Investigation of Sulfolane Degradation in Aqueous Alkanolamine Solutions Under the Stripping Operational Condition

Abstract

The measure of stability of sulfolane (SFL) in aqueous alkanolamine solution was investigated. For this purpose, degradation of SFL was experimentally studied under the stripping operational condition (T = 130 °C). The experiments were divided into two general categories: (1) aqueous solution of SFL with and without presence of oxygen to receive a sense of thermal and oxidative SFL degradation; (2) aqueous solution of MDEA/PZ/SFL loaded by hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide (both gas-loadings were set to be 0.25 to roughly make a real condition). The results of the experiments showed that SFL resists thermal degradation, but in the presence of oxygen and temperatures of 130 °C which is in accordance with the desorption operational conditions, it would be prone to degradation to anions such as sulfite, sulfate and thiosulfate.