47
T
he most common technology for removing acid gases from
gas streams is by absorption into aqueous amine solutions.
Although there are numerous variants to the basic processing
scheme depending on the amine being used (the desired gas
purity, gas pressure, gas composition, and other factors), the basic
scheme features an absorber and regenerator coupled together
through a lean-rich cross exchanger for energy conservation via heat
integration. Absorption is exothermic and solvent regeneration is
usually done thermally by elevating the solution temperature and
boiling it via a reboiled stripping column. Occasionally, regeneration
through a series of pressure let-downs into flash drums is adequate
to produce sufficiently stripped solvent for reuse in the absorber.
Tools for analysing
Ralph Weiland and Nathan Hatcher,
Optimized Gas Treating Inc.,
USA,
explain why mass transfer
rate-based simulation, coupled with
thermal imaging, is a suitable tool
for design, troubleshooting and
plant monitoring.
gas treatment
