20-09-2017

Honeywell to provide cryogenic gas processing plant to Cureton Midstream

Honeywell today announced that its UOP Russell business will provide a turn-key cryogenic gas processing plant to Cureton Midstream, LLC. The new plant is designed to extract 99 percent of ethane and 100 percent of propane from natural gas in Weld County, Colorado, located in the Niobrara basin.

The UOP Russell solution includes supply and installation of modular cryogenic, dehydration, acid gas removal, residue compression, control system, flare system and site electrical equipment, in addition to site utility systems and buildings for office, control room, motor control center, and compressor requirements. The turn-key plant design streamlines project schedules and delivers a custom, gas-specific plant with proven uptime and reliability, built on the experience of nearly 130 previous cryogenic units.

The plant uses an advanced cycle recycle split vapor (RSV) process to recover natural gas liquids (NGLs) from residue gas for use as petrochemical feedstocks, increasing the value of feed gas supplied to Cureton by independent gas producers.

“Cureton chose the UOP Russell solution because it’s a proven and cost-effective way to extract the more valuable natural gas liquids from the gas stream,” said Craig Ranta, business director, UOP Russell. “The plant is pre-engineered but customized for the unique feed gas composition in the basin, and the modular design provides quick installation and start up in about 12 months.”

Cryogenic gas processing plants cool the gas in a demethanizer column until the more valuable NGLs precipitate into a liquid. These heavier components extracted from the natural gas can be used as fuels, fuel blending components and other valuable petrochemicals.

The plant is designed to accommodate the NGL-rich gas in Weld County. The plant’s low capital and operating expense, coupled with ultra-high NGL recovery, allowed Cureton to offer gas producers more favorable processing terms, positioning the company to recover very high levels of ethane and propane as prices for those NGLs continue to rise.

Cureton is a Denver-based midstream company focused on providing commercial solutions to its customers. Cureton was founded in 2016, bringing experience in engineering, construction and operating assets across the United States. The company has overseen projects and operations in Colorado, North Dakota, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.