Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022 - 67

Bio-Based Processing
comparable increase in CO2
content in
the amine acid gas to be processed in the
SRU. Being a stronger acid than H2
S, CO2
also requires more regeneration energy to
strip from the solvent in the regenerator.
This extra duty load on the reboiler
can potentially adversely affect the H2
S
lean loading needed to meet product
specification from the absorbers in the
process loop. If the plant is already reboiler-limited,
the quantity of coprocessed
biofeed may need to be reduced.
If the plant uses a selective amine, such
as methyl diethanolamine (MDEA), it
has the potential to slip some of the extra
CO2
(since CO2
the contactor without being removed), so
that the effect of the extra CO2
can pass directly through
on the acid
gas quality is not as significant as with
non-selective amines. In some instances,
it may be beneficial for an oil refinery to
switch from ethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine
(DEA) or diglycolamine
(DGA) to MDEA to offset the additional
CO2
and reduce energy consumption.
However, it is more challenging for a
weaker base like MDEA to meet treated
FIG. 3. Simplified amine system diagram.
gas specifications at low pressure than
it is for primary and secondary amines.
MDEA also has a higher hydrocarbon
solubility than MEA, DEA or DGA and
is more vulnerable to foaming as a result.
The presence of the extra CO2
in the
rich solvent can accelerate corrosion in
the bottom of the regenerator and reboiler
if the steam flow up the regenerator column
is not optimized for the extra duty
(FIG. 4). Higher CO2
loadings can increase
the risk of corrosion throughout the system.
A detailed description of the mechanisms
for this is provided in literature.12
In addition to CO2
, CO will also increase
in the feed gases to the amine
system because of coprocessing. CO is
known to react with MDEA and caustic
solutions to form formate salts13
, while
CO reacts with primary amines (MEA
and DGA) or secondary amines (DEA
and DIPA) to form formamides and forSubmit
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Hydrocarbon Processing - January 2022

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