Process Intensification and Integration for Sustainable Design

Dominic C. Y. Foo, Mahmoud M. El-Halwagi

• Publisher: Wiley-VCH
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783527345472
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783527818723
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Engineering General
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Presents comprehensive coverage of process intensification and integration for sustainable design, along with fundamental techniques and experiences from the industry

Drawing from fundamental techniques and recent industrial experiences, this book discusses the many developments in process intensification and integration and focuses on increasing sustainability via several overarching topics such as Sustainable Manufacturing, Energy Saving Technologies, and Resource Conservation and Pollution Prevention Techniques.

Process Intensification and Integration for Sustainable Design starts discussions on: shale gas as an option for the production of chemicals and challenges for process intensification; the design and techno-economic analysis of separation units to handle feedstock variability in shale gas treatment; RO-PRO desalination; and techno-economic and environmental assessment of ultrathin polysulfone membranes for oxygen-enriched combustion. Next, it looks at process intensification of membrane-based systems for water, energy, and environment applications; the design of internally heat-integrated distillation column (HIDiC); and graphical analysis and integration of heat exchanger networks with heat pumps. Decomposition and implementation of large-scale interplant heat integration is covered, as is the synthesis of combined heat and mass exchange networks (CHAMENs) with renewables. The book also covers optimization strategies for integrating and intensifying housing complexes; a sustainable biomass conversion process assessment; and more.

• Covers the many advances and changes in process intensification and integration
• Provides side-by-side discussions of fundamental techniques and recent industrial experiences to guide practitioners in their own processes
• Presents comprehensive coverage of topics relevant, among others, to the process industry, biorefineries, and plant energy management
• Offers insightful analysis and integration of reactor and heat exchanger network
• Looks at optimization of integrated water and multi-regenerator membrane systems involving multi-contaminants

Process Intensification and Integration for Sustainable Design is an ideal book for process engineers, chemical engineers, engineering scientists, engineering consultants, and chemists.

1
Shale Gas as an Option for the Production of Chemicals and Challenges for Process Intensification

Andrea P. Ortiz‐Espinozaand Arturo Jiménez‐Gutiérrez

Tecnológico Nacional de México, Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Chemical Engineering Department, Ave Tecnologico y Garcia Cubas, Celaya, 38010, Mexico

1.1 Introduction

Shale gas is unconventional natural gas trapped or adsorbed in shale rock formations. As opposed to conventional natural gas, shale gas is difficult to extract because of the low porosity of the rock formations in which it is confined. This particular characteristic implied a high cost for the extraction of this gas, so that its production remained unfeasible until the development of more suitable extraction technologies, such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling [1]. Hydraulic fracturing is a stimulation technique used to increase the flow rate of gas and oil in low permeability reservoirs. This method consists in injecting high‐pressurized fluids into the well to create fractures and maintain them opened to allow the flux of gas and oil [1,2]. Hydraulic fracturing is generally combined with horizontal drilling to increase the area covered with a lower number of wells. These two technologies have led to an increase in the net production of natural gas in the United States (US) for more than a decade, which has been referred to as the shale gas revolution [1,3].

The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of shale gas and its potential to produce value‐added chemicals. This chapter addresses the following aspects: shale gas composition and places where deposits are located, effect of shale gas discoveries on natural gas prices, alternatives to produce chemicals from shale gas, and opportunities for process intensification.

1.2 Where Is It Found?

Although shale gas has been known for a while, the first shale gas well was drilled in 1821 in Chautauqua, NY, its exploitation was possible only until the development of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies. After the oil crises of the 1970s, the US government and some oil and gas companies, separately, initiated the investment in research projects to evaluate and make shale gas extraction possible. From the beginning of the 2000s, technical and economic factors promoted the idea to produce natural gas from shale formations. The Barnett shale play was the first basin to be exploited in a large scale, with the hydraulic fracturing technology being tested there. Following the success to extract natural gas from the Barnett shale play, shale gas extraction began in other locations. Table 1.1 gives basic information about the major shale gas plays in the United States.

Table 1.1 Major shale gas plays in the United States.

Source: Adapted from EIA 2018 [4].

Shale play	State(s)	Percentage of dry shale gas production in 2018
Marcellus	PA, WV, OH, and NY	32.7
Permian	TX and NM	12.3
Utica	OH, PA, and WV	11.3
Haynesville	LA and TX	11.0
Eagle Ford	TX	7.1
Woodford	OK	5.0
Barnett	TX	4.4
Mississippian	OK	3.8
Niobrara–Codell	CO and WY	3.4
Bakken	ND and MT	2.7
Fayetteville	AR	2.3
Rest of the United States “shale”		4.0

Apart from US reserves, recoverable shale gas resources around the world have been found in countries such as China, Argentina, Algeria, Canada, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, and Russia [3,5]. Despite these discoveries, several factors such as geological aspects and the lack of the necessary infrastructure have curbed the development of the shale gas industry in those other countries [6,7]. Table 1.2 shows the production rates in 2018 for the six countries with more unproved technically recoverable shale gas resources.

Table 1.2 Recent shale gas reserves and production in for the six countries with more shale gas reserves.

Source: From EIA 2015 [13].

Country	Unproved recoverable reserves by 2013 (Tcf)	Production in 2018 (Bcf/yr)	References
China	1115.20	353.15	[8]
Argentina	801.50	365.00	[9]
Algeria	706.90	No production	[10]
United States	662.50 (by 2015)	7079.62	[4]
Canada	572.90	182.80	[11]
Mexico	545.20	No production	[12]

1.3 Shale Gas Composition

One particular characteristic of shale gas is its varying composition. Shale gas composition depends heavily on the location of the sources, and it may variate even within wells in the same play. The primary component of shale gas is methane, but it also contains considerable quantities of natural gas liquids (NGLs) such as ethane and propane. Apart from these components, shale gas also contains acid gases such as CO₂, H₂S, and inorganic components such as nitrogen [5,14]. The separation of NGLs from methane has induced industries to look for alternatives to transform them into more valuable products, but at the same time the varying composition of shale gas represents a challenge for the treatment plants, which have to be robustly designed to handle such variations in the gas composition.

1.4 Shale ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Process Intensification and Integration for Sustainable Design
• Copyright
• dedication-page
• Preface
• 1 Shale Gas as an Option for the Production of Chemicals and Challenges for Process Intensification
• 2 Design and Techno‐Economic Analysis of Separation Units to Handle Feedstock Variability in Shale Gas Treatment
• 3 Sustainable Design and Model‐Based Optimization of Hybrid RO–PRO Desalination Process
• 4 Techno‐economic and Environmental Assessment of Ultrathin Polysulfone Membranes for Oxygen‐Enriched Combustion
• 5 Process Intensification of Membrane‐Based Systems for Water, Energy, and Environment Applications
• 6 Design of Internally Heat‐Integrated Distillation Column (HIDiC)
• 7 Graphical Analysis and Integration of Heat Exchanger Networks with Heat Pumps
• 8 Insightful Analysis and Integration of Reactor and Heat Exchanger Network
• 9 Fouling Mitigation in Heat Exchanger Network Through Process Optimization
• 10 Decomposition and Implementation of Large‐Scale Interplant Heat Integration
• 11 Multi‐objective Optimisation of Integrated Heat, Mass and Regeneration Networks with Renewables Considering Economics and Environmental Impact
• 12 Optimization of Integrated Water and Multi‐regenerator Membrane Systems Involving Multi‐contaminants: A Water‐Energy Nexus Aspect
• 13 Optimization Strategies for Integrating and Intensifying Housing Complexes
• 14 Sustainable Biomass Conversion Process Assessment
• Index
• End User License Agreement