Maintenance
and Reliability
Controlling corrosion: Case studies
from amine plant operations
The total annual cost of corrosion in
the oil and gas production industry is esti-
mated to be $1.372 B.1 More significantly,
failures due to corrosion can result in en-
vironmental releases and injury or death
of plant personnel. Fortunately, the causes
of corrosion can be identified, controlled
and corrected by using the concepts and
techniques discussed.
This article includes five corrosion
incident case studies collected over the
past three decades of amine plant experi-
ence. The case studies demonstrate five
different types of corrosion: uniform,
pitting, chloride-induced crevice, cavita-
tion and microbiologically induced cor-
rosion (MIC).
Emphasis is placed on solving corro-
sion problems, using the following scien-
tific methods: amine chemistry, engineer-
ing design, metallurgy and material design,
and thermodynamic and kinetic computer
simulation. Identifying the root cause of
corrosion and other process failures often
involves a combination of these tools.
Amine acid gas removal process.
The use of a closed-loop regenerative
process with alkanolamines for CO2 and
H2S reactive absorption dates to the early
1930s. The original patent covering this
application was granted to R. R. Bottoms
in 1930.2 FIG. 1 shows a simplified pro-
cess flow diagram of a typical amine pro-
cess used for acid gas absorption. While
this configuration is common, many
variations on this design exist due to the
unique requirements of each acid gas re-
moval application.
The first alkanolamines used for acid
gas removal were primary amines, such as
monoethanolamine (MEA). It was recog-
J. DAUGHTRY and E. TELETZKE,
INEOS GAS/SPEC Technology Group, Freeport, Texas
nized early on that removing H2S and/or
CO2 with a primary amine solvent like
MEA poses problems from a corrosion
standpoint. The pure amine itself is less
corrosive than water when exposed to car-
bon steel under an inert gas pad, but cor-
rosion rates increase when the solution is
loaded with acid gas.3 Additionally, MEA
forms heat-stable degradation products
with CO2 , which are corrosive. Recog-
nizing the corrosion risks, many systems
using MEA employ a corrosion inhibitor
and/or reclaimer to extend the lifetime of
the solvent and equipment.2
Diethanolamine (DEA), a secondary
amine, was used in acid gas removal appli-
cations beginning in the 1960s, due to a re-
duced corrosivity and increased capacity
compared to MEA. Like primary amines,
Treated gas
Lean amine
Absorber
Filter section
Flash gas
Untreated gas
Inlet Rich
separator amine
Flash
drum
Lean heat
exchanger
FIG. 1. Typical alkanolamine acid gas removal system process flow diagram.4
secondary amines can form non-regener-
able corrosive CO2 degradation products.3
Since the 1980s, tertiary methyl-dieth-
anolamine (MDEA) amine formulations
have become the most popular option
for amine-based acid gas removal, due to
their low corrosivity and ability to treat a
larger quantity of gas with lower energy
requirements than primary and second-
ary amines. As a hindered tertiary amine,
MDEA does not form non-regenerative
CO2 degradation products, which pose
a corrosion risk in primary and second-
ary amine solutions. Additionally, stud-
ies have shown inherently lower general
corrosion rates with MDEA compared to
MEA and DEA.3
Advances in amine chemistry and en-
gineering design have greatly reduced the
Acid gas
Reflux
drum
Rich
amine
Regenerator
stripper
Reboiler
Lean amine
Hydrocarbon Processing|JUNE 201769
 Maintenance and Reliability
FIG. 2. Three-phase flash tank, cutaway view.5
FIG. 3. Gas-liquid coalescer, cutaway view.6
corrosion risks in the amine-based acid-
gas removal process, but corrosion can
still occur when operating outside of the
recommended amine loading and tem-
perature ranges, or when facing solvent
contamination. The following real-world
case studies provide examples of five
different types of corrosion observed in
amine systems, along with tools and tech-
niques that can be used to diagnose and
prevent corrosion.
Case 1: Chloride-induced crevice
corrosion. A natural gas treating facility in
the Wilcox formation in Texas was treating
gas containing 10 mol% CO2 and approxi-
mately 20 ppm v H2S to residue specifica-
tions of < 2 mol% CO2 and < 4 ppm v H2S,
using a formulated MDEA solvent.
70JUNE 2017|HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Crevice corrosion air
O2
Na+ O2
Na+
Cl Cl
OH OH
Fe (OH)2
Fe2+
e H+
e Cl
Passive
film
Steel
FIG. 4. Chloride-induced crevice corrosion
mechanism.7
In March 1986, a dump valve failed,
overwhelming the inlet gas-liquid separa-
tor of the amine system with 10 Mgal of
well-brine water, which carried over into
the amine system. Immediately follow-
ing the failure, high-liquid level alarms
sounded, alerting operations to the upset.
The three-phase flash tank (FIG. 2), which
normally supplied flash gas as fuel to the
five amine regeneration skids, was flood-
ed and introduced liquid amine and brine
water into the regenerator burners. Liquid
amine poured out of the inlet flame arrest-
ers on each regenerator, and each burner
stack sent steam and incinerated amine
smoke billowing into the air.
Typical contaminants in natural gas
streams include liquid hydrocarbons, salt-
water, sand, upstream treating chemicals
and compressor oils. When introduced
into the amine system, these contami-
nants can cause operational problems
such as foaming, equipment fouling, high
corrosion rates and difficulty meeting
sweet gas specifications. Due to the range
and severity of problems contamination
can cause, good inlet separation is consid-
ered one of the most important compo-
nents of the amine system.
An inlet coalescer filter (FIG. 3) of at
least < 0.3-micron efficiency is recom-
mended to remove liquid and aerosol
contaminants from the inlet gas stream.
Correctly designed and operated, inlet
coalescer filters work well to decrease the
levels of contaminants entering the amine
process. During normal operation, the
concentration of these contaminants in
the inlet gas is low and results in only a
few gallons of liquid formation.
This amine system was using a gas-liq-
uid coalescer correctly rated for the inlet
gas stream under normal operating condi-
tions, but it was not designed to handle the
10 Mgal of bulk liquid volume that entered
the system during an upset in March 1986.
When an upset occurs, or when a con-
taminant enters the amine system, it is
Shield important to collect a lean amine sample
to evaluate the impact on the solution
H+ Cl
quality. Analytical testing of the formu-
lated MDEA solvent in this case revealed
that the solvent contained approximately
35,000 ppm w of chlorides. Industry guide-
lines specify a maximum chloride level of
500 ppm w1,000 ppm w in amine solu-
tions to protect against chloride-induced
corrosion. The level of chlorides detected
in this system raised grave concerns about
chloride-induced stress corrosion crack-
ing in the stainless-steel portions of the
plant and crevice corrosion in the flanges
and tube bundles.
The severity of the chloride contami-
nation prompted an immediate need to
remove the brine from the amine system.
Operations reviewed all available options
for removing brine from the amine, in-
cluding vacuum distillation, ion-exchange
resins and a complete solvent replace-
ment. After reviewing these options, op-
erations elected to design a vacuum dis-
tillation unit (VDU) that was fabricated
and installed at the plant site. This VDU
ran continuously for several years, and
the chloride concentration was ultimately
reduced to approximately 1,000 ppm w,
but the chloride concentration remained
high for several years following the upset.
While the high chloride level was diag-
nosed as a serious concern shortly after
the upset occurred, the chosen method
for removing chloride was not imple-
mented fast enough to reduce the chlo-
ride concentration in time to prevent cor-
rosion to the system.
 Maintenance and Reliability

While operating with high chloride lev-
els, the plant experienced gasket and flange
failures due to chloride-induced crevice
corrosion. Crevice corrosion occurs when
a concentration cell forms in a crevice
between two metal surfaces (FIG. 4). No
evidence of general uniform corrosion was
observed in this plant. One possible expla-
nation for the absence of uniform corrosion
is the iron sulfide passivation layer present
in amine systems containing H2S. When
H2S is present in the amine solution, iron
sulfide forms and acts as a protective layer
on the internal surface of piping, which
protects the underlying metal from attack.3
The mechanism of corrosion was iden-
tified as chloride-induced crevice corro-
sion resulting from a > 1,000-ppm w chlo-
ride concentration in the amine. The plant
did not experience general uniform corro-
sion because the plant was treating natural
gas containing 20 ppm v H2S. It was specu-
lated that the iron sulfide passivation film
deposited on the piping mitigated internal
pipe corrosion.
Immediately after a contamination oc-
curs, chloride must be removed to an ac-
ceptable concentration of < 1,000 ppm w
via vacuum distillation, ion exchange or
the replacement of the amine solution.
Case 2: Carbonic acid pitting corro-
sion. A natural gas processing facility was
treating 200 MMscfd of water-saturated
natural gas containing 4 mol% CO2. The
inlet natural gas stream flowed into an in-
let scrubber, and then into a coalescing fil-
ter before feeding a gas/gas heat exchang-
er. The inlet gas left the gas/gas exchanger
and fed the amine absorber at 80F. The
purpose of the exchanger was to cool the
treated gas stream with the inlet gas while
heating the inlet gas stream to vaporize
any condensable hydrocarbons before en-
tering the absorber. The water-saturated
treated gas is cooled in the exchanger to
reduce the water load feeding the glycol
unit. The treated absorber outlet gas went
from containing a normal < 50 ppm CO2
to containing an off-specification concen-
tration of > 1% CO2.
The off-specification gas was initially
thought to be caused by chemical or oper-
ating issues within the amine treating sys-
tem. First, amine samples were collected
and analyzed to determine if the amine
concentration and the lean CO2 loading
were within an acceptable range. Next,
computer simulations were done to com-
pare the actual process data with the per-
formance predicted by modeling tools.
The simulation results matched the actual
process data for the gas absorber. Finally,
the flowmeter measuring the amine circu-
lation rate was checked for accuracy. The
calibration data verified the amine circu-
lation rate of 1,100 gpm. After the amine
analytical and operating data did not re-
veal any issues that would impact CO2
removal, the focus shifted to identifying
mechanical issues that could be respon-
sible for off-specification gas.
In amine systems, a leak in the lean
rich cross exchanger can result in the
lean amine being contaminated with rich
amine, increasing the lean amine CO2
loading to an unacceptable level. High
lean amine CO2 loadings feeding the gas
absorber can result in off-specification
treated gas. To check if there was a leak in
the cross exchanger, lean amine samples

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Hydrocarbon Processing Hydrocarbon Processing|JUNE 201771
 Maintenance and Reliability
were collected from the inlet and outlet
of the exchanger and analyzed to com-
pare the lean amine CO2 loading. The
lean loading measured on the inlet and
outlet samples matched, indicating that
no leak was present.
With a leak in the lean-rich cross ex-
changer eliminated as a possibility, atten-
tion shifted to the inlet gas exchanger. The
gas/gas exchanger was a floating head ex-
changer with carbon steel tubes and a car-
bon steel shell that had been in previous
service for 10 yr as a lean amine cooler.
Samples were taken for CO2 in the treated
gas from the inlet and outlet exchanger
to look for any increase in the CO2 con-
centration. The results were conclusive;
the treated gas inlet to the exchanger con-
tained < 50 ppm v CO2, while the outlet
contained 1% CO2 , indicating a leak in the
exchanger. The source of the excess CO2
was a leak in the gas/gas exchanger, which
was contaminating the treated gas stream
with untreated gas from the plant inlet.
After discovering the leak in the gas ex-
changer, efforts shifted to identifying the
cause of the tube corrosion. Corrosion due
to CO2 in the presence of water is the most
common form of corrosion encountered in
oil and gas production. Dry CO2 gas is not
corrosive by itself at the temperatures pres-
ent in oil and gas processing facilities, but
Hard rust tubercle
O2
FeCO3
OH
Cathodic
FeS
Fe2
SO 42 H2S
SRB
Highly anodic
FIG. 5. Nodule-like structure formed by
tuberculation.8
FIG. 6. Corrosion observed on the lean amine
booster pump casing.
72JUNE 2017|HydrocarbonProcessing.com
in the presence of water it can dissolve in
an aqueous phase and promote an electro-
chemical reaction. This corrosion mecha-
nism is believed to involve the formation of
either carbonic acid or the bicarbonate ion.
Under certain temperature, pH, composi-
tion and flow patterns, this mechanism can
result in a pitting corrosion attack.1
Engineers conducted a study to de-
termine the expected lifetime of the gas
exchanger in the current service. The ex-
changer life was estimated at 10 yr. This
was problematic because the exchanger
had already been in service for 10 yr as a
lean amine cooler at another facility prior
to being put into service at this facility. The
tube failure was due to a combination of
wet CO2 pitting corrosion, along with gen-
eral uniform corrosion exceeding the de-
sign corrosion allowance of the exchanger.
All tubes were pressure tested, and
leaks in 10% of the tubes were discovered
and repaired. After repairing the leaks,
the treated gas CO2 level returned to < 50
ppm v levels. Equipment fabricators were
contacted to obtain an estimate for the
fabrication cost and lead time for replac-
ing the gas/gas exchanger.
Case 3: Microbiologically induced
corrosion. A plant in central Texas was
commissioned to produce 24 Mbpd
O2
Fe (OH)3
Fe3
Iron or steel
FIG. 7. Corrosion observed on the lean amine
booster pump seal.
of natural gas liquids (NGL) from 230
MMscfd of natural gas. The original
amine system used 30 wt% DEA to treat
24 Mgal of NGL per day in two paral-
lel liquid contactors with one common
regenerator. The design circulation rate
was 460 gpm, and the inlet contained up
to 12.5% CO2. In April 2004, a pipeline
rupture and the resulting fire caused an
emergency shutdown of the entire facil-
ity. Several major pieces of process equip-
ment had to be replacedprimarily the
inlet gas piping, inlet liquid handling fa-
cilities and amine regeneration unit.
Review of the incident revealed that
the pipeline ruptured in a stagnant leg of
piping that contained water. At the time
of this publication, no cause to the pipe-
line failure has been disclosed; however,
there are several proposed causes.
Microbiologically induced corrosion
(MIC) refers to corrosion resulting from
bacteria activities that form waste prod-
ucts, including CO2, H2S and organic
acids. Stagnant water is a hospitable en-
vironment for these microbial colonies
to form and promote enhanced corro-
sion below the colony. Studies have found
abundant microbial flora indigenous in
oilfield formation water, including Bacil-
lus, Pseudomonas, Micrococcus, Mycobacte-
rium, Clostridium and Escherichia.
Escherichia is reported to contain the
enzyme hydrogenase, which has been as-
sociated with cathodic hydrogen depolar-
ization that can cause corrosion to steel
casings and pipelines. Slime-forming bac-
teria, including Achromobacter, Flavobac-
terium and Desulfuricans, form large, solid
masses that can cause plugging problems
at injection wells. MIC is often recognized
by the appearance of black, slimy waste
material on the pipe surface, as well as lo-
calized corrosion beneath these deposits.1
Another possible cause of pipeline cor-
rosion is related to the generation of H2S
by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). These
anaerobic bacteria metabolize sulfate ions
with an organic carbon source to produce
H2S. In low-flow systems, colonies of sul-
fate-reducing bacteria can form hard rust
nodules, or tubercles, which can lead to
crevice corrosion. Tuberculation is a com-
plex, localized process that occurs when a
deposit of sludge or rust shields the metal
surface from oxygen (FIG. 5). The metal
beneath the tubercle that is exposed to wa-
ter at a low oxygen concentration becomes
anodic and can corrode at a rapid rate.8
 Maintenance and Reliability

The most probable cause of the pipe-
line rupture was corrosion in a stagnant
piping section, which may have been
caused by microbial buildup. To fix this
issue, remove and replace piping that cre-
ates a stagnant zone. Moisture is a factor
in promoting the formation of colonies.
Lowering the pipeline dewpoint will de-
crease available moisture, which is needed
for the formation of nodules or tubercles.8
Case 4: Pump cavitation corrosion.
A gas processing plant in the Eagle Ford
shale play was designed to treat approxi-
mately 200 MMcfd of natural gas with
2 mol% CO2. On startup, the plant was
running at a reduced capacity and only
treating 75 MMscfd with 0.7 mol% CO2.
Consequently, the operators decided
to reduce the amine circulation rate to
match the rich loading requirements.
Two months after starting up the
amine system with fresh amine, a centrif-
ugal lean amine booster pump began to
leak. When the leak was noticed, opera-
tions took the pump out of service for in-
spection. Upon inspection, the corrosion
shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 was discovered.
During a walk-through of the plant,
operators noticed vibrations and a rattling
noise emitting from an identical pump
on an identical train in the same facil-
centrifugal pumps is specified by the
pump manufacturer to prevent vapor for-
mation and vibrations, which can cause
catastrophic pump failures. Maintaining
flow above the minimum specified flow-
rate prevents recirculation of the fluid in
the pump, which can lead to bubble for-
mation and cavitation. Low liquid flow-
rates can also cause cavitation if the tem-
perature increase in the liquid across the
pump results in vaporization. The mini-
mum circulation rate for a given pump is
typically 50% of the best efficiency point
(BEP), the operating point at which the
pump is most efficient.10 For this pump,
the BEP is 1,270 gpm, more than double
the 620 gpm flowrate at which the pump
had been operating.
The pump curve confirmed that oper-
ating below the minimum flowrate was re-
sulting in discharge cavitation corrosion.
Upon increasing the circulation rate of
the pump above the 660 gpm required by
the pump design curve, the rattling sound
indicative of pump cavitation ceased.
Data point
Flow: 1,270 US gpm
Head: 146 ft
Eff: 79%
Power: 59.6 hp
NPSHr: 9.74 ft
Design curve
Head, ft
The amine flowrate was increased
above 660 gpm in both trains in accor-
dance with the minimum flowrate re-
quired by the pump data sheets. Consider
equipment limitations in addition to the
chemistry and loading limits of the amine
when adjusting the amine circulation rate
and other process variables. In subse-
quent years of operation, there have been
no additional leaks or failures of the lean
amine booster pumps at this facility.
Case 5: Pitting corrosion. A natural
gas treating plant in Texas was using a 25
wt% DEA solvent to remove CO2 from
a liquid ethane/propane hydrocarbon
stream. During a routine service call in
1995, operations revealed the plant had
experienced reboiler tube corrosion and
tray damage in the regeneration still. Op-
erations and the amine supplier worked in
tandem to diagnose the cause of the cor-
rosion and prevent a reoccurrence.
The amine supplier collected process
data and ran computer simulations to
13-in.
65
175 70 75
78
150 78.6
78
75
120 70

Shutoff head: 179 ft

ity. The sounds emitting from the pump Shutoff dP: 77.5 psi 100
Min. flow: 650 US gpm
were consistent with the sounds of pump EP: 79% at 1,270 US gpm 9-in.
cavitation. Cavitation occurs when vapor NOL power: 75
69.8 hp at 1,688 US gpm 65
bubbles form in the low-pressure areas Max. curve 50
surrounding the impeller of the pump. Max. power:
The collapse of those bubbles creates the 69.8 hp at 1,688 US gpm
25 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800
rattling sound characteristic of cavitation 15
and is associated with pitting corrosion to 10
NP SHr, ft

the pump impeller and housing.9 5

With cavitation suspected as a possible 0
cause of the corrosion and the subsequent 75 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800
failure, the pump design curve (FIG. 8)
was consulted to determine if the pump FIG. 8. Pump data sheet for the centrifugal lean amine booster pump.11
had been operating within an acceptable
range. Trend data collected from the plant TABLE 1. Water quality standards for amine systems12
control room showed the pump had been
operating with a flowrate of 620 gpm. Suc- Property Specific values ASTM test method
tion side cavitation is most commonly as- Total solids, ppmw 100 max. D1888
sociated with a drop in the available net Total hardness, ppmw 50 max. D1126
positive suction head (NPSH) below the
Chloride (CL), ppmw 2 max. D512, D4327
required NPSH specified on the pump
curve. In this case, the available NPSH Sulfate (SO4 ), ppmw 3 max. D516, D4327
was above the 5 ft of NPSH required at the Sodium (Na), ppmw 3 max. D516, D4327
620 gpm circulation rate. However, the Potassium (K), ppmw 3 max. D516, D4327
pump data sheet also specifies a minimum
Iron (Fe), ppmw 10 max. D516, D4327
circulation rate of 660 gpm for this pump.
The minimum circulation rate for pH 77.7 D1293

Hydrocarbon Processing|JUNE 201773

 Maintenance and Reliability
compare the actual performance of the
unit with simulated results. Comparing
the simulation predictions with the ac-
tual temperature change observed across
the lean/rich exchanger revealed that the
exchanger was providing only 10% of its
design heat duty (90% fouled). A lean
amine sample was analyzed and revealed
a high CO2 lean loading of 0.06 mol/mol.
Based on these observations, the recom-
mendation was made to inspect the lean/
rich cross exchanger.
Opening the exchanger for inspection
revealed hard water deposits coating the
internals and obscuring visibility of the
tubes. This discovery confirmed foul-
ing as the cause of reduced heat transfer
across the lean/rich exchanger. The re-
duction in heat duty across the lean rich
exchanger resulted in a lower rich amine
temperature feeding the regenerator,
which increased the sensible heat duty
required to raise the rich amine feed to its
boiling point.
This temperature change to the rich
amine feed shifted the regeneration reac-
tion of the amine into the lower hotter
sections of the regenerator and reboiler.
Normally 95% of the CO2 held by the
amine should be stripped from amine on
the trays in the regenerator. When high
CO2 loadings are carried into the lower
section of the column, pitting corrosion
can result as CO2 is vaporized at the high
temperatures present in the reboiler. This
type of corrosion initially attacks the bot-
tom trays of the column before shifting
lower as trays are damaged, eventually at-
tacking the reboiler tubes, as well.
With fouling of the lean rich exchanger
identified as the root cause of the corro-
sion failures, troubleshooting efforts shift-
ed to identifying the source of the foul-
ing. Lab analysis of the solids collected
from the lean rich exchanger confirmed
the presence of calcium salts. Calcium is
considered a contaminant in amine sys-
tems due to its potential to form solids at
relatively low concentrations. The water
quality specifications for amine makeup
water are shown in TABLE 1. Water hard-
ness is a measure of the dissolved calcium
and magnesium in the water. These lim-
its are specified to prevent solids forma-
tion and reduced treating performance in
amine systems.
This plant utilized a unique makeup
water system, which consisted of piping
well water to an old glycol regeneration
74JUNE 2017|HydrocarbonProcessing.com
unit where it was vaporized before being
fed to the amine regenerator as steam.
The steam provided extra heat duty for
stripping the amine and acted as makeup
water when condensed. This configura-
tion raised concerns regarding the quality
of makeup water provided by the vapor-
ized well water.
The glycol regenerator used a direct-
fired reboiler to vaporize the well water,
and the steam vapor flowed through a
packed tower before being fed directly
into the amine regenerator. Hard wa-
ter compounds, like the ones found in
the amine lean/rich exchanger, were
stacked on the ground beneath the gly-
col regenerator. Operations stated that
the glycol reboiler bundle tubes became
fouled periodically with hard water de-
posits, which required frequent unit
shutdowns for cleaning. When the glycol
tube bundle was removed for inspection
during this troubleshooting effort, hard
water deposits fell to the ground. This
confirmed that the well water being fed
to the glycol regenerator contained the
hard-water salts that were fouling the
lean/rich exchanger.
The presence of these salts in the gly-
col reboiler did not completely explain
how the hard water salts were carrying
over into the amine system. While the
vaporized water should not contain cal-
cium salts, some amount of entrainment
occurs in all gas-liquid contactors. Ad-
ditionally, when the glycol reboiler was
shut down for cleaning, the well water
was piped directly to the amine system
without first being vaporized. To prevent
these hard water deposits from entering
the amine system, a recommendation
was made to pipe the steam from the gly-
col regenerator through a condenser and
then into a makeup water storage tank
before feeding the water to the amine
system. This storage tank provided a
stable supply of clean water to use during
periods when the glycol reboiler was shut
down for cleaning.
Using the glycol unit for makeup wa-
ter was creative; however, hard water de-
posits from the well water were fed to the
amine process during periods when the
glycol reboiler was shut down for cleaning
due to the same hard water deposits. Cor-
recting the source of hard water deposits
eliminated the cause of the lean/rich ex-
changer fouling. The approach tempera-
ture returned to the desired 40F range,
and the lean amine loading returned to
normal. After implementing these chang-
es, the cause of corrosion on the regen-
erator trays and reboiler tubes was solved,
and no subsequent failures occurred.
Takeaway. While corrosion is inher-
ent in any chemical process, corrosion
in alkanolamine systems can be identi-
fied, minimized and controlled with a
multidisciplinary approach that con-
siders chemistry, engineering design,
metallurgy, kinetic and thermodynamic
simulation, and the expected equipment
lifetime. These case studies provide ex-
amples of five types of corrosion found
in amine acid gas removal systems: uni-
form, pitting, chloride-induced crevice,
cavitation and MIC.
Preventing corrosion begins in the de-
sign phase. Selecting the proper alkonol-
amine solvent and designing the system
to operate within the ranges specified by
the amine supplier are essential to avoid-
ing corrosion due to high acid gas load-
ings and temperatures. Good inlet sepa-
ration must be a priority, as contaminants
pose unique corrosion risks and are diffi-
cult to remove once they enter the amine
system. Finally, metallurgy for the plant
must consider all of the corrosion risks
present and the expected lifetime of the
equipment to determine the proper ma-
terial selection.
LITERATURE CITED
Complete literature cited can be found online at
HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
JAMES DAUGHTRY is a retired regional commercial
manager in the GAS/SPEC Technology Group of
INEOS. He has a wide range of experiences in gas
processing, from corrosion inhibitor research to
process optimization of amine plants and amine
sales. Prior to joining INEOS GAS/SPEC in 2000,
he worked for Dow Chemical USA for 32 yr, specializing
in epoxy manufacturing, research, technical service
and development. While at Dow, he was a founding
member of the GAS/SPEC Technology Group in 1983.
Mr. Daughtry has coauthored several papers on gas
processing and one paper on vinyl ester corrosion
for the Society of Plastic Industry. He holds a BS
degree in chemistry from the University of Houston
in Clear Lake, Texas.
ERIC TELETZKE is a territory manager and technical
service engineer with the INEOS GAS/SPEC
Technology Group. He has extensive experience
with the design, operation and optimization of amine
systems in a range of applications, including natural
gas processing, LNG, refining, tail gas, acid gas
enrichment, syngas, ammonia, liquid treating and
carbon capture. Eric graduated from the University
of Texas at Austin in 2007 with a BS degree in
chemical engineering and joined the INEOS
GAS/SPEC Technology Group in 2011.