Amine gas treating

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 sulde (H2 S) and carbon dioxide (CO2 )
from gases.[1][2][3] It is a common unit process used
in reneries, and is also used in petrochemical plants,
natural gas processing plants and other industries.

A typical amine gas treating process (as shown in the ow

diagram below) includes an absorber unit and a regenerator unit as well as accessory equipment. In the absorber, the downowing amine solution absorbs H2 S and
CO2 from the upowing sour gas to produce a sweetened
gas stream (i.e., a gas free of hydrogen sulde and carbon
dioxide) as a product and an amine solution rich in the
absorbed acid gases. The resultant rich amine is then
routed into the regenerator (a stripper with a reboiler) to
produce regenerated or lean amine that is recycled for
reuse in the absorber. The stripped overhead gas from the
regenerator is concentrated H2 S and CO2 .

Processes within oil reneries or chemical processing

plants that remove hydrogen sulde are referred to as
sweetening processes because the odor of the processed
products is improved by the absence of hydrogen sulde.
An alternative to the use of amines involves membrane
technology. However, membranes are less attractive
since the relatively high capital and operation costs as well
as other technical factors. [4]
Many dierent amines are used in gas treating:
Diethanolamine (DEA)
Monoethanolamine (MEA)
Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA)
Diisopropanolamine (DIPA)
Aminoethoxyethanol (Diglycolamine) (DGA)

The most commonly used amines in industrial plants

are the alkanolamines DEA, MEA, and MDEA. These Process ow diagram of a typical amine treating process used
amines are also used in many oil reneries to remove in petroleum reneries, natural gas processing plants and other
sour gases from liquid hydrocarbons such as liquied industrial facilities.
petroleum gas (LPG).

Description of a typical amine 2 Amines

treater
The amine concentration in the absorbent aqueous solu-

tion is an important parameter in the design and operation

Gases containing H2 S or both H2 S and CO2 are com- of an amine gas treating process. Depending on which
monly referred to as sour gases or acid gases in the one of the following four amines the unit was designed to
hydrocarbon processing industries.
use and what gases it was designed to remove, these are
The chemistry involved in the amine treating of such some typical amine concentrations, expressed as weight
[1]
gases varies somewhat with the particular amine be- percent of pure amine in the aqueous solution:
ing used. For one of the more common amines, mo Monoethanolamine: About 20 % for renoethanolamine (MEA) denoted as RNH2 , the chemistry
moving H2 S and CO2 , and about 32 %
may be expressed as:
for removing only CO2 .
RNH2 + H2 S RNH+
3 + SH

Diethanolamine: About 20 to 25 % for

removing H2 S and CO2
1

6
Methyldiethanolamine: About 30 to 55%
% for removing H2 S and CO2
Diglycolamine: About 50 % for removing H2 S and CO2

The choice of amine concentration in the circulating

aqueous solution depends upon a number of factors and
may be quite arbitrary. It is usually made simply on the
basis of experience. The factors involved include whether
the amine unit is treating raw natural gas or petroleum
renery by-product gases that contain relatively low concentrations of both H2 S and CO2 or whether the unit
is treating gases with a high percentage of CO2 such
as the ogas from the steam reforming process used
in ammonia production or the ue gases from power
plants.[1]
Both H2 S and CO2 are acid gases and hence corrosive to
carbon steel. However, in an amine treating unit, CO2 is
the stronger acid of the two. H2 S forms a lm of iron
sulde on the surface of the steel that acts to protect the
steel. When treating gases with a high percentage of CO2 ,
corrosion inhibitors are often used and that permits the
use of higher concentrations of amine in the circulating
solution.
Another factor involved in choosing an amine concentration is the relative solubility of H2 S and CO2 in the selected amine.[1] The choice of the type of amine will affect the required circulation rate of amine solution, the
energy consumption for the regeneration and the ability
to selectively remove either H2 S alone or CO2 alone if
desired. For more information about selecting the amine
concentration, the reader is referred to Kohl and Nielsens
book.
Activated MDEA or aMDEA uses piperazine as a catalyst
to increase the speed of the reaction with CO2. It has
been commercially successful.[5]

Uses

In oil reneries, that stripped gas is mostly H2 S, much

of which often comes from a sulfur-removing process
called hydrodesulfurization. This H2 S-rich stripped gas
stream is then usually routed into a Claus process to convert it into elemental sulfur. In fact, the vast majority
of the 64,000,000 metric tons of sulfur produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from reneries and
other hydrocarbon processing plants.[6][7] Another sulfurremoving process is the WSA Process which recovers sulfur in any form as concentrated sulfuric acid. In some
plants, more than one amine absorber unit may share a
common regenerator unit. The current emphasis on removing CO2 from the ue gases emitted by fossil fuel
power plants has led to much interest in using amines for
removing CO2 . (See also: Carbon capture and storage
and Conventional coal-red power plant.)

EXTERNAL LINKS

In the specic case of the industrial synthesis of

ammonia, for the steam reforming process of hydrocarbons to produce gaseous hydrogen, amine treating is one
of the commonly used processes for removing excess carbon dioxide in the nal purication of the gaseous hydrogen.

4 See also
Ammonia production
Hydrodesulfurization
WSA Process
Claus process
Selexol
Rectisol
Amine
Ionic liquids
Solid sorbents for carbon capture

5 References
[1] Arthur Kohl and Richard Nielson (1997). Gas Purication
(5th ed.). Gulf Publishing. ISBN 0-88415-220-0.
[2] Gary, J.H. and Handwerk, G.E. (1984). Petroleum Rening Technology and Economics (2nd ed.). Marcel Dekker,
Inc. ISBN 0-8247-7150-8.
[3] US 4080424, Loren N. Miller & Thomas S. Zawacki,
Process for acid gas removal from gaseous mixtures, issued 21 Mar 1978, assigned to Institute of Gas Technology
[4] Baker, R. W. Future Directions of Membrane Gas Separation Technology Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2002, volume
41, pages 1393-1411. doi:10.1021/ie0108088
[5] Piperazine Why Its Used and How It Works (PDF).
The Contactor (Optimised Gas Treating, Inc.) 2 (4).
2008. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
[6] Sulfur production report by the United States Geological
Survey
[7] Discussion of recovered byproduct sulfur

6 External links
Description of Gas Sweetening Equipment and Operating Conditions

3
Selecting Amines for Sweetening Units, Polasek, J.
(Bryan Research & Engineering) and Bullin, J.A.
(Texas A&M University), Gas Processors Association Regional Meeting, Sept. 1994.
Natural Gas Supply Association Scroll down to Sulfur and Carbon Dioxide Removal
Description of the classic book on gas treating by
Arthur Kohl & Richard Nielsen. Gas Purication
(Fifth ed.). Gulf Publishing. ISBN 0-88415-220-0.

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