REPUBLIC OF IRAQ

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & SCIENTIFIC

RESEARCH
SOUTHERN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
ENGINEERING TECHNICAL
COLLEGE/BASRA FUEL & ENERGY DPT

A Report On :

(Acid Gas Removal)

Submitted By :

ZAYN A. AHMED ADBULKAREEM

Third Stage / under graduate Studies

As Requirement for:

" GAS TECH." Subject

Engineering Technical College

Fuel & Energy Department

Basra

Supervisor:
Ms. BAHIYA ABDULLAH

July 2020
 Table of Contents:

Subject Page no.

Discussion of this process 1

Introduction 2

Acid gas removal technologies 3

I- Chemical absorption 3
II- physical absorption 3
III- Hybrid process 3

IV- membrane separation process 4

Methods of removal 4
I- Dry method 4
II- Semi-dry method 4
III- Wet method 4
Advantages & disadvantages of acid removal Methods 4

Problem Statement 5

Design & Unit Parts 6

References 7
DISCUSSION OF THIS PROCESS

Raw natural gas from production wells contains a full range of

hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, water, and
other impurities. They can originate from any one of three types of
production wells: crude oil wells, gas wells, and condensate wells. Raw
natural gas can also come from unconventional sources. These gas
reservoirs are believed to be much larger than previous prediction. As
technology in exploration and drilling advances, the unconventional
reserves are becoming economically attractive and will become an
important source of energy supply. The objective of a natural gas
processing plant is to produce a methane-rich gas by removing the acid
gases, heavy hydrocarbons, nitrogen, water, and other impurities. This
chapter gives an overview of the design and function of the different
process units within a natural gas processing plant.

1
INTRODUCTION

The acid gas removal used

Sulfinol-M as a solvent and it was
designed to remove the total of H2S
and COS down to 20 ppmv. In practice
it was no problem to achieve that
specification. It should be stated that
the main absorber was designed for a
much higher inlet concentration of
COS. The TiO2 catalyst in the HCN/COS converter outperformed
expectations and the hydrolysis reaction of COS to H2S almost reached
equilibrium. With that knowledge, the main absorber could have been
designed differently, with a smaller number of trays. As per design, there
were 40 trays, a number which was determined by the required removal
of remaining COS, which only physically dissolves in Sulfinol-M. Given
the excellent conversion of COS into H2S, absorption of COS would not
have been a governing factor for the design of the main absorber.

Just over 30% of the CO2 in the raw syngas was absorbed, the
remaining CO2 slipped through. That ratio was slightly higher than the
design value of a co-absorption rate slightly below 30%. The inlet
concentration of CO2 did not influence the co-absorption rate. During
normal operation on coal the CO2 concentration in raw syngas usually
varied between 2 and 5%. During co-gasification tests with 50–70%
biomass the CO2 concentration increased, up to almost 10%. The
absorption of CO2 was still just over 30%.

Sulfinol had to be reclaimed every 2–3 years, but in the final years of
operation it had to be done every year. Analyses showed a more rapid
build-up of heat-stable salts which may have been caused by the
increased concentration of formic acid, as described in the section about
the HCN/COS hydrolysis.

The Sulfinol regenerator suffered from a rapid decrease of wall

thickness about 5 years before the closure of the plant. An UHT epoxy
2
coating was applied to prevent further corrosion and this worked very
well.

ACID GAS REMOVAL TECHNOLOGIES

The conventional acid gas removal technologies can be classified as:

I- Chemical Absorption : In chemical absorption process, acid gases

components react chemically with the solvent and formed dissolved
chemical compounds. The solvent is regenerated in a stripper column
by application of heat. Heat breaks the chemical bounds between acid
gases and solvent and drives out the acid gases from the solution. The
conventional chemical absorption process is amine process where
alkanol amines used as a solvent.

II- Physical Absorption : In physical absorption process, acid gases

absorb in an organic solvent physically and without chemical reaction.
Acid gases are absorbed in the solvent due to their high solubility.
Since solubility rises with increasing pressure and decreasing
temperature, physical absorption is mostly effective at high pressures
and low temperatures. Therefore ,compared to amine process, usually
physical absorption capital and operating costs is higher attributed to
high pressure equipment and refrigerating units required to achieve
process operating high pressure and low temperature conditions. In
addition, physical solvent is used for bulk removal of acid gases
whereas application of chemical solvent is to achieve very low acid
gas concentration. It should be noted that the choice between a
physical and an amine based solvent has to be taken based on analysis
of each case. Sometimes a physical solvent has lower operating and
capital costs. However nowadays chemical absorption with amines
dominates the market.

III- Hybrid Process: In a hybrid process a physical and chemical

solvent are applied simultaneously to benefit from the advantages of
both processes.

3
 IV- Membrane Separation Process: Membrane separation systems are
mainly used for bulk removal of CO2. This process is commonly
applied at conditions with large flows or high CO2 contents.

METHODS OF RIMOVAL

IV- Dry method

V- Semi-dry method
VI- Wet method

ADVANANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF ACID REMOVAL

METHODS

4
PROBLEM STATEMENT

Since the 1960s and 1970s, several amines have come into general
use, but there is little information available on which amine is best suited
to a particular service. Many inefficient amine gas sweetening units can
be optimized by simply changing the amines.

Between 50–70% of the initial investment for an amine-sweetening

unit is directly associated with the magnitude of the solvent circulation
rate and another 10–20% of the initial investment depend on the
regeneration energy requirement .Between 50–70% of the initial
investment for an amine-sweetening unit is directly associated with the
magnitude of the solvent circulation rate and another 10–20% of the
initial investment depend on the regeneration energy requirement.
Approximately 70% of gas sweetening plants operating costs, excluding
labour expenses, is due to the energy required for solvent regeneration
(Khakdaman et. al, 2008). Each amine has a unique set of properties
which make it desirable under certain conditions and undesirable under
other conditions. The choice of the type of amine will affect the
required circulation rate of amine solution, the energy consumption for
the regeneration and the ability to selectively remove either H2S alone or
CO2 alone if desired. The selection of amines best suited to the process
conditions can have a dramatic impact on the overall costs associated
with a sweetening unit.

5
 DESIGN & UNIT PARTS

Figure 1 illustrates a simplified block flow diagram of the syngas

cleanup and conditioning process in the NREL thermochemical ethanol
production design. The feed gas to the AGR and the treated gas
specifications are provided by NREL and are used as basis for the
qualitative process screening.

FIG.1

REFERENCES

6
REFERENCES

✓
Handbook of Natural Gas Transmission and Processing (Third
Edition) 2015

✓
Nexant Inc. Task 1: Acid Gas Removal Technology Survey and
Screening for Thermochemical Ethanol Synthesis. Subcontract
Report NREL/KAFT-8-882786-01. March 2009.

✓
Phillips, S., Aden, A., Jechura, J., Dayton, D., and Eggeman, T.,
“Thermochemical Ethanol via Indirect Gasification and Mixed
Alcohol Synthesis of Lignocellulosic Biomass,” NREL Report No.
TP-510-41168, April 2007.