Development of an automated system for the purification of alkanolamine solutions

Abstract

The alkanolamine solutions used in natural gas purification processes are inevitably degraded over time. This occurs due to accumulation of reaction products from the reactions with carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, oxygen and other impurities present in the gas streams, as well as from thermal degradation. The degradation of solutions leads to the formation of thermostable compounds that not only reduce absorption efficiency, but also increase corrosive activity. Furthermore, part of the amine turns into a bound state and becomes ballast. The necessity of purification of alkanolamine solutions is becoming more and more urgent since the cost of maintaining efficient operation of gas treatment plants grows, and environmental safety requirements increase. Purification of solutions makes it possible to prolong their service life, reduce the cost of purchasing new reagents and reduce the negative impact on the equipment. In this work the method of anion-exchange technology of purification is used. Unlike vacuum distillation and electrodialysis, the considered technology does not require significant energy costs for generation and maintenance of vacuum, and heating of solutions, it can be easily integrated into the existing production process without any significant changes in the infrastructure. The described problem is relevant for Kazakhstan oil refineries, two of which use methyldiethanolamine, and one of which uses diethanolamine, and the existing practice of maintaining the operability of the systems is based on periodic replacement of part of the solution with pure amine. The development of automated systems for purification of such solutions makes it possible to significantly improve process control, minimise manual labour, and improve the overall economic efficiency of production.