MDEA Foaming 2

[essenwood]

Dear all,
Much has been said in this forum on the subject and much has been discussed also at NPRA conventions.

It has also been said by some that amine foaming tendencies in refineries are more in the cracking service (coker/FCC) section than the non cracking service (gas plant ex CDU). I see that in my plant too. Is there an explanation to this (such as cracked hydrocarbon promotes to the stability of the foam) or (more contaminants or sufactants in the bottom of the barrel)?


Thanks in advance.

 

[25362]

Organics appear to increase the foaming tendency, thus reduce the amine content in the contact solution to a reasonable level to keep the organics concentration down.

Visit thread798-95532.

 

[25362]

There is one article that appeared in the CEP issue of July 1991, titled Face the facts about amine foaming by C.R. Pauley, in the Filtration section, worth reading.

 

[Kresimir]

It seems that foaming alwas has more than one cause. I found that good filtration is crucial to decrease foaming tendency in MDEA systems, especially if you have a lot of solid particles in the system. If corrosion in the amine system is high, iron containing particles may cause foaming, as well as products of thermal degradion of amine. Also some hydrocarbons present in the amine, that are not stripped in the regenerator, will be removed by carbon filter.
Also, I experienced serious foaming upsets when processing heavy feedstock in HDS unit (VGO HDS), which causes extensive foaming in the high pressure amine absorber.
It helps to have an anti-foaming agent injection point at the pump suction, so that you can treat the amine quickly, once you notice the formation of foam. This agent should not be injected continuously.