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Natural Gas Desulfurization Process By MEA Amine: The preferable

Engineering Design Procedure

Article  in  International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology · November 2015

DOI: 10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V28P242

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume X Issue Y- Month 2015

Natural Gas Desulfurization Process By MEA Amine: The preferable

Engineering Design Procedure
Ribwar Abdulrahman1, Ibtisam Kamal2, Jagar Ali3
1
Faculty of Engineering, Koya University, Kurdistan region, Iraq, [email protected]
2
Faculty of Engineering, Soran University, Kurdistan region, Iraq, [email protected]
3
Faculty of Engineering, Soran University, Kurdistan region, Iraq, [email protected]

contactor pressure, amine solution concentration and amine

Abstract — Natural gas may consider the most popular circulation rate. In fact, amine circulation rate is considered
energy source in recent era and the demand for it in recent one of the most important amine process operation conditions
years has been dramatic. However, natural gas is existed in that has huge effect on acid gas removal from natural gas
deep reservoirs so it may contents many impurities for stream. It quite important to adopt the correct amine
instance, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and mercury. circulation rate to achieve optimum acid gas removal and
Indeed, these impurities may cause several technical meet product requirement.
problems for instance, corrosion and environment pollution.
Therefore, raw natural gas should be purify before II. Basic amine process description
processing it to global gas markets and amine gas
Amine gas sweetening process is shown in figure 1.Firstly,
sweetening process may consider the most common
sour gas stream is usually enters to scrubber to remove sour
technology to remove acid gases from natural gas stream.
gas constants. Secondly, sour gas enters to the bottom side of
Thus, this study aims to treat a given composition natural
amine absorber tower and flow countercurrent to amine
gas stream with a moderate hydrogen sulphide contents
solvent and Sweet gas will leave the top of the contactor tower
about 2500ppm vie engineering mathematical calculations
and need to be processed to dehydration process to remove
for MEA circulation rate that was about 490 gpm. The
saturated water. Moreover, Dirty or rich amine will leave
amine circulation rate is considered quite important amine
bottom of contactor tower and need to be regenerate. Finally,
gas sweetening parameters that should be at optimum value
Amine stripping tower (regenerator) is used to regenerate the
to achieve optimum acid gas removal and meet the product
dirty amine hot lean amine need to be cooled therefore it
requirement. Thus, the amine circulation rate examined by
flows to amine heat exchanger and then back to contactor
material balance calculations for amine contactor tower. As
tower. The brief of amine process could be described as
a result, it is found that 490 gpm amine circulation rate is an
following:
effective value to reduce hydrogen sulphide contents to 4ppm
which it meets the gas pipelines and gas sell contracts
specification.

Keyword — Natural gas sweetening, amine solution, amine

circulation rate, acid gas, absorber tower.

I. Introduction
Natural gas has an important role in the recent world
development. However, natural gas usually contents acid
gases for example, H2S and CO2 that it needs to be removed
from natural gas to meet the gas pipelines specifications.
Stewart and Arnold (2011) note that gas contracts restrict H2S
content about 4ppm and CO2 about 2% in natural gas stream. Figure 1: General flow diagram for Amine plant
Thus, many gas sweetening processes developed to remove
acid gases from raw natural gas stream for example, chemical
absorption, solid bet sweetening method and physical
absorption method. However, amine gas sweetening is III. Case study
considered the most popular process among natural gas The case study gas composition is shown in table 1. It seems
sweetening methods. In fact, amine gas sweetening process that the gas has a moderate content of acid gases. However,
has several advantages for example, continues process, the the gas analyzed on dry basis. Therefore, gas water content
ability to regenerate the process solvent. However, any amine should be calculated.
process has many operation conditions for instance amine

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume X Issue Y- Month 2015

Table 1: Given Case study tow data.

Figure 2: Residual H2S [4].

Natural gas water content can be estimated by adopting the
McKetta-Wehe Chart [3]. Therefore, the raw natural gas water
content is about .
Now, the new Natural gas composition could calculate and
summarized as shown in table 2.
Table 2: natural gas composition.

Figure 3: Residual CO2 [4].

From figure 2, residual H2S can be calculated by using the
ratio. Thus,

Dividing the above amount by MEA molecular weight to

IV. Amine circulation rate obtain
Amine circulation rate is considered one of the most important Thus
parameters with regards the reduction of acid gas quantity in
natural gas. Moreover, many researchers have developed Residual CO2 can also be calculated from the graph in Figure
numerous methods to calculate the circulation rate for amine 3, by maintaining the same procedure:
gas sweetening. However, Campbell 1979 has put forth a
useful procedure with which to calculate amine circulation
rate. In this work MEA (15% w/w) will be used for the amine
gas sweetening process. As Campbell (1979) and Kohl &
Riesenfield (1997) recommend, a 75% approach to the Dividing the above amount by MEA molecular weight to
equilibrium concentration should be used for the design obtain
propos. However, in contrast, Zapffe recommends 65%,
whilst Campbell (1979) recommends using the average of Thus
both approaches. With these recommendations taken into Total residual acid gas=
account, 70% will be used. Moreover, As Khol & Riesenfield
(1997) note, “rich amines can be adequately stripped with 0.9
to 1.2 pounds of steam per gallon of rich solution”. Therefore, Density MEA at 38°C = 1003 Kg/ m3 (CHEM Group, 2012).
for this work 0.9 . For given gas composition the Density of water at 38°C = 999.3 kg / m3 (Claude, 2000)
Thus density of solution = (0.15 × 1003) + (0.85 × 999.3)
acid gas ratio is: Acid gas ratio =999.8

(Density of MEA)

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume X Issue Y- Month 2015

Taking the density of 15% of MEA to be , there will be: Using the 70% approach of equilibrium will reveal the
concentration of H2S and CO2 in rich amine.
, 0.07 x 0.7 = 0.049 moles of H 2S/ moles of MEA
0.583 x 0.7 =0.4 moles of CO2/ moles of MEA. Total moles of
Thus, moles of MEA=
acid gases per mole of MEA = 0.45
Net moles of H2S / mole of MEA pick up in absorber =
(concentration in rich MEA - concentration in lean MEA) =
Unstrapped H2S , Unstrapped 0.049 - = 0.045
CO2 Net moles of H2S / mole of MEA pick up in absorber =
Assume ideal gas to calculate the partial pressure of H2S and (concentration in rich MEA - concentration in lean MEA ) =
CO2 in sour gas. 0.4 – 0.145 =0.255
Partial pressure of H2S Therefore moles of acid gases pick up in absorber / mole of
MEA= 0.045+ 0.255= 0.3
The total amount of acid gas to be removed is as follows:
Partial pressure for First convert gas flow rate into SCFM=
CO2
The ratio of acid gas partial pressure Thus, H2S flow rate
Now calculate the concentration of MEA at the bottom:
Following this ascertain the equilibrium composition H2S at CO2 flow rate x ,
144 mmHg and 50°C and Rv=0.216 Or:
Campbell (1979) recommends the assumption of rich amine Moles of H2S/min ,
temperature leaving the absorber at 60 C°. Thus, equilibrium Moles of CO2/min
composition of H2S in amine solution can be derived from Therefore, the total moles of Acid per min= 2.65. Assuming
Figure 4 and Figure 5 as well. all acid gases is absorbed by MEA
= 10

= 8.6

0.3 =
8.83
(Moles of MEA / min needed for H2S)/ Moles of MEA / gal =
= 500 gpm
(Moles of MEA / min needed for\or CO2)/ Moles of MEA /
Figure 1: Equilibrium data for H2S and MEA [4]. gal= = 430 gpm
(Moles of MEA / min needed for total acid gas) / Moles of
MEA / gal= = 441.5 gpm
Add 10% for safety (Stewart & Arnold, 2011). Thus, 441.5 x
0.1= 485.65 gpm
Therefore, the design circulation rate of 15% MEA solution
will be 490 gpm = 111 m3/hr

V. Material balance
It is relatively important to achieve mass balance for the
absorber column in order to examine all amine contactor
streams and ascertain the acid gas composition in the sweet
Figure 5: Equilibrium data for CO2 and MEA [4]. gas stream. As a result, mass balance will show whether or not
From Figure 4, moles of H2S per Moles of MEA = 0.07 the 15% MEA is active to remove acid gases from the sour
From Figure 5, = 0.12. Thus moles of CO2 per MEA = gas stream.
0.07/0.12= 0.583 Estimating solubility of Methane and Ethan in 15% MEA [7].

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume X Issue Y- Month 2015

Results Methane concentration 5.79 (lbmole /100000 lbs

solution) & Ethane concentration 0.303 (lbmole /100000 lbs
solution). Table 3: shows material balance results
MEA solution flow rate = 490 gpm = 705600 gal/day, Density
of MEA solution = 8.35 lb/US gal
705600 gal/day x 8.35 lb /US gal =5891760 lb/day
Thus, the total amount of Methane soluble in MEA solution

Thus, the total amount of Ethane soluble in MEA solution

Now apply mass balance for acid gases

15 %( w/w) MEA is used. Thus, 85 % (w/w) water is used

Water flow rate =490 x 60x 24 x 0.85 x 8.35= 5007996 lb/day

x 1kg/2.204lb = 2272230.5 kg/day
MEA flow rate =490 x 60x 24 x 0.15x8.35==883764lb/day
x1kg/2.204lb= 401710.9 kg/day
As Kohl & Riesenfeld (1999) noted, H2S normally reduces to
less than 25 grain per 100 SCF = 4ppm and for CO 2 less than
2% (Stewart & Arnold, 2011). H2S content in feed gas (sour
gas):
Kmols of H2S / day = 317.88 kmols/ day (table 9). H2S
content in the gas out (sweet gas ) should be :

Thus H2S to be removed = 10832.136 - 17.1 = 10815.036

kg/day
Number of mole of day without acid gases = 125301.8078
kmoles / day
The volume = 125301.81 x 22.414 = 2808514.769 m3/ day
By using previous methods for gas water content it can be
established that water content at pressure 71 bars, 38 C° is
965.5 Kg/ MMstd. m3. Water content for sweet gas =
x 965.5 Kg/ MMstd. M3 = 2711 kg /
day
The above results are applied in MS Excel to establish whole From table 3 results, it can be argued that the use of 15%
system compositions and quantities (see results section for MEA with 490 gpm (111m3/hr) amine circulation rate may be
more results). considered effective with regards the removal of acid gases
from the natural gas stream. As is shown in the table above,
VI. Results the H2S content of the sweet gas stream is around 4 ppm, thus
This case study examines a moderate sour gas stream which meeting the gas pipeline specifications and gas sale contracts.
contains around 2500 ppm H2S and around 1.2 % CO2. In addition, CO2 content is approximately 0.049%, which is
Moreover, 15% MEA solution is used for the sweetening also considered an acceptable value and comfortable values
process. As a result, the amine circulation rate calculated with gas pipeline specifications.
which is around 490 gpm (111 m3/hr). Moreover, this amine
circulation rate is considered economical for the sweetening VII. Conclusion
process and does not need excessive amounts of energy. In conclusion, natural gas is considered one of the most
popular fuels of recent eras. However, most natural gas
reservoirs around the world produce sour natural gases which
contain several acid gases such as H2S and CO2. This study is
examined gas removal process calculations for natural gas
stream with moderate acid gas contents. Moreover, amine gas
sweetening is designed to sweeten this gas stream by using

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume X Issue Y- Month 2015

15% MEA solution as alchemical solvent to remove acid

gases. A 15% MEA solution circulation rate is calculated
which is equal to approximately 490 gpm. It can be argued
that 15% MEA solution and 490 gpm amine rate is effective
in reducing acid gas content in a given natural gas stream
which contains around 4 ppm for H2S and 0.049 % CO2.

VIII. References

[1] Stewart, M. and Arnold, K. (2011) Gas

Sweetening and Processing Field Manual. Waltham:
Gulf professional publishing.
[2] Abdel-Aal, K. and Aggour, M. (2003)
Petroleum and Gas Field Processing. New York:
CRC Press.
[3] Carroll, j. (2009) Natural Gas Hydrates: A Guide for
Engineers. Oxford: Gulf Professional Publishing.
[4] Maddox, R. (1982) Gas conditioning and
processing: gas and liquid sweetening. Oklahoma:
Campbell petroleum.
[5] GPSA (2004) Engineering data book. Tulsa:
Gas Processors Suppliers Association.
[6] Kohl, L. & Riesenfeld, A. (1985) Gas
purification. Oxford: Gulf Professional Publishing.
[7] CHEM Group (2012) Chemical properties.
Available at: http://www.chemgroup.com. 23 July
2012.

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