Acid gas

Acid gas is a particular typology of natural

gas or any other gas mixture containing
significant quantities of hydrogen sulfide
(H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), or similar
acidic gases.

The term/s acid gas and sour gas are often

incorrectly treated as synonyms. Strictly
speaking, a sour gas is any gas that
specifically contains hydrogen sulfide in
significant amounts; an acid gas is any
gas that contains significant amounts of
acidic gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2)
or hydrogen sulfide. Thus, carbon dioxide
by itself is an acid gas but not a sour gas.

Processing and safety

Before a raw natural gas containing
hydrogen sulfide and/or carbon dioxide
can be used, the raw gas must be treated
to reduce impurities to acceptable levels
and this is commonly done with an amine
gas treating process.[1][2] The removed
H2S is most often subsequently converted
to by-product elemental sulfur in a Claus
process or alternatively converted to
valuable sulfuric acid in a WSA Process
unit.

Processes within oil refineries or natural-

gas processing plants that remove
mercaptans and/or hydrogen sulfide are
commonly referred to as 'sweetening'
processes because they result in products
which no longer have the sour, foul odors
of mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide.

Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas. It also

restricts the materials that can be used for
piping and other equipment for handling
sour gas, as many metals are sensitive to
sulfide stress cracking.

Carbon dioxide at concentrations of 7% to

10.1% cause dizziness, headache, visual
and hearing dysfunction, and
unconsciousness within a few minutes to
an hour. Concentrations above 17% are
lethal when exposed for more than one
minute.[3]

See also
Oil refinery
Rectisol
 Selexol

References
1. NaturalGas.org website page
Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback
Machine Processing Natural Gas
2. Energy Information Agency website
page Archived 2011-03-04 at the
Wayback Machine Natural Gas
Processing: The Crucial Link Between
Natural Gas Production and Its
Transportation to Market
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
"Carbon Dioxide as a Fire Suppressant:
Examining the Risks"
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