CO2 REMOVAL SECTION:

“Purification of Synthesis Gas by removing Carbon Dioxide (CO2) by means of Chemisorption

with a solvent”.

Selection of Solvent:
Gas solubility
Volatility
Corrosiveness
Cost
Viscosity
Nontoxic, nonflammable, chemically/thermally stable

GV Absorption Reaction Mechanism:

CO2+H2O ---( HCO3-+H+ ----- (1)
CO3+H2O---( HCO3-+OH- -------- (2)
CO3+CO2+H2O (------( 2HCO3------ (3)

Effect of Activator (Glycine):

H2NCH2COO-+CO2 (------( -OOCNHCH2COO-+H+ --------(4)
OOCNHCH2COO-+H2O(-----( H2NCH2COO- + HCO3- ------(5)
CO2+H2O (----( HCO3+H ----------(4+5) = (1)
DEA acts as a catalyst / promoter for increasing the rate of reaction no (5)

CO2 Removal carried out through the following sections:

1.Filtration Section
2.Aeration Section
3.ANTI-FOAM AGENT Dosing
Solution Filtration Unit:
Mechanical Filtration:
To Keep the GV Solution clean and free from solids.

Source of solids:
1. Impurities through chemicals (Preparation and Makeup)
2. Catalyst Dust (Through Process Gas)
3. Rust (From Steel Equipment and Piping)
4. Fine Carbon Dust (from poor quality activated carbon)
5. Impurities may enter the directly to T-302. (Ensure always Manway is
tightly closed)

1st Mechanical Filter: To prevent solids from choking of the activated carbon filter (may shorten
the life of Activated carbon filter).

2nd Mechanical Filter: To retain any fine dust released from poor quality or crashed carbon which
can seriously affect the plant’s smooth operation.

Activated Carbon: For removing any organic substances (active as well as degraded organic
activators).
Source of Organic Substances:
1. Greases, Lubricating Oils, Paints
2. Degraded Chemicals such as activators, promoters in the solution

3.The filtration Unit preferably in line always.

4.Lean solution is fed to the 1st filter is about 2-5 % of the circulating flow while only 40 % main
filtration feeds the activated carbon filter and downstream filter.
Mechanical Filters:
Type : Cartridge Filters (re-useable after cleaning)
MoC : Heat / Alkali resistant Polypropylene
Mesh Rating : 25 Microns (1st Filter)
10 Microns (2nd Filter)
Filtration Eff : 99.9 %

Activated Carbon :
Quantity : 5.7 m3
Type : Chemviron SGL 8 x 30 or equivalent
Agglomerated bituminous coal based
Density : 0.5 kg/dm3
Characteristics of Activated Carbon:
Abrasion No : 75 – 80

AERATION SYSTEM FOR CORROSION CONTROL:

GV Solution with CO2 at boiling temperature is very corrosive, which calls for Stainless Steel
Equipment.
Carbon steel equipment’s with passivation layers (oxidation layers) are being used successfully
in industry.
The desired passivation layer is formed by controlled passivation in two phases called static
passivation & dynamic passivation.
Any damage to the passivation layer can cause very fast corrosion & subsequent leakages.
Formation of proper passivation layer and its protection is very essential to avoid corrosion in the
GV system equipment.

In order to maintain the electro-chemical potential required for protection of passivation layer of
metallic surfaces, it is necessary to keep 40 to 50% of the total vanadium in the pentavalent form
and never be allowed lower than 20%.
This ratio is kept by means of the oxidation unit which treats a side stream solution with air
Lean solution of about 10-15 m3/h (around 1% of the total circulating solution) is taken from the
filtration return header and sent to the aeration cooler. After cooling to about 40 °C, the stream is
treated inside aeration tank in countercurrent with Inst air in the ratio of about 1 ÷ 3 Nm3 air/m3
solution and recycled to lean solution pump.

Visual Observation:
As V5+ is yellow in color and V4+ is blue in color, color of G.V. solution would be yellowish
green or bluish green depending on majority of V5+or V4+.

Anti-Foam dosing system:

GV solution foaming worsens the system performance and may be bottleneck for production
capacity.

Causes for Foaming:

Improper Filtration i.e. escape of carbon fines; catalyst dust any rust particles and organic
degraded substances to the GV circulating system
Bypassing of Activated Carbon filter

Foaming results in:

Increased Pressure Drops across the towers
Solution carryover to OH system
Increase in solution holdup in packing
Instability in levels.
Increase CO2 slip from CO2 Absorber
Immediate Actions:
Dose Antifoam (Nixolene) at Antifoam dosing pump suction
Remedial Actions:
Identify the cause and eliminate such as ingress of oils or any foreign materials. Keep
recommended filtration through Activated Carbon Filter
Conduct Foam Test frequently and observe Foam Height and Collapse Time. Foaming is
excessive if foam height more than 40 mm and collapse time is more by 15 seconds.
Avoid Antifoam dosing unless it calls for, may increase the H2 solubility in Alkaline Solution
leads to build-up in H2 in CO2 due to desorption at lower pressure regenerators.

Typical CO2 REMOVAL SECTION INVOLVES:

ABSORPTION
REGENERATION
AT HIGH AND LOW PRESSURE

GV ABSORPTION
CO2 is absorbed in a hot potassium carbonate solution, converting it into potassium bicarbonate.
DEA, Glycine acts as activators in this reaction at gas-liquid interphase whereas pentavalent
vanadium(V+5) is used in this highly corrosive system as a corrosion inhibitor.
The dualactivation improves the fractional conversion of bicarbonate to carbonate at the
regeneration stage which allows reduction in CO2 slip and amount of stripping steam.

REGENERATION:
Regeneration is carried at two pressure levels by application of heat and pressure reduction, one
at 1.04 kg/cm2 and other at 0.1 kg/cm2, simply reverse of reaction no.3 in reaction mechanism.

DETAILS OF EQUIPMENT& INTERNALS:

Liquid distributors:
-to uniformly distribute liquid over the entire cross sectional area with minimum disruption of
vapor flow.
Bed limiters:
-to prevent the entry of packing into the liquid distributor.
To limit the expansion of packing due to upward thrust by gas

Absorber:
No. Of beds-7
Height (m) volume (m3)
Bottom bed (7) 1 11
1st stage (1,2,3 beds) 18 193
2ndstage (4, 5, 6beds) 18.6 106.5
Material of construction of packing: S.S.
Design temp./Operating pressure: 150oC/27K.Sc
Shell and heads: C.S
Design pre.: 31 k.sc.

HP regenerator:
No. Of beds – 5
Height (m) volume(m3)
2ndstage (1) 5 51
1st stage (2,3,4) 19 195
Top bed (5) 3 31
Material of construction of beds: S.S.
Material of const. Of Shell and head: C.S.
Design temp./Operating pressure: 1500c/1.07 k.sc
Design pressure: 3 k. SC
Vacuum breaker (1 no.): -200MMWC
LP regenerator:
No. Of beds: 3
H(m) volume(m3)
1,2,3 beds 19 149
Design temp./op. Pre.: 1500c/0.1k.sc
Design pre.: 3k.sc.
Material of construction of packing and beds: S.S.
Material of construction of shell and head: C.S.
Vacuum breaker (2no.): -200mmw

Causes of bad regeneration:

Insufficient heat supply to the solution
Too high flow rates
Incorrect rich solution sharing between two regenerators.
Too low temperature at absorber bottom
Too low pressure in HP regenerator
Too high pressure in HP regenerator
Too high pressure in LP regenerator
Foaming