Application of amines for natural gas sweetening

Natural gas amine sweetening talks about a set of processes that consume aqueous solutions of alkylamines known as amines, to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from natural gas. It is a standard unit process used in natural gas processing plants and other industries. The amine can react with CO2 and H2S to form more soluble compounds in the liquid phase than in the gas phase. In this way, undesirable acid components are separated from the gas stream. Many researchers report that diethanolamine is the most efficient amine for gas sweetening. While monoethanolamine is the cheapest, methyldiethanolamine is ineffective, expensive, and only relevant to consider from an environmental perspective. With a lot of research and development on the natural gas sweetening process, there has been a shift in solvent selection from conventionally used amines to proprietary amines developed with improved selectivity as a crucial part of this advancement. For very much selective H2S removal, solvents by the DOW Chemical Company (Gas Spec), Union Carbide (UCARSOL), BASF (aMDEA), ExxonMobil (Flexsorb), and others have been industrialized, which show better selectivity and H2S removal to lower treated gas specifications. The objective of natural gas sweetening has always been the removal of undesirable contaminants safely and economically. A steady advancement must be undertaken to decrease cost while still meeting desired product standards, reducing corrosion, and minimizing operation issues.