6.

0 Amine System Description:

6.1 Inlet separation / Pre-treatment:

The design and type of inlet separation should be carefully considered. Inlet separation

equipment can vary from slug catchers, which are generally designed to catch large slugs of

liquids from gas gathering systems where condensing hydrocarbons are prevalent, to cutting

edge technology reverse flow filter-coalescers. Experience indicates that inlet feed gas

filtration is very important and critical in the trouble-free operation of the amine treating

system. The cleaner an amine system is, the better the system operates. Many of the

contaminants that cause poor performance can enter the amine system via the inlet feed gas.

In most cases, the inlet separator of the amine system is sized based on the feed gas being a

relatively dry stream, removing only condensed water and hydrocarbons. The separator is

typically a vertical vessel with a side inlet and top outlet for the feed gas to the absorber with

a wire-mesh mist pad in the top of the separator. Standard mist elimination pads common in

inlet separation vessels have 99% efficiency down to about 10 microns. But, the efficiency drops rapidly
for droplets below 10 microns. Wire-mesh pads have been reported to have 97

per cent removal efficiency at 8 microns; falling off to 50 per cent efficiency at the 21⁄2-

micron level. In applications where it is anticipated that the inlet gas may contain particulate

such as FeS, a filter-separator may be required. This equipment typically consists of a

horizontal vessel with filters in the inlet end of the vessel to remove the FeS followed by mist

pads or impingement baffles with a separator chamber to collect any separated liquids.

Aerosols, which may be as small as 1⁄2 micron, are not removed effectively by standard mist

elimination pads. If aerosols are determined to be present, high technology coalescing

filtration systems are available which can remove aerosols in the sub-micron range. A water

wash system on the inlet feed gas consisting of a small trayed (4-5 trays) or packed column is

also effective in removing aerosols formed by upstream equipment. Consideration of a

reverse flow coalescer may also be dictated by the necessity to remove iron sulfide from the
inlet feed gas that can be as small as sub-micron in size.

6.2 Flash vessel:

The rich amine flash vessel is designed to remove soluble and entrained hydrocarbons from

the amine solution and should be operated at as low a pressure as possible in order to

maximize hydrocarbon recovery. The removal of hydrocarbons reduces the amine solution

foaming potential. Normal operating pressure of the flash vessel ranges from 5 psig to 75

psig, depending upon the disposition of the flash vessel vent stream. A rich amine pump is

usually required to pump the rich amine through the lean/rich cross exchanger to the

regenerator if the flash vessel operating pressure is lower than 50 psig. A flash vessel should

be considered a process requirement in refinery gas treating applications and should be

strongly considered in gas plant applications treating wet natural gas (> 8 % C2+) or where a

considerable amount of hydrocarbon may be present due to condensation or pipeline

slugging. If significant quantities of hydrocarbon gases are flashed from the amine solution in

the flash vessel, an absorber with 4-6 trays or an equivalent amount of packing is installed on

the top of the flash vessel. A slipstream of lean amine is fed to this absorber to remove H2S

and CO2 from the hydrocarbon flash gas prior to going into the fuel gas system. The flash

vessel should have adequate instrumentation and level gauges to enable operational personnel

to check periodically for the presence of a hydrocarbon layer on top of the amine solution.

The flash vessel design should incorporate an internal baffle system as shown in Figure 2

above that allows the hydrocarbon collected in the vessel to be routinely skimmed off. A

minimum design residence time for a three phase flash vessel of 20 minutes based on the

flash vessel operating half full is recommended. Amine systems treating very dry natural gas

(<2 % C2 +) or Syn-Gas streams with very little hydrocarbon content can utilize a lower flash

vessel residence time of 5 minutes if a flash vessel is incorporated into the amine unit design.
 Figure 8. Schematic representation of a flash tank

6.3 Absorber:

The absorber diameter is determined primarily by the flow rate of the inlet feed gas. The

circulation rate of the amine solution is best determined by rigorous equilibrium loading

calculations based on the acid gas content of the inlet sour gas, the strength of the amine

solution, the volume of inlet sour gas and the type of amine. For a given absorber application

and amine type, a set of curves can be developed if one of the three variables is relatively

constant. For example, if inlet feed gas flow rate is relatively constant; a series of curves can

be developed utilizing the acid gas content and the amine solution strength as independent

variables. Rigorous calculations and simulations should be performed to confirm the quick

estimates, especially for applications utilizing MDEA and the formulated MDEA solvents.

The amine solution temperature entering the absorber should be 10 to 15 °F higher than the

inlet feed gas temperature to prevent condensation of hydrocarbon in the contactor, which can

cause foaming. The inlet feed gas typically enters the absorber at 100 - 120 °F. Therefore, the

typical range of lean amine solvent temperature is 115 - 135 °F. As a practical maximum,
though dependent upon the particular amine and absorber application, the lean amine solvent

temperature should generally not exceed 135 °F. High lean solvent temperatures can lead to

poor solvent performance due to H2S equilibrium problems on the top tray of the absorber or

increased solution losses due to excessive vaporization losses.

A differential pressure instrument should be installed on the absorber and stripper tower to

monitor the differential pressure across the trays or packing. The differential pressure should

be measured from just below the first tray or section of packing to just above the last tray or

section. A sharp increase in the absorber/stripper differential pressure is an excellent

indication that a foaming problem exists in the system. The typical absorber design does not

usually include a provision for several water wash trays (2-4 trays) above the last amine-

contacting tray to reduce amine entrainment/carryover into the sweet gas residue. However, with the
increasing use of specialty solvents in gas treating, amine loss control is becoming

an important issue; therefore, an absorber water wash system on the absorber overhead may

be justifiable in newer amine system designs. Following similar logic, many existing amine

systems are being retrofitted with an absorber overhead carryover scrubber to recover amine

carryover from the absorber.

6.4 Tray & packed type absorber:

In general both packed and tray type absorbers are used however when selective removal of

H2S is preferred to CO2, then packed tower becomes the obvious choice. H2S reacts much

faster with the solvent than CO2 and this aspect of the reaction kinetics is employed in packed

tower which owing to low hold up provides shorter contact time between the phases to

achieve preferential absorption.

Table 7, gives a comparison between performances of both type of towers for similar

operating conditions.
 Table 7: Tray vs Packing in selective removal application

Although bubble-cap trays and raschig ring packings were once commonly used in amine

plant absorbers and strippers, modem plants are generally designed to use more effective

trays (e.g.. sieve or valve types) and improved packing shapes (e.g., Pall rings or high-

performance proprietary designs). Very high-performance structured packing is seldom used

for large commercial gas treating plants because of its high cost and sensitivity to plugging

by small particles suspended in the solution. The choice between trays and packing is

somewhat arbitrary because either can usually be designed to do an adequate job, and the

overall economics are seldom decisively in favor of one or the other. At this time, sieve tray

columns are probably the most popular for both absorbers and strippers in conventional, huge

commercial amine plants; while packed columns are often used for revamps to increase

capacity or efficiency and for special applications. Tray columns are particularly applicable

for high pressure columns, where pressure drop is not an important consideration and gas

purity specifications can readily be attained with about 20 trays. Packing is often specified for
CO2 removal columns, where a high degree of CO2 removal is desired and the low efficiency

of trays may result in objectionably tall columns. Packing is also preferred for columns where pressure
drop and possible foam formation are important considerations. Packing should not

be used in absorbers treating unsaturated gases that can readily polymerize (propadiene,

butadiene, butylene, etc.) as gum formation can lead to plugging of the packing. Also,

packing should not be used in treating gases containing H2S which are contaminated with

oxygen because of the potential for plugging with elemental sulfur. Table 1-5 represents a

simplified design guide for both tray and packed type amine absorption column.

Table 8: Trays vs. packing in selective treating with 50% MDEA

After establishing the liquid and gas flow rates, the column operating conditions and the

physical properties of the two streams, the required diameters of both the absorber and

stripping column can be calculated by conventional techniques. Various correlations have

been proposed and available in literature. Pressure drop and flooding data for proprietary

packing designs are available from the manufacturers. It is usually necessary to use a

conservative safety factor in conjunction with published packing correlations because of the

possibility of foaming and solids deposition in gas treating applications.

 Figure 9: Estimation of diameter for tray type amine absorption column

Column heights for amine plant absorbers and strippers are usually established on the basis of

experience with similar plants. Almost all installations that utilize primary or secondary

amines for essentially complete acid gas removal are designed with about 20 trays (or a

packed height equivalent to 20 trays) in the absorber. In bulk acid gas removal applications,

experience has shown that if a 20-tray column is supplied with sufficient amine so that the

rich solvent leaving the absorber has an acid gas loading that is 75 to 80% of the equilibrium

value, then the amine on the upper 5 to 10 absorber trays is very close to equilibrium with the

H2S in the treated gas leaving these trays. Therefore, in these circumstances, the H2S content

of the treated gas is independent of the absorber design and depends only on the lean amine

temperature and the amine regenerator performance.

Absorbers with 20 trays can usually meet all common treated gas CO2 specifications;

however, more than 20 trays may be required if CO2 in the treated gas is to be close to
equilibrium with the lean amine. Therefore, in applications such as synthesis gas treating,

where it is advantageous to reduce the CO2 content of the treated gas to very low levels,

absorbers containing more than 20 trays or the equivalent height of packing are often

specified. In typical 20-tray absorbers, the bulk of the acid gas is absorbed in the bottom half

of the column, while the top portion serves to remove the last traces of acid gas and reduce its

concentration to the required product gas specification. With sufficient trays and amine, the

ultimate purity of the product gas is limited by equilibrium with the lean solution at the

product gas temperature.

When water washing is necessary to minimize amine loss (e.g., with low-pressure MEA

absorbers), two to four additional trays are commonly installed above the acid gas absorption

section. A high efficiency mist eliminator is recommended for the very top of the absorber to

minimize carryover of amine solution or water.

Stripping columns commonly contain 12 to 20 trays below the feed point and two to six trays

above the feed to capture vaporized amine. The less volatile amines, such as DEA and MDEA, require
fewer trays above the feed point to achieve adequate recovery of amine

vapors. Typical DEA and MDEA stripping columns use two to four trays, while MEA

systems use four to six trays above the feed point Equilibrium conditions alone would

indicate that the above numbers are overly conservative; however, the trays above the feed

point serve to remove droplets of amine solution, which may be entrained by foaming or

jetting action, as well as amine vapor.

6.5 Lean/Rich cross heat exchanger:

The temperature of rich amine leaving the absorber will be 130 to 160 °F [54.4 to 71.1 °C]

and the lean amine from the reboiler will be 240 to 260 °F [115.6 to 126.7 °C]. The rich

amine outlet from the lean/rich cross exchanger is typically designed for a temperature of

200-210 °F [93.3-98.9 °C], although some amine system designs based on MDEA and

formulated MDEA solvents have designed around a rich amine feed temperature to the
stripper of 220 °F [104.4 °C]. Based upon the above amine temperatures, the lean amine from

the lean/rich cross exchanger will be cooled to about 180 °F [82.2 °C].

The most common problem encountered in the lean/rich cross exchanger is corrosion due to

flashing acid gases at the outlet of the exchanger or in the rich amine feed line to the

regenerator. High rich amine loading due to reduced circulation rate or low solvent

concentration increases the potential for acid gas flashing. In many applications, especially

for MEA and DGA Agent, a stainless steel (304 or 316) lean/rich exchanger tube bundle

should be considered. Stainless steel metallurgy is also more likely to be considered in high

CO2/H2S feed gas ratio applications. Adequate pressure should be maintained on the rich

solution side of the lean/rich exchanger to reduce acid gas flashing and two-phase flow

through the exchanger. Two-phase flow through the exchanger can be a major cause of

erosion/corrosion in the cross exchanger. In order to reduce flashing and two phase flow, the

final letdown valve on the rich amine, i.e. the flash tank level control valve, should be located

downstream of the exchanger and as close as practical to the feed nozzle of the regenerator.

6.6 Liquid/liquid contactor:

The liquid/liquid treater is often the source of much of the losses and problems encountered

in the amine system especially in refinery amine units. Amine carried out the treater with the

LPG hydrocarbon can be a major source of amine losses as well as a major problem to

downstream units such as the caustic treater. Additionally, losing the amine-hydrocarbon

interface can introduce large amounts of hydrocarbon into the amine system, completely

overwhelming downstream equipment, such as the rich amine flash tank and the carbon

filtration system, causing significant problems. The amine liquid treater design criteria

presented in Figure 3 and discussed further below assume the LPG/amine interface control is

maintained in the top of the LPG treater.

 Figure 10: Typical design guideline for liquid hydrocarbon/amine absorption column

The general rule of thumb for determining the diameter of the absorber is that the combined

LPG and amine flow should equate to 10-15 gpm/ft2 of the absorber cross sectional area. The

LPG-amine treater is typically a packed tower. The LPG is the dispersed phase while the

amine is the continuous phase. Ceramic or steel packing is recommended so the amine will

preferentially wet the packing and reduce the coalescing of the LPG on the packing which

can reduce the absorber efficiency. Aqueous solvents preferentially wet ceramic packing.

Either an aqueous or organic solvent, depending upon the initial solvent exposure,

preferentially wets metal packing. Plastic packing should be avoided since organic solvents

preferentially wet them. Typical packing size is 11⁄2 to 2 inches with 2 to 3 sections of

packing with a depth of 10 feet /section. It is recommended that the LPG distributor be below

the lower packed bed with the LPG flowing through a disperser-support plate. A ladder-type

distributor is a common satisfactory arrangement. The distributor velocity of both

hydrocarbon and amine are important. The hydrocarbon distributor velocity is critical. The

velocity must be sufficient to allow adequate mixing on the trays or packing but not so severe

that an emulsion is formed and phase separation is difficult. The critical amine and

hydrocarbon velocities are fairly low. The recommended design LPG distributor velocity is
70 ft/min. The hydrocarbon droplet size is also very important. If the dispersed hydrocarbon

droplet is too large, poor treating is the result. Excessive LPG distributor velocities which

result in smaller droplet size makes phase separation difficult due to emulsion formation

especially if residence time is marginal. The LPG distributor orifice diameter is typically 1⁄4

inch. Larger orifices produce non-uniform droplets. Distributor orifices that are too small can

produce emulsions thus increasing the absorber amine carryover potential. When the

hydrocarbon superficial velocity exceeds the design criteria of 130 ft/hr, the number of

orifices is usually increased rather than increasing the orifice size. The entrance velocity of

the amine is less critical but should be limited to 170 ft/min to reduce interference with the

dispersed LPG rising through the absorber. The amine superficial velocity should be limited

to 60 ft/hr. The amine-hydrocarbon interface is usually maintained by a level controller operating with
the level above the packed section of the absorber. Thus the absorber operates

full of amine, commonly referred to as amine continuous. Carryover of amine in the LPG is a

common problem. In order to minimize the amine losses, additional headspace should be

provided above the normal amine-LPG level for disengagement of the amine and LPG. A

coalescer or settling tank is often installed downstream of the liquid treater to aid in the

removal of entrained amine from the hydrocarbon. The combined residence time in the

absorber and coalescer should be 20 to 30 minutes. A recirculating wash water system to aid

in separation should also be considered. The water wash reduces the entrained amine

viscosity and aids disengagement in the settling tank.