Rich Amine Filter Logistics 1

[ivegotgas]

Hi all,

I've got a question pertaining to the installation of a Rich amine filter in an existing facility.

The question pertains to what to do with the amine in the filter housing when it comes time to change the filters.

Filter will be a standard horizontal cartridge type housing.

We are proposing to use a small pump to empty the "clean" side of the filter housing into the regenerator feed piping, once it is empty we would like to go through several cycles of filling the housing with lean amine and pumping down as much as we can to the regenerator (the intent is that this will effectively sweeten the filter housing.

Once this is complete there is still some liquid left in the housing. The plan originally was to gravity drain this liquid to the Amine sump (which eventually ends up back in the amine surge drums and into the lean side of the system) however the stakeholders are wary of putting this liquid back to the sump, as it may contain filter cake that has fallen from the filters, thus putting the solids back into the system, which is something I can understand is not desirable.

My original thought was that the amount of solids that would be put back into the system is insignificant compared to the amount that would be removed in the filters (it is essentialy the volume that has fallen off the filters). The stakeholders are pushing for a "dump tank" type separator where the amine could be skimmed on an as needed basis, and solids could be removed via VAC truck at TAR. I would agree that this is the most desirable path, however adding a pressure vessel to the installation will potentially add lots of $$. I would like to hear you opinions of what other people are doing with the amine during filter changeouts.

Thanks

 

[maddocks]

Most of the junk/gunk that accumulates on the cartridges seems to stay stuck on the cartridges. We've seen some operators hookup a fuel gas push so that they can manually pressure push the amine back to the surge tank. It's a manual operation and acts as a purge as well. Sizing of the manual valve has to be done carefully so you can't hit the surge tank with too much gas.

 

[ivegotgas]

Maddocks,

Where is your facility located? Would you be willing to share lessons learned regarding the operation of your filter?

I am most interested in several key items

geographical location? Canada, Northern/Southern USA, overseas?
Is the filter located indoors or outdoors?
Is the vessel horizontal or vertical?
Filter changeout frequency?
Vendor?
Size and flow rate?
Do the filters drain directly to the surge drums (sounds that way)?

I know it is a lot of information, but I am very interested in how others are operating as I don't want to build the taj mahal, however I want something that will work as well.

 

[maddocks]

The one I was discussing is located in north western Alberta just north and slightly west of Grande Prairie. The filter assembly is located indoors and is a vertical multi-cartridge unit. I haven't talked with operations for several years but I can make a few calls to check out the info you've requested.

My original design was to drain the filter housing to the amine drain system and then recycle via a small pump and filter assembly. If I recall properly, this resulted in big foaming and blackened amine as we brought back the crud from the amine drain header. Operations came up with an MOC to use fuel gas to push the residual amine back to the surge tank and conserve the clean amine. I'll have to do some digging on flow rates and the rest....

 

[ivegotgas]

Thanks Maddocks,

Our plant is also located in Alberta.

Currently the plan was to drain the dirty side of the exchanger to the closed amine drain (CAD), which ends up in the sump. If needed we would potentially push it to the CAD with fuel gas. From the sump the amine is already pumped back to the surge drums.

The way I understand your previous post is that the amine in the housing was originally sent to the amine drain (and i assume eventually to a sump or setteling drum?) Then it was pumped from the sump/drum back to the surge drums.

Operations changed it and pushed the amine directly to the surge drums, and there was no issue with solid contamination in the surge drum?

Another curiosity is if the cartridge filters were flowing inside to outside, or outside to inside. The majority of filters we have found are outside in horizontal units. Yours being vertical, I'm assuming the from was inside to outside, top to bottom?

Thanks

 

[midstream]

Down here in south Texas we do not have any freezing issues so our amine plants are outside as are our filter housings. My favorites are custom built, "operator designed" vertical housings that contain (46) 36" long filters. Flow path is outside to inside and gas is used to push the amine back to the flash tank except for the bottom 12" which stays in the housing by design of the filter outfeed guide tubes. This bottom 12" (approx. 15 gallons)is dumped to a waste sump and disposed of. They work very well and it is easy to change them out. They only do it about once a month unless DP goes over 5psi and they have the same set-up on both lean and rich streams. Circulation rate varies from 100 to 175 gpm depending on how much gas is being treated. Jonell makes the filters,75 micron I believe. Hope this helps.