Applying Washing Amine Integrated Systems (WAIS)

to Optimize the Flare Gas Recovery Process

By Alessandro Pertusati, Commercial & Project Director, Gardner Denver Nash/Garo

Key to the safe operation of refineries and petrochemical In addition to complexity, the operational cost of traditional
facilities, Flare Gas Recovery (FGR) is the process of FGR systems offsets some of the savings that can be
recovering and repurposing gasses and emissions, such as gained. When using traditional FGR systems, facilities must
methane/LPGs and sulfur dioxide, that would normally be factor in not only the cost of water and its treatment to
burned during the flaring process. remove dissolved sour matters once discharged, but also
the impact that using water as a service liquid may have on
At a high level, the process involves capturing the gas from
the equipment itself. The potential buildup of ammonium
the flare knock-out vessel and recompressing it using liquid
salts in the service liquid when NH3 is present in flare gas, as
ring compressors. The compressed gas is then separated
well scale formation that can occur inside the compressor
from the liquid seal, cooled, treated to remove H2S, and
itself when low quality water is used, can have a significant
cycled back to the refineries fuel gas system.
impact on the availability, downtime, and maintenance/
The process provides a number of environmental and service requirements of traditional FGR systems.
economic benefits to refineries, such as:
• Lower Emissions: Recovering waste hydrocarbons AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO FGR
allows refineries to reduce the amount of toxic gasses, With the aim of improving existing FGR technology and
such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which are burned providing suitable alternative solutions to refineries where
and released into the environment during the flaring water is not available or where gas sweetening systems
process. cannot accommodate additional gas to be treated,
• Reduced Operating Costs: Refineries can re-use engineers at Garo evaluated the possibility of using an
recovered gasses, composed mainly of low molecular alternative service liquid during the compression phase.
weight hydrocarbons (LPGs), resulting in a reduction in After evaluating the FGR process, the solution was to
fuel gas cost for the facility. This is in addition to saving substitute amine solution for water in the liquid ring
that could be made as a result of reduced Greenhouse compressor.
Gas emissions, or through the sale of recovered gasses. Utilizing amine solution, which is already used in refineries
• Social & Environmental Responsibility: Lowering to sweeten gas and liquid hydrocarbons, as a service liquid
C02 emissions generated by facilities not only help in compressors for flare gas recovery provides several
organizations meet environmental regulations, but advantages:
also demonstrate an awareness and commitment to • No SWS treatment
social responsibility, and build goodwill within the
surrounding community. • No need for an amine washing unit
• No cooling water
TRADITIONAL FLARE GAS RECOVERY SYSTEMS • No process water
Traditionally, FGR systems have been ‘closed-loop’ systems Given the speed of reaction between H2S and the amine
that relied on using water as the service liquid during solution is instantaneous, independent of chemical nature,
the recompression phase. Although effective, the use of engineers concluded that the mechanical work done by the
water adds complexity to the process, as the gas requires impeller of the compressor was enough to ensure that the
treatment prior to recycling. This additional step relies on level of contact required between gas and liquid to achieve
using an amine solution to scrub (sweeten) the H2S from the chemical equilibrium imposed by the thermodynamic
the recovered gas in order to make it immediately usable. conditions of the system.

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Additionally the volume of service liquid circulated in the By applying WAIS, Garo was able to design a system that:
compressor could not be significantly modified, therefore • Separates gas from liquid
the molar ratio H2S/amine only depended from the number
of mole of amine and the number of mole of H2S fed in the • Knocks down the aerosol possibly formed
unit of time. • Skims the hydrocarbons condensed during the gas
The result was Garo’s patented Washing Amine Integrated compression
System (WAIS). • Makes the final clean-up of the gas by counter-current
washing in the small column located on the separator
HOW IT WORKS body.
Garo’s WAIS replaces the gas/liquid separator used in
earlier systems with an innovative three phase separator. BENEFITS
Though similar in appearance to conventional flash tanks, WAIS simplifies the flare gas recovery process by removing
which work by receiving streams of rich amine evolving gas the need for a separate gas treating unit, providing several
by pressure release, the three phase separator does not rely benefits such as:
on pressure release and the material exiting the compressor
Safe – The recovered gas can be used directly as fuel, even
is a mix composed of gas, liquid, and aerosol. The diagram
in case of unscheduled shutdown of the fuel gas absorber.
below is a process scheme that shows how the open loop
Garo WAIS system works. Flexible – The final clean-up, ensured by the small absorption
column on top of the separator, allows Garo’s WAIS to
From an operational point of view, the system recovers gas
withstand sudden and wide variations of H2S content in the
by maintaining a slight positive pressure on the flare header,
gas fed to the compressor.
which is located upstream of the liquid seal drum. If the
volume of gas released into the flare system exceeds the Reliable – The open nature of WAIS prevents the build-up
capacity of the gas recovery system, pressure in the flare of ammonium salts in the service liquid and scale formation
header will build until it exceeds the back-pressure created inside the compressor, thus allowing a virtually unlimited
by the liquid level of the liquid seal drum. At this point, compressor working life.
excess gas volume will begin to flow to the flare. In addition, Garo’s WAIS reduces gas flaring, removes
If the volume of gas relieved into the flare system is less gas impurities, and can provide significant cost savings
than the full capacity of the gas recovery system, the system by reducing steam consumption and utilizing flare gas as
is automatically turned down by staging compressors, fuel gas. Depending on the cost of steam, WAIS has the
and the discharge gas is diverted back to the suction potential to provide roughly 60,000 € /year in steam and
header ensuring continuous operation during varying load electrical energy savings, not considering reduced water
turndown. consumption.

Flare Gas Recovery System Equipped with

GARO Amine Liquid Ring Compressor - WAIS Patent 6. Recovered sweet gas
to fuel gas network

5. Additional stream of
lean amine for final
gas sweetening

4. Semi-rich amine sent to

1. Sour Gas main absorption tower
to be reused

2. Lean Amine

3. Skimmed Hydrocarbons

Applying WAIS to Optimize the Flare Gas Recovery Process | Alessandro Pertusati | Gardner Denver Nash/Garo
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 SERVICE LIQUID WATER AMINE
Discharge Pressure 750 600 Kpa
Shaft Power 159 149 KW
Additional amine required or the
7.7 0(*) m3/h
flare gasses treatment
Additional steam consumption for
770 0(*) Kg/h
amine regeneration
Make up water 0.5 n/a m3/h
Cooling water 30 Special cases only m3/h
(*) Assumption: Semi-rich amine leaving GARO system is sent to medium pressure absorption unit

Table 1 Comparison of service liquids

COMPARISON OF SERVICE LIQUIDS Compared to traditional systems WAIS simplifies the FGR
process by removing the need for a gas treating unit; in
Table 1 compares amine solution to water as a service liquid
addition to the need for cooling and treatment water, while
in liquid ring compressors.
allowing the system to produce a sweet gas with a residual
content of Sulphur related compounds low enough to
CONCLUSION comply with environmental regulations, without the need
to further scrub the gas.
A process that is crucial to the safe operation of refineries
and petrochemical facilities, Flare Gas Recovery can provide The result is a Flare Gas Recovery system that is safe,
significant benefits such as cost savings and a reduction in flexible, and reliable, and can provide significant cost
emissions. Despite the benefits, traditional FGR systems are savings to refineries.
more complex, with higher steam consumption rates that
often offset cost savings.
Alessandro Pertusati is Commercial & Project Director of
Building on a legacy of innovation, the engineers at Garo GARO, part of the Gardner Denver Nash Division, in Monza,
sought to improve FGR by analyzing the processes involved Italy. He has over 30 years of experience in engineered to
and seeing where enhancements could be made. The result order equipment for chemical, petrochemical, and oil & gas
is Garo’s patented Washing Amine Integrated System applications with a technical background in Chemical and
(WAIS), which uses amine solution as a service liquid in the Mechanical Engineering. Learn more about GARO Products
compression phase of FGR. and Systems at www.GDGaro.com.

Garo is a part of the Gardner Denver Nash Division

www.GDGaro.com

©2018 Gardner Denver Nash, LLC

AMINE-WP-1142 1st Ed. 04/18

Please recycle after use.