Formosa refinery improves sweetening with amine blends

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (FPCC) has reduced the mass flow rate to regeneration and increased the absorption and regneration capacity at its amine treating regeneration system after replacing diethanolamine (DEA) with methyldiethanolamine (MDE)/DEA blends on line. Rich-amine solution leaving the absorbers flows to the regenerator, contacting stripping steam generated by the reboiler. The hot lean amine from the reboiler is then circulated back to the absorber. While stronger acids were present and reacted with amine, heat stable salts were formed. HSS will cause higher make-up amine solvent costs, increase the corrosion rate of the system, and block the pipeline and column slot. Besides the increased cost of steam, power, capital investment in additional amine units is increasing the cost of operations, which forced this refinery to search for an improved amine solvent to increase the treating capacity at lower operating cost rather than installing new amine units at additional capital investment.