Non-catalytic partial oxidation of sour natural gas

There is a need to convert the natural gas reserves available in Saudi Arabia to value-added products preferably transportable products (fuels) and/or chemicals. The proposed method makes use of what is known as non-catalytic partial oxidation of sour natural gas. The method offers a promising alternative in utilizing surplus natural gas inexpressibly by eliminating the costly gas sweetening process needed for conventional steam-reforming. The work presented in this paper is carried out to validate the technical feasibility of the proposed process. Preliminary results are reported using computer-aided process simulation software.