Title: Effects of residence time on selective absorption of hydrogen sulphide using methyldiethanolamine

Authors: Satyadileep Dara; Abdallah S. Berrouk

Addresses: Chemical Engineering Department, The Petroleum Institute, P.O. Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' Chemical Engineering Department, The Petroleum Institute, P.O. Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract: Selective absorption of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) using methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) has become a point of interest as means of minimising capital and operating costs of gas sweetening plants. This paper discusses the prominence of optimum design of column internals to best achieve H2S selectivity using MDEA. To this end, a kinetics-based process simulation model has been developed for a commercial gas sweetening unit. Trends of sweet gas H2S and CO2 contents as function of fraction active area (and hence residence time) have been explained through analysis of interdependent heat and mass transfer phenomena. Guidelines for column internals design in order to achieve desired degree of H2S selectivity are provided. Also, the effectiveness of various operating conditions in achieving H2S selectivity for an industrial absorber with fixed internals is investigated.

Keywords: methyldiethanolamine; MDEA; gas sweetening plants; process simulation; H2S selectivity; fraction active area; residence time; kinetics; selective absorption; hydrogen sulphide; capital costs; operating costs; optimum design; column internals; process modelling; heat transfer; mass transfer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSE.2014.066701

International Journal of Process Systems Engineering, 2014 Vol.2 No.3, pp.260 - 272

Received: 17 Dec 2013
Accepted: 26 May 2014

Published online: 11 Jan 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article