Process for upgrading natural gas with improved management of CO

1. A process for producing a CO 2 -depleted product gas stream, comprising:

feeding a natural gas feed stream comprising water vapor and greater than about 10 vol % CO 2 to at least one membrane unit comprising a plurality of polymer membranes to provide a CO 2 -rich permeate comprising at least 95 vol % CO 2 and a CO 2 -depleted product gas stream, the polymer membranes comprising a crosslinked polyimide polymer having covalent ester crosslinks and having a CO 2 permeance of at least 20 GPU and a CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity of greater than 20, at 35 degrees C. and a feed pressure of 100 psia.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the natural gas feed stream comprises greater than about 15 vol % CO 2 .

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 -depleted product gas stream comprises between about 50 ppmv and about 23 vol % CO 2 .

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the CO 2 -depleted product gas stream has a heating value between about 300 BTU/scf and about 1500 BTU/scf.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polyimide polymer has a ratio of crosslinkable sites to imide groups of between 3:8 and 1:16.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked polyimide polymer is made from the monomers A+B+C, where A is a dianhydride of the formula:

X 1 and X 2 are the same or different halogenated alkyl, phenyl or halogen;

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 are H, alkyl, or halogen;

B is a diamino cyclic compound without a carboxylic acid functionality;

C is a diamino cyclic compound with a carboxylic acid functionality; and

wherein the ratio of B to C is between 1:4 and 8:1.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the natural gas feed stream comprises between about 15 vol % and about 80 vol % CO 2 .

8. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising a step selected from the group consisting of venting the CO 2 -rich permeate to the atmosphere, reinjecting the CO 2 -rich permeate, sequestering the CO 2 -rich permeate, and combinations thereof.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one membrane unit is located at a remote, offshore location and further comprising forwarding the CO 2 -depleted product gas stream through a pipeline to an onshore location.

10. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one membrane unit comprises a first stage membrane unit and a second stage membrane unit.

11. The process according to claim 10 , further comprising:

feeding the natural gas feed stream to the first stage membrane unit to provide a first permeate stream and the CO 2 depleted product gas stream;

feeding the first permeate stream to the second stage membrane unit to provide the CO 2 -rich permeate and a second retentate stream; and

combining the second retentate stream with the natural gas feed stream prior to feeding the natural gas feed stream to the first stage membrane unit.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the natural gas feed stream is fed to the at least one membrane unit at a flow rate of between about 10 million scf/day and about 1 billion scf/day.

13. The process according to claim 6 , wherein A is 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA), B is 2,4,6-trimethyl-m-phenylenediamine (DAM), and C is 3,5,-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA).

14. The process according to claim 13 , wherein the ratio of DAM to DABA is 3:2.

15. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer membranes are hollow fiber membranes.

16. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer membranes are composite polymer membranes.

17. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the natural gas feed stream comprises greater than about 10 vol % CO 2 and H 2 S and the CO 2 -rich permeate further comprises H 2 S.

18. A process for producing a CO 2 -depleted product gas stream, comprising:

feeding a natural gas feed stream comprising water vapor and greater than about 10 vol % CO 2 to at least one membrane unit comprising a plurality of polymer membranes to provide a CO 2 -rich permeate comprising at least 95 vol % CO 2 and a CO 2 -depleted product gas stream, the polymer membranes comprising a crosslinked polyimide polymer having covalent ester crosslinks and having a CO 2 permeance of at least 20 GPU and a CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity of greater than 20, at 35 degrees C. and a feed pressure of 100 psia; and

feeding the CO 2 -depleted product gas stream to an amine unit to provide a CO 2 -rich product from the amine unit and a second CO 2 -depleted product gas stream,

wherein the natural gas feed stream originates from a subsea gas reserve and the amine unit is located at an onshore location.

19. The process according to claim 18 , wherein the at least one membrane unit is located at the onshore location or at a remote, offshore location.

20. The process according to claim 19 , wherein the remote, offshore location is a fixed, floating platform; a mobile, floating facility; or subsea.

21. The process according to claim 18 , further comprising reinjecting or sequestering CO 2 -rich product from the amine unit.

22. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the natural gas feed stream is water vapor saturated.

23. The process according to claim 18 , wherein the natural gas feed stream is water vapor saturated.