Bryan, texas, usa abstract many rules of thumb are widely used in the design and operation of amine sweetening units. This is an overall description of how the amine gas treating process works. Amine unit performance is directly affected by solvent and equipment limitations. Amine treating plant general operation blue sky midstream. Amine gas treating, also known as amine scrubbing, gas sweetening and acid gas removal. Selection of amine in natural gas sweetening process for acid. First, co2 and h2s removal stage which is constructed to assure that co2 would not exceed 50 ppm in the natural gas feed. Schematic drawing of a typical amine treating unit. Amine plant corrosion figure 1 depicts a typical alkanolamine treating unit.
H 2 s is a highly toxic gas that is corrosive to carbon steels. The rich amine surge drum, d101, provides approximately 30 minutes of residence time which allow separation of the hydrocarbon from the amine solution. Ngl2 adip unit for utility gas sweetening of umm said. Amine treating unit the amine treating unit is shown schematically in figure 1. Typical process flow sheet for amine absorption unit prepared in 58. An amine treating unit captures hydrogen sulfide and other acidic gases from the refinery gas streams and concentrates them into an amine solution. Rich amine is further heated in the regeneration still column, by heat supplied from the reboiler. The amine cannot be released from these strong acids under the conditions in the regenerator. Shown here is the regeneration system, which is typically. The amine solution, carrying absorbed acid gases, leaves the tower for the heat exchanger or optional flash tank.
Contaminant reporting in amine gas treating service. Aqueous solution of mea is used as gas stream scrubbing liquid in amine treatment unit. A typical amine sweetening process includes an absorber unit and a regenerator unit. Amine treating is one of the most widelyused and costeffective methods of removing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from hydrocarbon streams. They are, however, relatively expensive, and it is frequently desirable to make. Acid gas removal processes utilize amines or specialty solvents to remove acid gases such as h2s andor co2 from refinery fuel gas rfg in order to meet the gas quality specifications. Pdf a technical report on gas sweetening system researchgate. The process is known as gas sweetening or acid gas removal, using various alkanolamines, commonly. Amine treating unit schematic diagram jet fuel mercaptan.
Wikipedia the pfd example amine treating unit schematic diagram was drawn using the conceptdraw pro diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the chemical. It is a common unit process used in refineries, and is also used in petrochemical plants, natural gas processing. It is also used to capture acidic gases from raw or sour natural gasses. Amine treatment unit uses methyl di ethanol amine or mdea to remove h 2 s and co 2 gases from other lighter hydrocarbon gases. In the absorber, the amine solution absorbs h 2 s and co 2 from the sour gas to. Amine gas treating, also known as gas sweetening or acid gas removal, refers to a practice that uses various alkanolamines also known as amines to remove h 2 s and co 2 from natural gas streams. The mea reacts with acidic compounds dissolved in the. Many amine units which are operating very inefficiently could be optimized by simply changing amines. An evaluation of general rules of thumb in amine sweetening unit design and operation luke addington and chris ness bryan research and engineering, inc. The rich amine surge drum, d101, provides approximately 30.
Amine gas treating, also known as amine scrubbing, gas sweetening and acid gas removal, refers to a group of processes that use aqueous solutions of various alkylamines commonly referred to simply. The industry has been quick to embrace this new technology because of its economic advantages. Simulation and optimization of an lpg absorber in an. Contaminant reporting in amine gas treating service by randy haws and jim jenkins ccr technologies inc. Second stage is an amine regenerator where h 2 s and co 2 are stripped away from the liquid. The claus process is the most significant gas desulfurizing process, recovering elemental sulfur from gaseous hydrogen sulfide.
The development of selective amine treating units has resulted in an increase in plant efficiency. Amine gas treating unit best practices troubleshooting. Amine treating, or sweetening, is the most widely used method of removing co2 and h2s. High amine concentrations rich amine loadings oxygen. Mea treating units are relatively simple, can be pack aged and skid mounted, and designed for unattended operation. Hydrogen sulfide h2s, carbon dioxide co2, mercaptans, and other contaminants are often found in natural gas streams. Workshop program gas sweetening amine treating module 1 introduction to amine processing module 2 process principles module 3 amine chemistry and solvent selection module 4. Amine gas sweetening is a proven technology that removes h. The contactor is an inline static mixer also known as a motionless mixer fed by the combined flow of ygrade ngl feed. Final selection is ultimately base d on process economics. Rules of thumb in amine sweetening unit design and operation. The advantage of the process is that the combination dehydration and sweetening unit results in lower equipment cost than would be required with the standard.
This pump increases the amine pressure high enough for it to enter into the top of the amine. For example, rich amine co2 loadings are usually recommended to be kept below about 0. First stage is an amine contactor where gases are bought in contact with amine and h 2 s and co 2 are absorbed in the liquid phase. Very typical to find an amine treating system to remove h. However, in an amine treating unit, co2 is the stronger acid of the two. Untreated natural gas containing carbon dioxide c0 2 and hydrogen sulfide h 2 s flows into the bottom of the amine contactor where it contacts countercurrent flowing aminewater. Acid gas loading in amine solutions for natural gas. Amine sweetening units have been used in gas processing for nearly 80 years to remove h2s and co2 from sour gas streams. Operating issues with amine units corrosion caused by. The development of selective amine treating units has. Amine units constitute an exception to the aforesaid, since gas treatment.
Rich amine is heated by hot regenerated lean amine in the heat exchanger. Simulation and optimization of an lpg absorber in an industrial amine treating unit 73 absorber and have used an aspen hysis simulator. The advanced amine training and sulphur recovery course is specifically aimed at those who already have prior training andor experience i. Using the wellknown protreat ratebased mass transfer. The lean amine is then further cooled in the lean amine cooler airfin and delivered to the solution pumps. Shown here are the regeneration and gas inlet systems, which are typically spaced. Selecting amines for sweetening units bryan research. Amine gas treating, also known as amine scrubbing, gas sweetening and acid gas removal, refers to a group of processes that use aqueous solutions of various alkylamines commonly referred to simply as amines to remove hydrogen sulfide h 2 s and carbon dioxide co 2 from gases. The function of each component in the amine gas treating unit will be explained and discussed in detail later in this. First patented in 1883 by the chemist carl friedrich claus, the claus process. Amine treating plants remove co 2 carbon dioxide and h 2 s hydrogen sulfide from natural gas. Dissolved gas a weak acid reacts with weakly basic amines. Acid gas treating chapter 10 based on presentation by prof. Opero energys amine units utilize both generic amine solutions and proprietaryformulated solvents to treat.
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