(587e) Soybean Oil As a Bio-Solvent to Sweeten Sour Natural Gas

Soybean oils are readily available bioresources composed of unsaturated fatty acids capable of binding sulfur compounds. Predictive models offer an opportunity to develop cost-effective methods using bio-based solvents to sweeten natural gas. While increases in fracking have increased availability of natural gas – a fuel that when combusted produces less greenhouse gases than coal or gasoline – natural gas is rich in hydrogen sulfide, rendering it sour gas. Hydrogen sulfide is corrosive to processing equipment and poses risks to human health and the environment. Predictive models such as COSMO-RS, the conductor-like screening model for real solvents, can be used to examine interactions at a molecular level, screen solvents, and choose process parameters. COSMO-RS was used to simulate the partitioning of hydrogen sulfide between soybean oil, high oleic soybean oil, free fatty acids, and gas phases. Predicted partition coefficient (K) values ranged from 0.16 to 0.70 for soybean and high oleic soybean oils at temperatures from 10 - 100°C; K values between 0 – 1 are indicative of hydrogen sulfide’s preference for the liquid phase over the gas phase. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of removing H₂S from gas using soybean oils and are compared to the predicted partitioning. This study provides proof-of-concept for using high oleic soybean oil as a bio-based solvent as a new method for cleaning sour gas.