Presentation: 2025 ND EPSCoR Annual conference 

October 21, 2025, NDSU Memorial Union, Fargo, North Dakota

Design and Validation of a Bench-top Apparatus to Compare Oilfield H2S Sequestrants

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a hazardous by-product of oil and gas extraction. It is either preformed and trapped in rock layers of hydrocarbon formations which are released when extracted, or the H2S is produced from hydrocarbon consuming anaerobic bacteria as a byproduct of metabolism. H2S is explosive, toxic, and corrosive, representing a significant challenge to safe and efficient petroleum extraction in petroleum industries in the United States. Capturing H2S from natural gas flows is a major concern for oil and gas companies. This study designed and constructed a relatively simple and cost-effective reaction vessel that mimics the dynamics of on-site H2S capturing structures. Triazine based scavengers are the most common in regular use in the US oil industry. Therefore, to validate the design, two different triazine based scavengers, 50% MEA triazine and 30% MMA triazine, both entrained in a methanol based solution were tested for their effectiveness in H2S removal under varying conditions. The 50% MEA triazine solution effectively removed H2S at all concentrations and flow rates as compared to the 30% solution, which matches field observations, validating this design. This experimental setup provides a practical method for evaluating which scavenger offers the best balance of efficiency and cost-effectiveness in industrial use. The results demonstrated that a miniature reaction vessel can accurately model conditions in industrial-scale H2S removal from natural gas process streams. This experimental methodology may help develop a standardized procedure for testing novel H2S scavengers.