Amine contaminants can be grouped into three distinct categories; (1) heat stable salts, (2) degradation, (3) inlet contaminants. All of these contaminant categories can typically be present in any given amine system at the same time, although the amount of each one can vary from insignificant to several percent.
1. Heat Stable Salts
2. Conversion Products
3. Inlet Contaminants
There are four major contaminants that can enter the amine stream alone with the inlet gas. These are:
- Injection Chemicals: Corrosion inhibitors from upstream pipeline operations and amine system injections, such as anti-foam chemicals can concentrate in amine systems. While these chemicals are excellent in controlling operating problems, their injection into an amine system over the months and years between turnarounds can build up to a substantial percentage of the amine concentration. A large buildup of injection chemicals can eventually lead to fouling and can cause changes in solution physical properties, such as viscosity and mass transfer.
- Hydrocarbons: Heavy hydrocarbons from natural gas streams can condense in the contactor, and lubrication oil from upstream reciprocating compression can build up in amine systems over time. These hydrocarbons can cause foaming, and at high enough concentrations can change amine solvent physical properties.
- Particulates: Typical insoluble particulates include iron sulfides, metals from equipment corrosion, charcoal from amine filters, and catalyst fines from upstream units.
- Produced & Make-Up Water: Fine mist carry-over from inlet separation or entrainment in the heavy hydrocarbon can introduces inorganic anions and cations into the amine system. Also, if reverse osmosis quality water is not used as make-up water to the amine system, the contaminants in this water will build up over time.
CCR provides the Complete Acid Gas Removal Solvent Maintenance option to the industry. By utilizing a CCR vacuum distillation solvent reclamation system to process the contaminated amine in your system, operators can gain the assurance that their amine systems are have ALL contaminants removed in a single step and that they will be operating at optimum efficiency because their solvent will be at or near virgin solvent specifications.
The following list shows the most common contaminants associated with specific amines.
List of Common Contaminants |
|||
Amine | +O2 | carboxylic acid forms of the Amine | Organic HSS |
Imidazolidone | Degradation | ||
Bicine | Degradation | ||
Sarcosine | Degradation | ||
+Inlet Contaminants | Anions | Inorganic HSS | |
Cations | Inorganic HSS | ||
Hydrocarbons | Organics | ||
Injection Chemicals | Organics/Inorganics | ||
MEA | +CO2 | oxazolidone | OZD |
hydroxyethyl imidazolidone | HEI | ||
hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine | HEED | ||
+COS | diethanolurea | ||
DGA | +CO2 | Bis hydroxyethyl ethoxy urea | BHEEU |
+COS | bis hydroxyethyl ethoxy thiourea | ||
DEA | +CO2 | hydroxyethyl oxazolidone | HEOD |
bis hydroxyethyl piperzine | BHEP | ||
tris hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine | THEED | ||
+COS | monoethanolamine | MEA | |
hyroxyethyl imidazolidone | HEI | ||
bis hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine | BHEED | ||
DIPA | +CO2 | hydroxymethyl propyl oxazolidone | HMPO |
MDEA | +CO2/ O2/ Excess Heat | ethylene glycol | EG |
hydroxymethyl piperzine | HMP | ||
diethanolamine | DEA | ||
triethanolamine | TEA | ||
bis hydroxyethyl piperzine | BHEP | ||
2-(Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino)acetic acid | Bicine | ||
2-(Methylamino)acetic acid | Sarcosine |
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