Honeywell to provide third cryogenic gas processing plant at Delaware

Honeywell has announced that its UOP Russell business will provide a third cryogenic gas processing plant to Brazos Midstream. The high-recovery 200 million cubic foot per day (MMcf/d) plant, called Comanche III, will extract valuable natural gas liquids (NGLs) from natural gas produced in the Southern Delaware Basin in Texas.

Included with the plant, Honeywell will provide engineering, fabrication and supply of a modular cryogenic NGL recovery unit. This new plant follows two earlier plants that also were customized specifically to handle the unique gas composition in the Basin.

"With this plant, Brazos now has chosen UOP Russell technology for 460 million cubic feet of gas processing capacity due to our experience with the technology, project management, and reliable installation capabilities," said Craig Ranta, business director, Honeywell UOP Russell. "This new plant follows the on-time completion earlier this year of Brazos' Comanche II plant, which will reduce the installation schedule for Comanche III."

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 process gas in the Delaware portion of the Permian Basin, which is rich in NGLs. By combining low capital and operating expense and ultra-high NGL recovery rates, the plants allow Brazos to offer gas producers more favorable processing terms. This positions Brazos to recover very high levels of ethane and propane as prices for those NGLs continue to rise.