(179d) Steps for Troubleshooting Amine Sweetening Plants

Meeting:                          Spring AIChE Meeting

Austin, TX ? April 26^th through April 30^th,
2015

                                             
Distillation 2015

Title:                "Steps for Troubleshooting Amine Sweetening
Plants"

Authors:     Glenn Shiveler, Sulzer Chemtech USA Inc. ?
Tulsa, OK

                   Harold Wandke, Sulzer
Chemtech USA Inc. ? Tulsa, OK

Abstract:   

Amine
gas treating (also called ?sweetening?) is a well-proven method for removing
acid gases from a gas stream, and is commonly used in natural gas plants,
petrochemical plants, and refineries.  An
amine unit typically consists of two towers?a contactor to allow the selected
amine to remove the acid gases, followed by another column that regenerates the
amine using a reboiler or direct steam injection, plus the associated heat
exchangers.

The
proper design and operation of the plant is critical to meet product quality
and environmental standards while minimizing operating costs to the plant.  There are multiple potential problems that
can result in an underperforming amine sweetening plant, including inadequate hydraulic
capacity of the equipment, damaged equipment, non-optimal operating conditions,
heat stable salts, and poor amine quality. 
Determining the cause of a malfunctioning sweetening plant can be
difficult because the investigating engineer can either misdiagnose the root
cause of the problem, or fail to identify all of the contributing factors
to the primary problem.  Deductive
reasoning is a critical element in the review of the potential causes of the
problem.

This
paper presents a list of recommended steps for performing a thorough
investigation of an underperforming amine sweetening plant.  The steps include collecting operating plant
data to eliminate unlikely causes and then focusing in on the probable causes
based on the plant data.  A discussion of
the role of thermal scan and gamma-scan data to diagnose hydraulic problems
with the mass transfer equipment is included. 
Finally, guidelines for key operational parameters for the safe
operation of tray hydraulics and packing capacity will be presented.