Contents

Amine Gas Sweetening Systems:..................................................................................................2

Amine sweetening process:.........................................................................................................2
APPLICATIONS.........................................................................................................................3
ADVANTAGES..........................................................................................................................3
Amines Importance:......................................................................................................................3
References:.....................................................................................................................................5
Amine Gas Sweetening Systems:
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), mercaptans, and other contaminants are often
found in natural gas streams. H2S is a highly toxic gas that is corrosive to carbon steels. CO 2 is
also corrosive to equipment and reduces the Btu value of gas. Gas sweetening processes remove
these contaminants so that the gas is suitable for transportation and use.
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 alkyl amines (commonly referred to
simply as amines) to remove hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from gases. It is a
common unit process used in refineries, and is also used in petrochemical plants, natural gas
processing plants and other industries.
Processes within oil refineries or chemical processing plants that remove hydrogen sulfide are
referred to as "sweetening" processes because the odor of the processed products is improved by
the absence of hydrogen sulfide. An alternative to the use of amines involves membrane
technology. However, membrane separation is less attractive due to the relatively high capital
and operating costs as well as other technical factors.[5]
Many different amines are used in gas treating:
 Di-ethanolamine (DEA)
 Mono-ethanolamine (MEA)
 Methyl di-ethanolamine (MDEA)
 Di-isopropanol amine (DIPA)
 Aminoethoxyethanol (Diglycolamine) (DGA)
The most commonly used amines in industrial plants are the alkanol amines DEA, MEA, and
MDEA. These amines are also used in many oil refineries to remove sour gases from liquid
hydrocarbons such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Amine sweetening process:

Amine sweetening systems are based on proven gas sweetening technology and processes.
 Sour gas enters the contactor tower and rises through the descending amine solution.
 Purified gas flows from the top of the tower.
 The amine solution, carrying absorbed acid gases, leaves the tower for the heat exchanger
or optional flash tank.
 Rich amine is heated by hot regenerated lean amine in the heat exchanger.
 Rich amine is further heated in the regeneration still column, by heat supplied from the
reboilers. The steam rising through the still liberates water and CO2, regenerating the
amine.
 Steam and acid gases separated from the rich amine are condensed and cooled,
respectively, in the reflux condenser.
 Condensed steam is separated in the reflux accumulator and returned to the still. Acid
gases may be vented, incinerated, or directed to a sulfur recovery system.
  Hot regenerated lean amine is cooled in a solvent aerial cooler and circulated to the
contactor tower, completing the cycle.
 A variety of heat sources can be used for the still reboilers—direct fired, waste heat, hot
oil, and steam systems.

Figure 1: Amine Sweetening Process Flow Diagram

APPLICATIONS
 Removal of H2S and CO2 from natural gas streams.

ADVANTAGES
 High versatility
 Standard and custom designs
 Stand-alone or integrated processing installation
 Variety of available solvents
 Mono ethanolamine (MEA)
 Di ethanolamine (DEA)
 Methyl di ethanolamine (MDEA)
 Di glycol amine (DGA)
 Sulfinol solvent

Amines Importance:
The amine concentration in the absorbent aqueous solution is an important parameter in the
design and operation of an amine gas treating process. Depending on which one of the following
four amines the unit was designed to use and what gases it was designed to remove, these are
some typical amine concentrations, expressed as weight percent of pure amine in the aqueous
solution:
 Mono-ethanolamine: About 20 % for removing H2S and CO2, and about 32 % for
removing only CO2.
 Di-ethanolamine: About 20 to 25 % for removing H2S and CO2
 Methyl-di-ethanolamine: About 30 to 55 % for removing H2S and CO2
 Di-glycol-amine: About 50 % for removing H2S and CO2
References:
 Arthur Kohl; Richard Nielson (1997). Gas Purification (5th ed.)
 Baker, R. W. (2002). "Future Directions of Membrane Gas Separation Technology". Ind.
Eng. Chem.
 https://www.slb.com