Technical Paper: Impact Of Continuous Removal Of Heat Stable Salts On Amine Plant Operation
•Technical Paper: Impact Of Continuous Removal Of Heat Stable Salts On Amine Plant Operation
Amine plant operational problems, such as excessive foaming, corrosion and capacity reduction, are often attributed to the accumulation of amine heat stable salts. Recoflo® short-bed ion exchange technology has been applied to the development of a system to selectively remove these salts.
The first installation of this system, known as AmiPur, was started in October 1998 at Crown Central Petroleum's Co., Pasadena refinery amine plant. The purpose of the installation was to achieve and maintain a low level of heat stable salts on a continuous basis. The compact skid-mounted AmiPur unit is processing a 0.4 gpm slipstream of lean MDEA and removes about 1 kg per hour of heat stable salts. After the first four months of operation, the level of heat stable salts was reduced from 2.4 to 1.5 wt. % as MDEA. The refinery's goal is to keep the corrosion rate below 10 mpy by reducing the amine heat stable salt concentration to below 1 wt. % as MDEA. Plant observations, as well as the history of AmiPur operation are discussed in this paper.
Introduction
The amine-treating unit is of great
importance in gas processing and refinery
operation. Historically regarded as a secondary
piece of equipment, the amine plant now attracts
increasing attention due to high pressure for
environmental compliance and quality of H2S
and CO2 removal.
Recently announced governmental regulations for gasoline quality require that refineries meet a corporate average gasoline sulfur standard of 120 ppm and a cap of 300 ppm by 2004. By 2006 the average sulfur content in gasoline will be no more than 30 ppm sulfur, with the cap reduced to 80 ppm. Whatever route a refinery chooses to control sulfur levels in gasoline, an increased load on the amine unit can be anticipated. Gas treating facilities will be pressed to ensure a more efficient and cost-effective operation.
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