Improved Performance in Amine Treater Systems

Midstream Operator – Coyanosa Texas, Dec 2021

Problem

Black Powder contamination under 5 microns in size was causing costly filter change-outs and reduced efficiency of the Amine system to remove H2S and Co2.

Solution

The customer installed a BPS Magnetic Separator (Figure-2) upstream of the coalescer elements with the goal to clean the black powder contamination from the rich amine down to and below 1 micron in particle sizes.

Results

After 4 days of operations, The BPS separator (Figure 1) cleaned a large quantity of black powder contamination (5+ lbs) from the amine system with high efficiency and identified the contamination level was high reducing the efficiency of the system.

Figure-1: A BPS Magnetic Separator Element with 5+ lbs of black powder contamination after 7 days running on the condensate system

ESG benefits:   

  • Reduced coalescer element consumption
  • Improved activated carbon bed efficiency
  • Improved environmental footprint
  • Reduced opportunity for injury
Figure 2: 5BPS Magnetic Separator Unit showing internal magnetic element

EDS and XRD Analysis

XRD is used to identify the crystalline compounds found within the contamination. Results are shown in Table 1

 

Table 1: Results of XRD Analysis

The XRD determined the composition of the contamination and showed significant levels of Piperazine Hydrogen Phosphate Hydrate (75.8%). The analysis also showed minor levels of ammonium hydrogen sulphate (15.9%) and ammonium nitrate (5.8%) and trace amounts of ferrous contamination.

The significant amount Piperazine Hydrogen Phosphate Hydrate is an indication of thermal and oxidative degradation. Failure to remove these degradation by-products can result in plugging off equipment, promoting heat stable salts and corrosion of the system. Levels of Ammonium compound are also an indication of amine degradation.

PSD Analysis Results

PSD analysis determines the sizes of particles within a solid’s contamination. Figure 3. illustrates the particle size distribution of contamination found within the sample.

  • The blue bars are representative of the frequency at which a particle size occurs.
  • The left column (Y axis) represents the frequency percentage.
  • The orange line is representative of the cumulative total of the particle size.
  • The secondary axis (right column) represents the cumulative percentage.


The analysis determined that 25% of the particles were below 4 microns in size and 20% were less than one micron.

Figure 3: Particle Size Distribution for Solids Contamination
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