that uses something like TGA, that will
reduce both the H2S and CO2 levels.  Treating the condensate requires stripping the dissolved
H2S and CO2 with a gas such as nitrogen.  If stripping is not feasible, then the type of
treatment is going to depend upon the concentrations of H 2S and CO2 in the condensate and
the type of secondary treatment that are feasible for the volume of condensate that must be
treated as well as the allowable levels in the final product.  For low concentrations, running
the condensate through a solid bed of something such as activated carbon or iron oxide
powders can be applied.  For higher concentrations of H2S, first an oxidizing chemical should
be used to react it to elemental sulfur and then filer out the colloidal sulfur.  Removal of the
CO2 could be done by increasing the pH with something such as MEA or NaOH to react it
out to form bicarbonate.
So, the choice of treatment is going to depend upon treating the fluid as a gas or a liquid, the
concentrations of H2S and CO2, the volume of fluid that must be treated and the specifications
for the treated product.
If chemical removal of the CO2 and H2S is not feasible, then that leaves a stripping column
where a clean gas such as nitrogen or methane is used to remove the CO 2 and H2S from the
condensate.  The only concern here is that if there is any oxygen content in the nitrogen, the
oxygen will very rapidly react with the H2S to form suspended elemental sulfur colloids that
are not going to be filtered from the condensate.  There is also the issue of properly disposing
of the contaminated stripping gas. Disposal of it depends upon the volume that must be used
and any local regulations on the discharge of H2S and/or SOx species.  The selection of the
stripping gas also plays into this decision.

7.5 Mercury
The presence of mercury in a natural gas condensate is undesirable and can cause damage to
downstream processing equipment. This mercury is thought to be originated from the
geologic deposits in which the natural gas is entrapped. Equipment damage may result when
mercury accumulates in equipment constructed of various metals, especially aluminum by
forming an amalgam with the metal. For example, a natural gas condensate is sometimes
passed through a heat exchanger constructed of aluminum. It has been found that mercury
tends to amalgamate with the aluminum of which the heat exchanger is constructed, thereby
creating the risk of corrosion cracking with potentially catastrophic results.
The processing of natural gas condensate containing high levels of mercury may require
expensive processing equipment. In order to minimize the potential damage to the equipment,
a solution provides simple and relatively inexpensive process for removing mercury from the
natural gas condensate. It has been found that the amount of mercury in a natural gas
condensate can be substantially reduced by mixing hydrogen sulfide with the natural gas
condensate and then passing the mixture into a reactor containing a catalyst along with a
stripping gas such as CH4, N2, H2, C2H6 or other inert gas such as argon (Ar) or helium (He).
The catalyst can be any hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst known such as Co/Mo, Ni/Mo
etc. The catalyst can be formed in any conventional manner such as by depositing a
cobalt/molybdenum salt on a solid support, impregnating the solid with aqueous solutions of
the desired cobalt and molybdenum salts and then evaporating the water to dry the catalyst.
The solid can be any suitable solid for the forming of a cobalt/molybdenum catalyst such as
alumina, zirconia, silica-alumina etc. Suitable catalysts typically have large surface areas and
pores. In practicing the process, the catalyst is placed in a conventional reactor, such as a
carbon steel reactor and the liquid condensate with hydrogen sulfide as well as the stripping
gas are fed into the reactor and allowed to flow over the catalyst. In the reactor, mercury in
the condensate reacts with the hydrogen sulfide according to the following formula:

H2S + Hg = HgS + H2
HgS is readily adsorbed by the catalyst. The stream leaving the reactor contains the natural
gas condensate with a reduced amount of mercury and H2S and the stripping gas. In order to
separate these components, the pressure of the stream is reduced, thereby allowing the
stripping gas to leave the condensate. At this point in the process, the stripping gas serves to
remove the non-reacted H2S from the condensate. In commercial production, the stripping
gas is recycled or sent for further processing.