Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils, Vol. 49, No. 4, September, 2013 (Russian Original No.

4, July August,2013)

TECHNOLOGY

EFFECT OF LEAN AMINE TEMPERATURE ON AMINE GAS SWEETENING: CASE

STUDY AND SIMULATION

R. Abdulrahman1 and I. Sebastine2

We use the Aspen HYSYS software to simulate the process of amine sweetening of natural gas with high
acid gas content. We analyze the effect of the lean amine (absorbent) temperature on the acid gas
content in the sweetened gas and saturated amine solution (the rich amine). We found that the optimal
temperature for the regenerated amine solution (lean amine), at which the maximum sweetening of the
gas is achieved with minimum amine circulation rate, is within the range 38C-45C.
Key words: natural gas, acid gas impurities, regenerated amine solution/lean amine, process simulation,
Aspen HYSYS, absorption, desorption.
The presence of acid gas impurities in natural gas means that the impurities must be removed from the gas
before delivery to pipelines. In gas delivery contracts, the hydrogen sulfide content is limited to 4 ppm; the carbon
dioxide content is limited to 2 vol.% [1]. The following technologies are well known for sweetening natural gas to
remove acid gas impurities: chemisorption, solid bed sweetening, physical absorption. Amine gas sweetening,
using solutions of amines, is the most widely used.
The type of amine and the concentration of its solution are important for achieving the required level of
gas sweetening, but other important parameters which should be controlled by the operators include the sour gas
stream (feed) pressure and the lean amine (regenerated absorber) temperature. In fact, the latter is one of the most
important process parameters and has a significant effect on the extraction of acid gas impurities (amine acid gas
loading), amine consumption for sweetening a unit volume of gas, and operating costs. Furthermore, the acid gas
content in the saturated amine solution (rich amine acid gas loading) should be within a certain range in order to
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
1
School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Koya University, Kurdistan region, Iraq. 2 School of
Science & Engineering, Teesside University, UK. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 4,
pp. 10 12, July August, 2013.
0009-3092/13/49040293 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

293

294
Li

ne

o
nd

a
et
inl r e
l
a
u
qu s s
f e pre

Sulfanol,
Rectisol,
Selexol

utl

et

Regenerated absorbent (lean amine)

E-102

Absorbent

E-101
T-102

Water

Acid gases

solution (lean amine); MIX-100 mixer; V-102 separator.

Fig. 2 Flowchart for gas sweetening process using a DEA solution: T-101, T-102 respectively absorber and
desorber; V-101 separator for degassing amine; E-101 heat exchanger; E-102 heater for regenerated amine

MIX-100

Water

Water

Carbon dioxide

V-101

Saturated absorbent (rich amine)

T-101

Sweet gas

Fig. 1 Graph for selecting the gas sweetening process to remove acid gas impurities.

Natural gas

V-102

Sulfanol, Stretford,
Vetrocoke, Adip

MDEA,
sulfanol,
Adip

MDEA,
sulfanol,
Rectisol,
Selexol

Partial pressure of H 2S in sweet gas product, kPa

Partial pressure of CO 2
in inlet sour feed gas, kPa

provide the required level of gas sweetening. A change in the lean amine temperature during the process can have
a considerable effect on the overall process efficiency.
As shown by the results of studies, in particular [2], for all amines the optimal lean amine temperature
is 38C. At this temperature, the best acid gas loading in the rich amine solution (saturated absorbent) is achieved
and accordingly the minimum possible amine circulation rate. The circulation rate in turn is considered one of the
major factors determining the degree of removal of acid gas impurities. Obviously a higher circulation rate means
higher energy costs. Thus an improperly selected lean amine temperature results in reduced amine acid gas
loading and will lead to increased acid gas content in the sweet gas. In this case, the operators will be forced to
increase the amine circulation rate in order to ensure the required level of gas sweetening. And increasing the
circulation rate inevitably leads to an increase in energy costs and operating costs overall.
The aim of this work was to use the Aspen HYSYS software to simulate the effect of lean amine temperature
on the acid gas content in the sweet gas and the saturated amine solution. The studied natural gas has high acid
gas content: 5.38% H 2S and 4.48% CO 2. The gas composition and properties are given below.

Flow rate, std m 3/h

Density, kg/m 3

120 000
0.65

Pressure, kPa
Temperature, C

7000

gas stream temperature

maximum ambient temperature
Composition, mol%
H2S

38
38
5.38

CO 2
N2

4.48
0.11

CH4
C2H6

63.35
13.9

C3H8
iso-410

6.03
1.36

n-410
iso-512

2.44
1.03

n-514
C6H14

0.73
1.19

Water is not taken into account in the gas composition presented. The water content in the gas was
determined using an empirical plot [3]. The determined water content W in the gas is 1000 kg/10 6 std m 3. The water
content Y w in mole fractions was calculated from the equation [3]:
W 751320Yw

from which Y w = 0.001330991 0.13%. Then we recalculated the gas composition taking into account the water
content, and found the flow rate for its individual components (see Table 1).

295

Table 1
Componen ts

Flow rate
kmol/h

kg/h

Composition , mol %

H2 S

288.03

9815.06

5.37

CO2
N2
CH4

239.85
5.89
3391.63

10555.80
165.01
54333.92

4.47
0.11
63.27

C2H6
C3H8

744.18
322.83

22377.42
14233.75

13.88
6.02

iso-C4H1 0
n-C4 H10
iso-CHn

72.81
130.63
55.14

4232.03
7592.76
3978.65

1.36
2.44
1.03

39.08
63.71
7.13

2819.82
5490.35
128.27

0.73
1.19
0.13

5360.92

135722.80

100.00

n-C5 H14
C6H1 4
H2 O

The total acid gas content in the inlet sour gas feed is 9.8 mol%; the required acid gas content in the outlet
sweet gas stream is 2 mol % CO 2 and 4 ppm H 2S, i.e., we can assume 2 mol%. Fig. 1 shows the graph for selecting
the gas sweetening process as a function of the partial pressure of hydrogen sulfide in the sweet gas and carbon
dioxide in the inlet sour gas feed. The calculated partial pressure of hydrogen sulfide in the outlet sweet gas
stream is equal to 2.8 kPa; the calculated partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the inlet sour gas feed is 315 kPa.
Thus for sweetening this gas, we can use processes that use sulfanol and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) as the
absorbers, and also the Adip process. As the absorber, we selected diethanolamine (DEA), which is
distinguished by lower losses compared with MDEA and can be used to sweeten gases with very high acid gas
content [1] and also is a universal absorber (applicable for sweetening any gases in industrial processes of any
modifications) [4].
A gas sweetening plant using a 35% DEA solution was simulated in the Aspen HYSYS V.7.3 environment.
The flowchart for the process is shown in Fig. 2. The plant allows for the option to feed fresh water into the
regenerated amine stream, to make up for water losses with the sweet gas and to prevent an increase in the
concentration of the DEA solution.
As a result of the simulation, we found that the optimal amine flow rate is 400 m3 /h, for which 4 ppm
hydrogen sulfide is achieved in the sweet gas stream and the optimal residence time of the liquid phase on the
plates of the absorber is achieved. Fig. 3 shows the acid gas content in the amine solution (the acid gas loading)
in each contactor plate of the absorber. We see that as the number of plates increases, the DEA acid gas loading
increases, since the mass transfer rate increases. However, starting from the 20th plate, the acid gas loading in the
saturated absorbent does not vary, and so in this case 20 contactor plates are sufficient.
Fig. 4 shows the carbon dioxide content in the outlet sweet gas vs. the lean amine temperature. Obviously
for a lean amine temperature below 30C, a high level of gas sweetening is not achieved. For a lean amine
temperature within the range 38C-45C, efficient gas sweetening is combined with moderate energy consumption.
Raising the lean amine temperature above 45C affects the performance of the desorber and the heat
exchanger E-101, and also leads to increased operating costs. Furthermore, such a rise in the lean amine temperature

296

Acid gas loading in lean

amine, mol/mol DEA

Plate number from top of absorber

CO 2 content in sweet gas,

mol %

Fig. 3 DEA acid gas loading in each amine contactor plate

Lean amine (regenerated DEA

solution) temperature, C
Fig. 4 Carbon dioxide content in sweet gas vs. lean amine (regenerated DEA solution)
temperature.
may also cause other problems, in particular faster corrosion of the equipment and increased amine losses. Therefore
the temperature of the regenerated DEA solution (the lean amine temerature) should be maintained in the
range 38C-45C.
REFERENCES
1.
M. Stewart and K. Arnold, Gas Sweetening and Processing Field Manual, Gulf Professional Publishing,
2.

Waltham (2011).
J. Kidnay and R. William, Fundamentals of Natural Gas Processing, CRC Press, Texas. (2006)

3.

R. Maddox, R. Gas Conditioning and Processing: Gas and Liquid Sweetening: Volume 4, Campbell
Petroleum, Oklahoma (1982).

4.

K. Abdel-Aal and M. Aggour, Petroleum and Gas Field Processing, CRC Press, New York (2003).

297