Technologies for efficient purification of natural of and synthesis gases – Part 2 in a Series

By: William Echt

UOP Amine Guard™ FS Process

The Amine Guard FS process technology combines the high-performance, formulated, UCARSOL® family of solvents produced by The Dow Chemical Company with UOP’s reliable Amine Guard process technology license. The Amine Guard FS process can be tailored for either bulk, selective or trace acid gas removal for carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). It is typically used to treat natural gas streams for pipelines, NGL or LNG applications or synthesis gas streams in ammonia plants.

Acid gas partial pressure is an important parameter for selection of the best Amine Guard FS process flow scheme. Feed conditions can range between 25 and 1800 psia total pressure, with acid gas compositions of 0.5% to 20% by volume. The process is capable of achieving very low product gas specifications, to 1 ppmv of H₂S and 50 ppmv of CO₂.

UOP employs either the thermal or flash-regenerated Amine Guard FS process to selectively remove H₂S and other sulfur components from the feed gas stream or to achieve bulk removal of CO₂. Hydrocarbon, H₂ and CO losses are minimal in the Amine Guard FS process due to their low solubility in UCARSOL solvents.

UOP delivers solvent process technology as a licensed package which includes all the basic engineering required by an engineering, procurement and construction company (EPC) to complete detailed design and installation of the unit. Key mechanical equipment such as tower internals are provided when they can reduce equipment capital cost. Commissioning, startup and on-going technical service are also available from UOP. The technology license allows UOP to provide process guarantees.

Amine Guard FS process technology was introduced over 20 years ago. UOP has licensed hundreds of Amine Guard units for commercial service throughout the world.

No matter what contaminant the feed gas contains or what specifications need to be met, UOP provides a complete portfolio of technologies to come up with an optimized gas processing solution. UOP has the unique capability to combine and integrate processing steps and provide our gas processing customers with an overall design that meets all battery limit specifications, while using a single source for process guarantees, engineering, key mechanical equipment and technical service. In the next issue of Technology and More we will examine another process technology: UOP Separex™ Membranes.