【Weekly Topic】Destination of Amine Solution During Shutdown for Maintenance
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When the solvent regeneration unit is shut down for maintenance, the amine solution in all containers and pipelines must be transferred back to the amine solution tank. The liquid transferred contains a large amount of water, and the storage capacity of the amine solution tank is limited, so it is not possible to store all of it. How do various systems handle this situation?
I concentrated it to 50% and stored it in a tank. In some borrowing and deposit systems, we haven’t done this in tanks that are not involved in maintenance. The problem is that the amine tank will now never have the opportunity for maintenance. . .
Why is there a large amount of water when discharging the amine solution?
Why is there a large amount of water when discharging the amine solution?
When returning the material, water is used to push the residual amine liquid in the pipeline back into the storage tank. But nitrogen can also be used.
The amine removal liquid is pushed out by system pressure; it is not pushed out using water.
Using water pressure or nitrogen pressure is not advisable, as improper use of nitrogen can easily lead to overpressure in the amine storage tank and result in accidents.
The amine solution tank is usually an underground tank located at the lowest point; during liquid return, the fluid flows into the tank by means of system pressure or gravity differences. The concentration of the amine solution should not change significantly, otherwise it will need to be addressed again when operations resume
The amine storage tank can rely on its own pressure only to a certain extent; what about the amine in the pipelines at the pump inlet and outlet? When the liquid level in the amine solution storage tank reaches a certain height, the static pressure increases, and the self-pressure can no longer overcome it – what should be done? The solvents in the entire plant are regenerated centrally and sent to external units as well as along the amine liquid pipelines that return back; these pipelines are several kilometers long and run over pipe racks – how can pressure be maintained naturally in such cases?
Well, I happened to have a question. In cases where there is a height difference and residual pressure is present, that can be used to push the liquid forward. But what about the amine liquid stored in pipelines and equipment whose level is lower than that of the amine liquid tank? The external pipelines are several kilometers long and even pass through pipe tunnels; what to do with those dozens of tons of amine liquid inside those pipelines?
The waste amine tank is an underground tank; I have seen it. I’ve really never seen an amine solution tank with a capacity of 700 liters that is installed underground.