1 reply to this topic

[Aylool]

I have a case in which DIPA is used in an extractor to absorb H2S from propane, but because the propane is sweet, the DIPA absorbs the propane. My question is: Why does the DIPA absorb the propane? I want to know the reason behind it.

[Technical Bard]

While propane is very slightly soluble in amine, I suspect that what you are observing is entrainment of propane droplets with the "rich" amine. I observed this 20 years ago at a plant in Canada.

The problem comes from a poor inlet distributor design, or velocities in the column above acceptable levels. You may be atomizing the propane into the amine, and the amine velocities are carrying these small propane drops out the bottom of the column (because they are too small to rise rapidly enough).

Check your propane distributor - the holes should be no smaller than 0.375" and velocity out of the holes should not exceed 1.25 ft/s. You should also do a stokes law calculation on the amine below the propane distributor to check what propane droplet size can rise against the amine flow.