Techno‐economic comparison of amine regeneration process with heat‐stable amine salt reclaiming units

Abstract

Abstract Most factories employ an amine gas sweetening process to remove sulfur compounds. During this process, heat‐stable amine salt (HSAS) is generated, which reduces process efficiency. Ion exchange resin and electrodialysis reclamation methods are employed for HSAS removal. However, the equipment cost, electricity, water, and raw material consumption of each unit vary according to the amount of HSAS reclaimed; thus, it is necessary to consider the cost. In this study, we compared the techno‐economic aspects of the amine regeneration process for individual HSAS reclaiming units, developed process models to predict operation costs, and verified our simulation results by comparing actual operation and design data. The proposed mathematical models can be employed to calculate various costs incurred during amine regeneration with HSAS reclaiming units. The economic crossover point is derived at 36.6111 kg‐mol/d by utilizing the models. This enables economically feasible units to be identified based on the amount of HSAS reclaimed.

Keywords

• amine regeneration process
• economic crossover point
• electrodialysis reclaiming unit
• ion exchange resin reclaiming unit
• optimization