API PUBL 4680-1998

$37.05

Amine Unit Air Emissions Model Evaluation

Published By	Publication Date	Number of Pages
API	1998	97

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Category: API

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Description

The implementation of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) in the United States has caused the need for a reliable method to estimate and report hydrocarbon emissions from amine based sour gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) sweetening units. To address this need, a software simulation package, called Amine Unit Air Emission Model (AMINECalc Version 1.0) was developed for the American Petroleum Institute (API) by DB Robinson Research Ltd. (DBRR).

Many of the amine units in the field are fitted with sulfur recovery units (SRUs) to control hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and/or carbon dioxide (C0₂) and do not release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) to the atmosphere. However, some amine units do not have SRUs because they are used primarily to remove only C0₂from natural gas without H₂S; consequently some amine regenerators have the potential to release HAPs and VOCs to the atmosphere. The AMINECalc model was developed primarily for those units having the potential to emit VOCs and HAPs to the atmosphere.

The calculation algorithm of this package is based on AMSIM, a commercial software package developed by DBRR. Equipped with a rigorous non-equilibrium stage model and the Peng-Robinson equation of state, AMSIM was designed to provide accurate and reliable solutions for sour gas and liquefied petroleum gas processes. The emphasis of this commercial software package was on acid gas (H₂S and CO₂) removal, and its predictions have been constantly verified by actual plant data.

The objective of the current project is to develop a PC-based emission model to predict HAPs and VOCs from flash tanks and solvent regenerators of a natural gas sweetening unit. The AMINECalc model was re-engineered from AMSIM and enhanced to accommodate three types of calculations: mass balance calculation, gas process simulation, and NGL process simulation. The emphasis is on HAPs which include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), as well as VOCS emitted from amine units.

Amine unit operators may be required to report the emissions to the appropriate regulatory agencies. In order to gain wide acceptance by end users, special attention has been paid to the program interface design. Extensive computer literacy or simulation experience is not a requirement to operate the AMINECalc simulator. Users with a basic knowledge of Windows^TMshould be at ease when using the program.

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