The top temperature of the amine solution regeneration tower cannot be increased
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The amount of amine solution has been increased from 75 tons to 82 tons; the bottom temperature is 128°C, the pressure control value is 0.128 MPa, and the reflux volume is 3 tons. The top temperature could previously be raised to 113°C, but now it can only reach 110°C before causing overflow in the tower
What is the reflux temperature? Could it be increased slightly to see if that makes a difference?； Furthermore, what is the processing load associated with the design of the regeneration unit, and does the feed temperature decrease when the feed load is increased?
Is the amine solution new or old? Is there a high level of impurities and oil content?
Is it really necessary to raise the tower top temperature to such a high level? If it’s just to increase the degree of dilution of the liquid, why not reduce the pressure instead? It seems like there might be some foaming in the amine solution
Regarding the operation of the regeneration tower, the bottom temperature of this tower is 128°C, which I consider to be quite high. When the bottom temperature exceeds 130°C, it can lead to thermal aging of the amine solution. Moreover, with such high tower pressure, the acidic gases cannot be released, which in turn prevents water vapor from rising upward; as a result, the bottom temperature remains high while the top temperature stays low. You can reduce the amount of steam used and open the pressure control valve for the acidic gases. Moreover, the temperature of the sensitive tray only needs to be a few degrees higher than the feed temperature; if it is too high, it can easily cause flooding of the tower.
For the operation of the regeneration tower, it is sufficient to maintain the tower pressure between 0.07–0.085 MPa. The temperature at the bottom of the tower should be kept between 121–125°C. If this temperature is too high, one possible reason is that the tower pressure is too high, preventing the acidic gases from being released; another possibility is improper flow in the downcomer. In such cases, it is necessary to raise the liquid level at the bottom of the tower to around 85%, which will lower the temperature there. This leads to better regeneration of the amine solution, a lower hydrogen sulfide content, and ensures that the dry gas and light hydrocarbons meet the required standards