Pemex Gas to Improve Amine Circuit Operation

Pickering, Ontario, Canada – PEMEX Gas y Petroquimica Basica has recently taken steps to ensure the quality of its gas products, while reducing maintenance and operating costs at two of its gas treatment facilities, Nuevo Pemex and Cactus in Tabasco state, Mexico. The key aspect of the improvements is the installation of six Eco-Tec AmiPur units to provide continuous purification of a number of amine circuits used for sour gas processing. Each circuit of consists of 250m3 of DEA which have been experiencing unacceptable maintenance and operating costs in order to maintain sulphur removal performance. It had been determined that the root cause of the challenges is the severe corrosion of the amine treatment equipment by heat stable salts and in particular, bicine. After reviewing alternative solutions, and upon the recommendation of its amine suppliers, Pemex decided to install continuous amine purification systems to be provided by Eco-Tec Inc. (Canada). The Eco-Tec Amipur units will continuously and economically remove the heat stable salts and bicine from the amine circuits, resulting in a significant reduction in corrosion and its associated maintenance and operational issues, while ensuring stable performance of amine circuits.

The Amipur units have been purchased and will be integrated into the Pemex facilities by Eco-Tec's distributor in Mexico, Equipos Industriales Del Golfo S.A. de C.V. (EIGSA). The systems are expected to be operational in early 2007.

About AmiPur
AmiPur, a name easily recognized by amine gas treatment facilities worldwide, utilizes a patented ion exchange process, Recoflo™ that removes anionic impurities from amine gas treating solutions. AmiPur utilizes an extremely small ion exchange column in a package that is: skid mounted, fully automatic, pre-assembled, and pre-tested. Since 1998, AmiPur has provided consistent, reliable, gas treating with a reduction in maintenance costs while optimizing sulphur and carbon dioxide removal efficiency.

SOURCE: Eco-Tec Inc.