The National Iranian Gas Company will cooperate with an unnamed foreign company on building a refining and sweetening gas unit and employing membrane gas separation technology, NIGC's director for research and technology said.
"By gaining an approval from NIGC's board of managers, the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, the foreign company and NIGC have signed a contract on cooperation in utilizing state-of-the-art technology," Saeid Nikseresht told Shana without naming the company. Under the new method, gas mixtures can be separated by synthetic membranes made from polymers such as polyamide or cellulose acetate, or from ceramic materials.
Nikseresht noted that the pilot project is scheduled to be implemented in Fajr Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr Province.
"Feasibility studies of the plan have been conducted and we are currently at the phase of purchasing equipment and constructing the unit in the refinery," he said, adding that according to the timetable, the unit will become operational in a year.
"By using membrane gas separation technology, pre-purification of gas will be carried out at the amine gas treatment units to lower their load."
Hamidreza Katouzian, the head of RIPI, earlier said the technology for production of gas sweetening solvents, so far only possessed by a handful of major international companies, has been indigenized in Iran.
