Amine gas treating, also known as gas sweetening and acid gas removal, refers to a group of processes that use aqueous solutions of various alkylamines (commonly referred to simply as amines) to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from gases. It is a common unit process used in refineries, and is also used in petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants and other industries.
Processes within oil refineries or chemical processing plants that remove hydrogen sulfide and/or mercaptans are commonly referred to as sweetening processes because they result in products which no longer have the sour, foul odors of mercaptans and hydrogen sulfide.
There are many different amines used in gas treating:
- Monoethanolamine (MEA)
- Diethanolamine (DEA)
- Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA)
- Diisopropanolamine (DIPA)
- Aminoethoxyethanol (Diglycolamine) (DGA)
The most commonly used amines in industrial plants are the alkanolamines MEA, DEA, and MDEA.
Amines are also used in many oil refineries to remove sour gases from liquid hydrocarbons such as liquified petroleum gas (LPG).
Read more about Amine Gas Treating: Description of A Typical Amine Treater
Famous quotes containing the words gas and/or treating:
“Shielded, what sorts of life are stirring yet:
Legs lagged like drains, slippers soft as fungus,
The gas and grate, the old cold sour grey bed.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“Permissiveness is the principle of treating children as if they were adults; and the tactic of making sure they never reach that stage.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)