Mercury doesn’t always behave as expected.
In a challenging unconventional gas development, a paraffin-rich crude was found to contain mercury concentrations up to ten times above the 100 µg/kg sales specification. Despite the high concentrations, more than 90% of the mercury was elemental and purgeable — physically trapped within the wax rather than chemically bound.
Conventional mercury removal technologies proved ineffective or unsuitable.
Qa3 developed a different approach: gas purging.
Laboratory trials demonstrated that the purgeable mercury could be successfully removed. The process was then proven in the field using a modified stabilisation column before being incorporated into a full-scale stabilisation module with integrated gas purging.
The result?
Consistent removal of more than 98% of purgeable mercury.
This project demonstrates the value of understanding mercury speciation, phase behaviour and the characteristics of the hydrocarbon itself. By looking beyond conventional treatment methods, Qa3 developed a practical, scalable solution to a problem that existing technologies could not solve.
When mercury behaves differently, the solution needs to as well.
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