Natural Gas Sweeting Process

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

Abstract
In the process industry, we used natural gas to meet the demand of energy
consumption around the world wide. As natural gas contains many harmful
components which cannot only disturb our environment but also affects on human
life. In this project, we study different method for treating the sour gas. We are
dealing with amine solution that is best method for purifying the natural gas. We
study the efficiency of the different amine solution and their effect on operating cost
of plant. We should select that amine that gives maximum efficiency with low
operating cost. The selection of amine depends on the amount of gas that is going
to be treated and amount of sour gas that is present in natural gas.

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Table of Content

s
Abstract.................................................................................................................................... 1
List of Figures........................................................................................................................... 3
List of Tables............................................................................................................................ 3
Natural Gas Sweeting Process by Amine Solution......................................................................4
Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................ 4
Chapter 2:Literature Review........................................................................................................7
2.1 Paper 1: Selection of Amine in Natural Gas Sweeting process for Acid Gases Removal
7
2.2 Paper 2: Using Mixed Amine Solutions for Gas Sweeting...........................................11
2.3 Paper 3: Simulation based analysis for highly sour natural gas sweeting process by
membrane/ amine hybrids system..........................................................................................14
2.4 Paper 4: optimization and performance improvement of Lekhwair natural gas sweeting
process using Aspen HYSYS.................................................................................................16
2.5 Paper 5: Sensitivity analysis for the selection of optimum amine gas sweeting process
with minimum cost requirement..............................................................................................18
Chapter 3: Data Analysis........................................................................................................... 19
Chapter 4: Conclusions and future work....................................................................................25
References:............................................................................................................................ 26

List of Figures
Figure 1: Process Flow Diagram of Gas Sweeting process.......................................................10
Figure 2: Schematic of gas sweeting process by HYSYS..........................................................12
Figure 3: Hybrid process flow diagram......................................................................................14
Figure 4: Aspen HYSYS simulation of PDO Lekhwair gas sweeting process............................15
Figure 5: Simulation of gas sweeting process by HYSYS..........................................................19

List of Tables
Table 1-1:Sour Gas Properties....................................................................................................3
Table 1-2: Composition of Sour Gas............................................................................................3

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Natural Gas Sweeting Process by Amine Solution

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background:
Natural gas is one of most energy source in world. To meet the world energy demand,
we use the natural gas to produce energy. Natural gas is present in India at Thar desert
area. We can use methane for different purposes like for power generation, for
transportation of fuels and in fertilizer sectors. When the natural gas is drilled from wells,
it contains many impurities. Before delivering to the customer, it must be treated to
remove the impurities. It comes from the different wells like oil wells, condensate wells
and gas wells. (Selection of Amine in Natural Gas Sweetening Process)
Natural gas that is coming from the gas wells contains some hydrocarbons in the liquid
form and known as condensate. The gas that is drilled from the oil wells are less in
amount as compared to oil and called associated gas. Natural gas contains different
hydrocarbons like methane, ethane propane, butane, pentane, iso-butane, iso-pentane
and heptane. The composition of these hydrocarbons is different for every well where
the gas is drilled. It also contains some impurities like hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon
dioxide, water and nitrogen. To remove all these impurities, we must treat this gas.

1.2 Scope of Study:

The natural gas containing H 2S and CO2 are called acid gas while gas containing
hydrogen sulfide is called sour gas that is due to smell of rotten egg. In gas sweetening
process, only hydrogen sulfide is removed. Hydrogen sulfide causes corrosion and it
can deposit the free sulfur to pipes. On the other hand, we can remove carbon dioxide
and hydrogen sulfide by acid gas removal process. 20-25% of CO 2 is present in natural
gas that is coming from the Thar desert of India. When carbon dioxide is reacted with
water is forms acid that corrodes the natural gas pipelines and major equipments. In
order to avoid the corrosion problems in gas pipelines, we must process the natural gas
to increase its calorific value. Before supplying to the customer, natural gas must the
standard as it contains only 3% mole carbon dioxide and concentration of hydrogen

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sulfide is less than 4ppm and a heating value is less than 34.278 x 106 Joule/SCM to
42.84 x 106 Joule/SCM, according to the consumer requirements.(Selection of Amine in
Natural Gas Sweetening Process ).

1.3 Objective:
 To remove the acid gases like H2S and CO2 from the natural gas to make it
environmentally friendly.
 Selection of amine solution to get maximum efficiency at low operating cost.
 Develop the simulation by using aspen HYSYS to get simulation results
 Interpret the results of simulation and compare it with standard results.

1.4 Sour gas properties:

Following are the sour gas properties that are used during the simulation. (Simulation-

Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas)

Table 1-0-1:Sour Gas Properties

Specification Units Values

Flowrate of feed stream MMSCFD 250

Temperature of feed stream ◦

C 40

Pressure of feed stream bar 70

Sweet gas parameter Ppm (H2S) 4

Table 1-2: Composition of Sour Gas

Components of sour gas Mole %

H2 S 15

CO2 5

CH4 64

Ethane 10

C3+ 4

Methyl Mercaptan 1

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Ethyl Mercaptan 1

1.5 Physical Properties:

Natural gas contains 85-90% methane with small amount of mostly nitrogen, ethane
and some sour gases. It has a calorific value of 1050 BTU/ cubic foot of gas. It is
colorless, odorless and highly flammable gas but due to the concentration of hydrogen
sulfide it has a smell like rotten egg. It is lighter than air. It has an ignition temperature of
1000-1200◦F. (Properties of Natural Gas)

1.6 Chemical Properties:

As natural gas contains major amount of methane. So it can be used in different
purpose like
 Methane is used for power generation to meet the world energy demand
 It can be used as transportation fuels.
 It can be in fertilizer industries for different purposes.

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Chapter 2:Literature Review

2.1 Paper 1: Selection of Amine in Natural Gas Sweeting process for
Acid Gases Removal
2.1.1 Introduction:
Natural gas used for the generation of energy sources. It contains some harmful gases
that can damage the gas pipelines and also effect on environment. There is a need to
treat the gases before sending into the process. In the process industry, we use the
adsorption process to treat and purify the natural gas to make it corrosion and erosion
free. For the last 80 years, amine sweeting is used on the commercial scale. This
technique removes the sulfur compounds and hydrogen sulfide while some amount of
carbon dioxide is also removed. CO2 concentration should be less than allowable limits
because it causes the green house effect and increase the temperature of environment.
In amine gas sweeting process, acid gases react chemically with amines. The amine
solution is heated at low pressure to generate the liquid types acid gases. Than the
amines are regenerated and send to storage tank for reuse. We treat our gas by this
process because it is commercially available method.

There are different types of amines that are used in this process.
 Di-ethanol Amine (DEA)
 Mixed solution
 Mono-ethanol Amine (MEA)
 Methyl Di-ethanol Amine (MDEA)
The process of sweeting and regeneration for each amine solution is same but have
different capital cost. We should select that amine that gives maximum efficiency with
low operating cost. The selection of amine depends on the amount of gas that is going
to be treated and amount of sour gas that is present in natural gas.
2.1.2 Selection of Amines:
There is no criteria for the selecting the amine for the purification of natural gas. Each
amine has its pros and cons. For example MEA is more reactive with carbon dioxide

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while DEA is more reactive than MDEA. During the selection of amine we must consider
the following factors like equipment size, operating cost and regeneration cost.
Following are the factors that are considered during the selection of amine solution.
 Number of impurities present in the natural gas
 The cost of sweeting agents and plant costs.
 Amount of H2S in the sour gas
 Operating condition of natural gas
 Volume of gas that is to be treated
 Amount of amine solution that gives the high efficiency
 The heat duty of condenser and reboiler
2.1.3 Mono-ethanolamine (MEA):
It is a organic chemical compound and also called ethanol-amine with the formula of
HOCH2CH2NH2. It includes both primary alcohol and primary amine and colorless and
viscous liquid. It can be produced by reacting the aqueous ammonia with ethylene
oxide. Diethanolamine and triethanolamine is also produced during the reaction. We
can change the ratio of products by changing the amount of reactants. 10-20 % by
weight solution is used in water. The mono-ethanolamine is reacted with acid gases and
convert it into the ionic form. The gases become polar and more soluble at low
temperature of MEA. When the natural gas is reacted with this amine solution, the acid
gases is absorbed in amine solution by providing the large surface area to make the
process efficient. The MEA degradation products are highly corrosive because when it
reacts with sulfur compounds, COS and oxygen, it forms the corrosive particles that
must be removed by the circulating system to make the process corrosive free. (Natural
Gas Purification Technologies)
2.1.4 Di-ethanolamine:
Di-ethanolamine is a white solid organic compound with the formula HN(CH2CH2OH)2.
At room temperature, it is a colorless viscous liquid. It is a polyfunctional compound and
act as a weak base and completely soluble in water. Aqueous solution of DEA is used
to remove the hydrogen sulfide from sour gas in oil and gas refineries. 25 to 35% by
weight solution of DEA is used. It is most effective than amine ethanolamine as it

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requires less amount of solution for the removal of acid gases. So less pumping cost is
required. The total acid gas loading is 0.3 to 0.35 mole per mole of diethanolamine.
Degradation products that are formed during the reaction are less reactive than MEA.
(Natural Gas Purification Technologies)

2.1.5 Methyl diethanolamine:

Methyl diethanolamine is a colorless liquid, clear and miscible with alcohol and water
with chemical formula CH3N(C2H4OH)2. It is tertiary amine and widely used as a
sweeting agent in oil refinery and natural gas. 20-50% of MDEA is used to remove the
acid gases and used at very low pressure. To avoid the corrosion problems, we use the
loading rate 0.7 to 0.8 mole/mole. If the oxygen is not removed from the system, it
causes corrosive problems. It can used is pressure swing plants due to less heat of
reaction. MDEA is most commonly used because it can easily absorbed H 2S in the
presence of carbon dioxide. It does not the hydrogen bond attached to the nitrogen, so
it cannot easily react with carbon dioxide. Firstly the carbon dioxide is dissolved in water
to form bicarbonate ion which undergoes the acid-base reaction with the solution of
amine. Same mechanism is occurred in case of hydrogen sulfide by using primary and
secondary amines. (Natural Gas Purification Technologies)
2.1.6 Mixed Amines:
MDEA, DEA and MEA are mixed and used a mixed amines to increase the removal
efficiency of CO2. We can use the DEA or MEA as a secondary amine and MDEA as
based amines. 25% of total amines are used in secondary amines. Mixed amines are
applicable where the carbon dioxide content is increased due to field aging. (Natural
Gas Purification Technologies)
2.1.7 Process Description:
Amine gas sweeting is usually used to remove the hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide
from the natural gas. It is based on the chemical reaction of amine and water with weak
acid. The amine solution is basic in nature while CO 2 and H2S are acidic in nature. The
reaction that is takes place between alkaline and weak solution is complex reaction. The
reaction is takes place at 4800-7000kPa and 300-330K in the absorption column. The
reaction is highly exothermic and release large amount of energy so the temperature of
the column increased. The regeneration process is takes place at 240-300 ◦F and at low

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pressure. We use the Methyl Di-ethanol Amine (MDEA) as a amine. It is energy

intensive process as it requires cooling and heating during the process. We can reduce
the plant by using the optimum operating condition. The main purpose of this project to
clean the natural gas by eliminating the acid gases that effect on the environment. After
removing the acid gases. We can make it environment friendly.
Following are the reaction that takes place in adsorption column.
2RNH2 + H2S →(RNH2)2S

amine + hydrogen Sulphide →amine Sulphide

2RNH2 + CO2 + H2O → (RNH2)2H2CO3

amine + carbon dioxide + water→ amine bicarbonate

(RNH2)2S + heat→ 2RNH2 + H2S

amine sulphide→ amine + hydrogen Sulphide

(RNH3)2CO3 + heat→ 2RNH2 + CO2 + H2O

amine carbonate→ amine + carbon dioxide + water.

The hydrogen sulphide is reacted with amine and it is a chemical reaction that depends

on the temperature. Hydrogen sulfide reaction with amine is very fast reaction while

amine reacted with carbon dioxide is very slow process. That’s why the amine solution

is placed in column for a long time so it reacts with carbon dioxide and we can remove

large amount of acid gases. For this purpose we use the bubble cap tray column so that

amine-gas contact is takes place at higher rate. The removal of acid gases like H 2S is

dependent on the temperature and we can shift the equilibrium by changing the

parameters. The carbonate and sulphide salts are dissolved in amine solution and is

maintained at the bottom of the absorber. The process flow diagram of natural gas

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sweeting process is shown below. (PDF) Selection of Amine in Natural Gas Sweetening

Process ...

Figure 1.1: Process Flow Diagram of Gas Sweeting process

We examined the different operating parameters to yield the optimum design. For the
sweet gas, the concentration of H2S should be less than 3.5 ppm and carbon dioxide
concentration is less than 2%.
2.1.8 Conclusion:
In this chapter, we used different solutions of amine. MEA solution is used when the gas
contains large amount hydrogen sulfide as compared to carbon dioxide because in case
of CO2 the reboiler duty is increased which in terms increase the plant cost. We cannot
use DEA in most units because at atmospheric pressure it decompose below its boiling
points and under vacuum conditions it cannot operates. MDEA is most commonly used
because it can easily absorbed H2S in the presence of carbon dioxide. It does not the
hydrogen bond attached to the nitrogen, so it cannot easily react with carbon dioxide.

2.2 Paper 2: Using Mixed Amine Solutions for Gas Sweeting

2.2.1 Introduction:
In this project, we use the MDEA with the solution of MEA or DEA where MDEA is
acting as the base amine. MDEA is used because is has a ability to absorbed the
hydrogen sulphide from the natural gas but it cannot absorbed the carbon dioxide. Due
to some properties, it is used in many applications which are as follows:

 Low corrosion
 Degradation rate is slow

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 Used for high solution concentration

 Heat of reaction is low
 High sour gas loading

MDEA can also used for the removal of CO 2 from the sour gas. In this case slow
reaction is takes place between amine solution and natural gas and also depends on
the proper design of absorber. There are following operating parameters that are used
during the removal of acid gases.We can only control the temperature of absorber by
using lean amine temperature parameter. As we know that the reaction of carbon
dioxide with MDEA can be controlled kinetically. When the temperature of column
increases, the reaction rate goes on increasing. When the lean amine temperature
reaches at 135-140◦F, the solubility of carbon dioxide in amine solution decreases. It will
become the overriding factor and net amount will begin to decrease. Carbon dioxide
amount goes on increasing when we increase the circulation rate. When we use the
MDEA amine solution in column with fixed diameter. It also increased by decreasing the
flowrate at the tray. By the production of leaner amine, the CO 2 and H2S concentration
in the sour gas is decreased by increasing the steam stripping rate. When we use the
MDEA, the reaction of H2S with amine solution is so fast while reaction of CO 2 is slow.
So we give the sufficient time to complete the reaction. We adjust the design
parameters like column heigh and weir height to get maximum absorption of carbon
dioxide and it release less amount of energy. The weir height used is 2-4 in. resulting in
residence times from about 2 to 5 sec.

2.2.2 Methodology:
To study the behavior of mixed amine solutions of gas sweeting, we use the amine pkg.
equation of states in a HYSYS and run the simulation. We predict the vapor-liquid
equilibrium data for the mixed amine solutions and find out the kinetic model for the
absorption of carbon dioxide. Here is the process flow diagram of gas sweeting process.

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Figure 2.1: Schematic of gas sweeting process by HYSYS

2.2.3 Results:
We used the blended solvents that contains primary and secondary amines and
enhance the absorption capacity of carbon dioxide. Blended solvents provide the kinetic
for carbon dioxide and also decrease the circulation rate of natural gas as compared to
single amine solvents. For different amine solutions, we can observed the effect of
absorber column on the number of stages by the following charts.

2.2.4 Conclusion:
We investigated the uses of mixed amine solution for sour gas by using the process
simulation software called HYSYS. We used the 45% of amine solutions with 45%
water solution where MEA and DEA is used as an additives. We cannot operate the
absorber at high pressure because amine solution cannot give high efficiency. The

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absorption of acid gases is only done at low pressures. In case of carbon dioxide, we
must use the additives for absorption of carbon dioxide with maximum amount of
hydrogen sulphide.

2.3 Paper 3: Simulation based analysis for highly sour natural gas
sweeting process by membrane/ amine hybrids system

2.3.1 Introduction:
To meet the safety standards, we must treat the natural gas to remove the high sulfur
contents. Today most commonly method used for removal of acid gases is gas
absorption by amine solution. Sour gas is reacted with aqueous solution of MEA, DEA,
MDEA and DGA in a tray column packed tower. Gas removal by amine process is
highly energy intensive because it requires the regeneration of amine solution to make it
reuses as a recycle in the column. Energy requirements are directly related to the
concentration of acid gases and sour gas flowrate. Therefore, we use the hybrid system
that can give promising solution and improve the operational cost and overcome the
difficulties. In membrane separation, partial pressure is required for the removal of acid
gases into permeate side while in absorption column, reaction is takes place between
sour gas components and amine solutions. Membrane separation includes low
operating cost, low maintenance and easy installation.

2.3.2 Methodology:
We used the hybrid system to treat the sour natural gas by using the ProMax simulation
software. This process consist of pre treatment single stage membrane and absorption
stage. Firstly the sour gas is entered in the membrane to remove the large amount of
sulfur components from the natural gas. To meet the final pipeline specification, gas is
entered into the absorption column to decrease the H 2S up to 4ppm and CO2 to 1%
mole. The membrane split the feed streams into permeate and retentate sides where
permeate rich in acid gas and retentate contains mostly hydrocarbons. Hybrid system
save the capital and operating cost of plant.

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Figure 3: Hybrid process flow diagram

2.3.3 Results
In hybrid system, we optimize the capital cost of plant by using the membrane system.
The single and total annual operating cost of membrane as a function of H 2S removal is
shown in the figure. We observed that methane is lost during the process of membrane
separation. 85% of total operating cost accounts the methane losses. Membrane
module cost is directly related to acid gas removal concentration. If the concentration of
acid gas removal is high, operating cost is high which eventually increase the methane
losses.

2.3.4 Conclusions:
In this process, we study the hybrid system that contains a single membrane unit.
According to the analysis, it was found that lonely absorption column with amine
solution is highly energy efficient process. That’s why hybrid system is introducing in
order to control the operating and capital cost of plant and reducing the steam and

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utilities consumption. It is also very friendly to the environment due to the high efficient
removal of gases. It is more flexible in terms of operability.

2.4 Paper 4: optimization and performance improvement of

Lekhwair natural gas sweeting process using Aspen HYSYS.

2.4.1 Introduction:
Natural gas is a primary source of fuel that is used as a domestic and industrial fuel to
meet the world demands. Some impurities in the gas may effect its utilization and
optimal energy capacity, so there is a need to purify the natural gas. Impurities in the
natural gas can cause serious problems like corrosion, plugging, erosion and freezing
hazards. Gas contains H2S and CO2 which is treated as acid gases. If the natural gas
contains 3.8ppm volume based concentration, it is considered a sour gas. The removal
of acid gases in known as sweeting process of natural gas. More than 50% of modern
technologies used amine solution to remove the impurities. Due to the amine
regeneration, it is considered as energy extensive process. In this paper, we optimize
the Lekhwair gas sweeting process to reduce the energy expenses.
2.4.2 Methodology:
We used Aspen HYSYS v7.3 to simulate and optimize the Lekhwair natural gas by
amine sweeting gas process. DBR amine package is used rather than traditional amine
solution. It is improved amine method that is added by coding in aspen and updated any
time. It can better handle the solution of MDEA and reaction of carbon dioxide and
amine solution. Thermodynamic model that is used for this process is Kent and
Eisenberg. These methods are used to find out the vapor pressure of hydrogen sulphide
and carbon dioxide above amine solutions by assuming the non-ideal solutions.

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Figure 4:Aspen HYSYS simulation of PDO Lekhwair gas sweeting process

2.4.3 Results:
Following are the results of simulation of natural gas sweeting process in which we can
observed that when we increase the loading rate of acid gases, the removal of acid
gases is high. By increasing the circulation rate, reboiler duty is also increased because
the more energy is required to regenerate the amine solution.

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2.4.4 Conclusion:
In this paper, we introduced two fluid package and observed that DBR amine package
is more suitable for the simulation and sensitivity analysis of MDEA gas sweeting
process. The results from the DBR almost matches with the actual data with less than
5% error. After considering the operating parameters, we conclude that the amine
circulation rate should be 40 m3 per hour and lean temperature is 5-6◦C to avoid foaming
in the system.

2.5 Paper 5: Sensitivity analysis for the selection of optimum amine

gas sweeting process with minimum cost requirement.
2.5.1 Introduction:
There are two main natural gas conditioning is to separate the solids and liquids and
remove impurities to meet sales specification. Two principle gas phase impurities are
hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. Due to corrosiveness of hydrogen sulphide and
carbon dioxide in water and due to toxicity of hydrogen sulphide, sales gas is required
to be sweetened to contain no more than 1-3% mole of CO 2 and 4ppm of H2S. There
are many methods for the removal of acid gases like chemical solvents, physical
solvents, hybrid process, adsorption process and membrane process. Amine are the
types of chemical solvents that are mostly used in industries. In this process, acid gases
are react with alkanolamine solution. It is highly exothermic and reversible reaction. We
can regenerate our amine solution and used as a lean amine solution.

2.5.2 Methodology:
In this project, we used the HYSYS simulation software to simulate the amine gas
sweeting process. Mixed amines with primary, secondary and tertiary amines are used
at various operating conditions to find out the optimum design for removal of gases of
20 MMSCFD of sour gas. Process economic are evaluated by using Aspen process
economic analyzer and after comparing with other process, we select the most
economical process.

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2.5.3 Results:
We divide our expenses into two major categories like capital expenditure and
operational expenditure. Capital expenditure are the funds used for acquisitions of
physical assets in order to produce a service. In this project, it is a cost related to
equipment that are required for acid gas removal plant. While operating cost is used to
run and maintain the system and to pay worker salary. The capital and operating cost
for each amine solution are taking from the aspen economizer. According to the figure,
MEA has high energy expense and MDEA has least energy expense due to high and
low flowrates. Mixed amines solution has also less expenses compared with other
amines. It is observed that the mixture of MDEA and DEA is the most recommended for
this process.

2.5.4 Conclusion:
We study the different types of amine to treat the natural gas with less content of
hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide. By changing the parameters, we optimum our
process. Besides operating and capital, there are many other factors like corrosion and
removal efficiency for the selection of amine solution. MDEA has many capabilities in
order to remove the H2S. to increase the carbon dioxide removal efficiency, we mixed
the amine solution with solvent to make it highly efficient process.

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Chapter 3: Data Analysis

3.1 Simulation:
We use the alkanolamine-based solvents for the removal of acid gases from natural
gas. We did the analysis related to operating parameters, operating cost and energy
consumption and find the best method which leads to profit in terms of cost and
environment. We take 5% mol of carbon dioxide and 0.39% mole of hydrogen sulphide
and done the simulation by using aspen HYSYS by using different amine solutions.
(Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas)

3.2 Natural gas specification:

The simulation is done by taking the operating parameters in Iran plant that has a
capacity of 20 MMSCFD of natural gas. The H 2S content in gas is 0.39 mole% and CO 2
is 5 mole%. The mole fraction of methane is 0.7444 and mole fraction of ethane is
0.1284. The temperature and pressure of feed stream is 21°C and 17 bar respectively.
(Al-Lagtah, Al-Habsi, & Onaizi, 2015)

3.3 Steady state simulation and optimization:

The amine solution is reacted with sour gas in counter current flow in amine unit
absorber column.
The acid gases are absorbed in amine solution while the sweet gas is exit at the top of
the column. The amine solution that contains the acid gases and become saturated with
these gases are sent to the regeneration column from the bottom. The amine solution is
regenerated by using hydrocarbons and than lean solution is recycled back to the amine
solution column. (Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas)

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Figure 5: Simulation of gas sweeting process by HYSYS

3.4 Operating parameters:

Depending upon the feed parameters, following are the operating parameters that are
taking into the account during the simulation.
Before 1970, MEA amine solution is firstly used for sweeting natural gas. MEA is
replaced by DEA is 1970. In the past 20 years, MDEA and mixed amines are commonly
used in industries due to the following reasons. It has low corrosion properties,
resistance to oxidative and thermal degradation, environmental friendly and high loading
capacity. It has low reaction with carbon dioxide so there is a need to give maximum
reaction time and hold up time in which acid gas is completely reacted with amine
solution. It has a high selectivity with H 2S removal. Recently there is growing interest in
the use of solvent because these solvents require less equipment size and energy
consumption. We use the piperazine as a solvent for selective absorption of carbon
dioxide.
(Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas)
Amine circulation rate:
As we know that, liquid residence time is directly related to circulation rate of amine.
When the circulation rate of amine is high, it gives better absorption of carbon dioxide
and hydrogen sulphide with amine solution. Boiler duty increases with the increase in
circulation time. There is chance of foaming and system becomes unstable due to high
circulation rate and amine carryover increases. If we decrease the circulation rate,
absorption capacity of amine decreases. So we optimize our process, where we get
maximum efficiency. (Al-Lagtah, Al-Habsi, & Onaizi, 2015)
Lean amine temperature

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As we know that the solubility increases with the decrease in temperature. Lean amine
solution absorb acid gases at lower temperature as compared to primary and secondary
amines. Carbon dioxide absorption increased at lower temperature and we can easily
controlled the kinetics. The lean amine temperature is adjusted to 5-7 °C above the inlet
temperature of feed stream in order to avoid the condensation of hydrocarbons. (Al-Lagtah, Al-
Habsi, & Onaizi, 2015)
Amine concentration
If the amine concentration is low, the molecules of amine solution is in less contact with
acid gases. So that absorption of acid gases is low. When the concentration is high,
regeneration is more difficult as it requires high energy input. It also increased the
reboiler duty and corrosion. Due to the formation of layer of FeS and degradation
products of amine, heat exchanger capacity becomes low. For example: when the
concentration of piperazine is below than 5%, it causes serious problem related to
carbon dioxide absorption and reboiler duty. There is a need to set the parameters to
avoid problems for all other amine solutions.

3.5 Process optimization:

Between 50% to 70% of the initial investment for an amine sweeting unit is directly
related to solvent circulation rate. 10-20% of the initial investment is depend upon the
regeneration energy. Circulation rate effects the size of equipments like piping,
regenerator and absorber. In gas sweeting process, 70% of operating cost is due to the
solvent that is used in regeneration. In process optimization, we used different types of
amines at which we can optimize our process at low solvent amount and operating cost.
(Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas)

3.6 Sensitivity Results:

We conduct the simulation by using the aspen HYSYS in which we take different types
of amines. To conduct the sensitivity analysis, we keep some parameters at constant
condition like feed flowrate, concentration of amine, stripping stage, liquid residence
time and column pressure. In this simulation, we take amine solution that is 50% by
weight MDEA and 50% of total amines in water and changing the ratios between first
and secondary amine to get the suitable amine concentrations. We used the following
composition of amine like 15%wt MEA, 30% DEA, MDEA 50wt%, MDEA43wt%+MEA

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7wt%, MDEA 30wt%+DEA20wt%, and MDEA 43wt%+piperazine 6wt% are well known
by acid gas package.
During simulation, we study the first parameter that is amine circulation rate. The graph
between the hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide in sweet gas and amine flow rate as
shown below by setting other parameters fixed. (Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly
Sour Natural Gas)
Loading rate:
From the figure, we analyzed that the H 2S and CO2 concentration in sweet gas are
decreased when we increase the flowrate of amine solution for all amine types. When
the amine flowrate increases, the reboiler duty goes on increasing because more steam
consumption is required to strip the acid gases from the rich amine solution. Due to the
fixed reboiler duty, stripper cannot work properly.

From the figure, we observed that MDEA amine solution shows best performance in the
absorption of hydrogen sulphide but in case of carbon dioxide, it requires the high
reaction time. When we use MDEA and MEA as a mixture, it also remove the CO 2
content from the natural at low operating cost. (Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly
Sour Natural Gas)

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

Lean amine temperature:

During the simulation of natural gas, we observed another sensitive parameter that is
lean amine temperature. In the absorber column, we can easily controlled the lean
temperature by using air cooler. Large amount of air cooler duty is required to minimize
the temperature.

From the figure, we analyzed that if the absorber inlet temperature is low, gas treating is
better. In order to avoid condensation and corrosion problems, we should set the lean
temperature above the feed stream temperature. For low air cooler duty and economic
value, we chose the optimum temperature that is 49 ◦C. (Simulation-Based Analysis for
Highly Sour Natural Gas)
Amine Vaporization losses:
We can controlled the amount of vapor-phase alkanolamine by changing the operating
condition of stripper, absorber and flash vent tank. We analyzed that amine loss
increases with the increase in temperature. From the simulation results, the amine

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

vaporization losses occurs when sweet gas becomes saturated with water at higher
temperatures. MDEA amine has low vaporization losses as compared to other amines.

Rich amine loading:

Rich amine loading is defined as number of moles of acid gas that is removed from the
feed stream of natural gas to the actual number of moles of component, which is used
for absorption purposes. When the acid gas loading increased, the rate of corrosion
increases. The simulation results shows that MDEA has low amine loading rate as it has
a capability to absorbed the acid gases.

Column temperature profile

The temperature of column increases due to the exothermic reaction of absorption.

When the column temperature increases, the reaction rate is also increases with in
terms increase the stage efficiencies. The aspen simulation cannot estimate the
murphree efficiency. When we want to improve the murphree efficiency, we should
decrease the column temperature. In the absorber column, most of reactions are
occurred at the bottom of the column. DEA and MEA has high reaction rate and they

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

react with acid gases immediately and temperature increase at the lowest portion of the
column while MDEA has low reaction rates and temperature of column is less than in
case of MDEA.

Chapter 4: Conclusions and future work

Many factors that must be considered during the selection of amine for sweeting
process. The initial selection is based on the molar flow of gas, gas temperature,
pressure and concentration of natural gas. We must consider the loading rate of
circulation, regeneration cost and loading capacity of amine. After studying all the
parameters, we observed that MDEA has outstanding properties. Due to its low heat of
reaction, we can used it in pressure swing plants for bulk acid gas removal.
We study the behavior of various types of amine solution with low sulfur content 0.39%
mol and relatively high carbon dioxide content 5% mole. We also studied the operating
parameters and doing the sensitivity analysis across different parameters. Due to its
lower corrosion rate and heat of reaction with acid gases compared with other amines,
MDEA has many favorable capabilities. We can also used other tertiary amines that is

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

selective to H2S but not favorable for feed condition. In order to resolve these problems,
primary and secondary amines are mixed with MDEA which increase solvent
performance. After simulation, we revealed that MDEA and DEA is more applicable due
to the highest absorption capacity with low costs, low corrosion rate and low
vaporization losses among the candidate amine solutions. (Simulation-Based Analysis
for Highly Sour Natural Gas).
A few years ago, most of the researches are conducting on the mixed amine solutions
in which we can achieve maximum removal of acid gases and changing the solvents
types in MDEA amine solution will also in process.

References:

1) Guo, B., & Ghalambor, A. (2012). Natural gas engineering handbook. Houston,
TX: Gulf Publishing Company.
2) Issue paper: Sour gas treatment. (2010). Victoria, B.C.: Western Climate
Initiative.
3) (PDF) Selection of Amine in Natural Gas Sweetening Process ... (n.d.). Retrieved
December 14, 2020, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341960166_Selection_of_Amine_in_Na
tural_Gas_Sweetening_Process_for_Acid_Gases_Removal_A_Review_of_Rece
nt_Studies

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 Natural Gas Sweeting process

4) Simulation-Based Analysis for Highly Sour Natural Gas ... (n.d.). Retrieved
December 14, 2020,from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310703724_Simulation-
Based_Analysis_for_Highly_Sour_Natural_Gas_Sweetening_Using_Membranes
Amines_Hybrid_Systems
5) Properties of Natural Gas. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17, 2020, from
https://www.pinedalegas.com/natural-gas/properties-of-natural-gas
6) (PDF) Using mixed amine solution for gas sweetening. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 17, 2020, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292885923_Using_mixed_amine_soluti
on_for_gas_sweetening
7) Al-Lagtah, N., Al-Habsi, S., & Onaizi, S. (2015, June 26). Optimization and
performance improvement of Lekhwair natural gas sweetening plant using Aspen
HYSYS. Retrieved December 17, 2020, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875510015002851

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