By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 7 -- IACX Energy, Dallas, has started up what may be the world's smallest helium purification plant near Otis in Rush County in western Kansas.
Eight of the producers connected a gathering system formerly operated by a Oneok Inc. affiliate are selling low-Btu gas to the plant, which has the capacity to extract 15-30 Mcfd of helium.
IACX polishes the helium to 95% purity, compresses it to 2,800 psi, stores it in tube trailers for transport, and sells it on fixed, take-or-pay contracts. The government-set helium price is $62.25/Mcf.
IACX also operates three nitrogen rejection units with 3 MMcfd of total inlet capacity on the site that bring the 800-Btu raw gas up to pipeline quality. It vents the nitrogen. The first nitrogen unit came on in September 2008.
The company uses pressure swing adsorption, a molecular sieve process that works through activated carbon at low pressure and low volume. A chiller extracts natural gas liquids from the formerly stranded gas.
Gas produced from the Permian Chase Group and Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle formations as deep as 3,000 ft in Reichel field and nearby fields 22 miles northwest of Great Bend contains 1.5% to 2% helium.
Many historical sales points for helium-rich gas are being closed or curtailed by gas purchasers, and helium production is on a sharp downward trend, IACX said. The company operates other nitrogen units in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska.