APPNOTE02

ApplicationNote
CorrosionMonitoringinAmineUnits

Aqueous mixtures of alkanolamines and/or AmineUnitCorrosionIssues

alkylalkanolamines (amines) have been used in
There is already a significant amount of information in
regenerable processes to remove acidic contaminants,
literatureoncorrosioninamineunits3.Theamineitself
usuallyhydrogensulfide(H2S),carbondioxide(CO2)and
isnotcorrosive,butcorrosionispromotedbyentrained
mercaptans, from liquid hydrocarbons and process gas
acid gases, higher concentration of corrosive species,
streams for over 60 years1. This activity is driven by
higher temperatures, corrosion on heat transfer
either product specification necessary for sale or by
surfaces, higher velocities and HSASHeat stable amine
avoidanceofenvironmentalemissionpermits.
salts.
Amineunitsareanessentialpartofrefineryoperations
Corrosion in a rich amine circuit is increased by high
anduseoneoftheprimaryamines,i.e.MEA,DGA(the
acid gas loading. Acid gas flashing disturbs the FeS
most reactive amines), or secondary amines, i.e. DEA,
protectivefilms.Acidgasesbreakingoutofthesolution
DIPA, or tertiary amines, i.e. MDEA, TEA. Their
causeacidattackswhenthereisahighvelocityandhigh
importanceisincreasingasrefineryfeedsbecomemore
temperature and when the pressure is too low to
sourandsulfurlimitsofrefineryproductsarelowered.
suppressvaporization.Alsoitisimportanttoavoidtoo
A poorly operated amine unit can result in high amine
lowalevelofH2Sintheleanamine,asasmallamount
losses, poor unit reliability, amine solution
ofH2Sishelpfulinproducingaprotectivesulfidefilm.
contamination,offspecificationproductsandincreased
operating costs to the refinery. Plant economics are Heatstableaminesalts(HSAS)formfromstrongeracids
negatively impacted by the loss of revenue due to whichcancomeinfromthefeedsystem.Thepresence
unplanned,corrosioncausedplantoutagesandthecost of HSAS reduces acid gas removal capacity, lowers pH,
forrepairofcorrosiondamage2inamineunits. increasesconductivity,dissolvesprotectivefilmsand

TypicalCorrosionMonitoringLocations

Figure1.TypicalcorrosionmonitoringlocationsinAmineunitofgasprocessingplant
2 CorrosionMonitoringinAmineUnits

causescorrosion.Velocityacceleratedcorrosioncauses corrosion potential are the reboiler and its overhead

erosion by dirty amine solutions containing solid piping,hotleanaminepiping,lean/richexchanger, hot
particulateswhichremovetheprotectiveFeSlayer. rich amine piping, stripper and stripper overhead
systems.
Corrosion in the overheads of the regenerator takes a
different form from that occurring elsewhere in the Along with coupon systems, corrosion monitoring with
amine unit. H2S, NH3 and HCN are important factors MS2500E/MS3500E Electrical Resistance (ER) and
thatareinvolved,whichcancausecorrosionsincethey MS2500L/MS3500LLinearPolarizationResistance(LPR)
remove sulfide scales. Conditions are more aggressive technology are the most commonly used for online
whentreatingstreamsfromcokers,visbreakers,FCCUs monitoringontheseprocessunits.MetalSamplesultra
andhydroprocessors. high resolution CorrVelox ER technology is the latest
addition to measure even the minute changes in the
Hence it is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of a corrosionrate.
corrosion control program and establish operational
constrain/limits by using online corrosion monitoring Since the amine system is a water based system,
systemsinamineunits. electrochemical methods such as MS2500L/MS3500L
LPRsystemsarewellsuitedtoonlinemonitoringinthe
Online Corrosion Monitoring Scheme in Amine liquidphaseareasoftheplant.However,inareasofthe
Unit reboiler,continuedpresenceofaliquidphaseisnotso
obvioushenceelectrochemicalprobescanbecomevery
In todays market where losing 50 MMSCF of natural
erraticandessentiallynonfunctional.Inthesecases,itis
gasproductioncancostupwardsof$400,000perdayin
desirable to implement ultrahigh resolution CorrVelox
downtime4, it is critical for these units to be online as
electrical resistance technology. However, in amine
much as possible. A rigorous corrosion monitoring and
systems,itispreferabletouseLPRtechnologywherever
inspection program that includes online and near real
suitable because it immediately measures change in
time monitoring can significantly contribute to
corrosionrates.
maximizinguptimebyminimizingfailuresandreducing
inspection frequencies. Significant savings can also be Metal Samples also provides expert services to design
realized through optimizing utility consumption within custom probes that will suit specific applications and
theunit. canassistengineeringandinstallationteamstoensure
a smooth implementation of the system. Once
Onlinecorrosionmonitoringcanquicklyhelpdefinethe
implemented,MetalSamplessupport,forthepurposes
optimal lean acid gas loading windows which can
of data evaluation, validation and integration with the
prevent wasting steam by regenerating an amine
sitecontrolsystem,helpsuserstorealizethemaximum
solution further than required. An online corrosion
value and benefit from the corrosion monitoring
monitoring system integrated with a plant process
program.
control system will allow corrosion data to be viewed
along with other operational and process parameters References:
forearlydetectionofcorrosioneventsandtheabilityto 1. SidneyF.Bosen,TheDowChemicalCompany,CausesofAminePlant
CorrosionDesignConsiderations
manage the corrosion rates by finetuning of the 2. Nielson, R.B. et ai, "Corrosion in Refinery Amine Systems",
process. CORROSION95, Paper No. 57 1, (Houston, TX: NACE International,
1995).
3. European Federation of Corrosion Publications, NUMBER 46, Amine
Inanamineunit,corrosionisusuallymostseverewhere unitcorrosioninrefineries,J.D.HarstonandF.Ropital
thegasesareabsorbedordeabsorbedfromrichamine 4. Pilar Quiroga, Marta Castillo, Russell D. Kane, and Vishal Lagad,
"Improving Reliability on Amine Units with OnLine Corrosion
solutions where temperature, flow and turbulence are Monitoring & Modeling", CORROSION2008, Paper No. 08421, (NACE
important considerations5. The areas of highest International,2008).
5. R.V.Comeaux,TheMechanismofMEACorrosion,APIProceedings,Vol.
422(III),1962,p481489.L.R.
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