TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ETHANOLAMINES

PROCESS FEATURES

In the CONSER process ethanolamines are produced by the non catalytic reaction of ethylene oxide with aqueous ammonia.
The process is characterized by a high degree of flexibility, resulting in the possibility of producing monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) of high quality with a wide range of product distribution.
Due to the flexibility it is possible to tailor the design and operation of the plant to maximize the desired product as per market requirements.

REFERENCES

CONSER has developed the ethanolamine technology in cooperation with SULZER CHEMTECH (Switzerland).
The combined experience of CONSER and SULZER includes partial or complete design of amines projects for the following:

HULS	Germany	I.C.I.	Great Britain
BASF	Germany	OXITENO	Brasil
SHELL	Great Britain	TECHCORP	Iraq
NIHON	Japan	J.C.I.G.	China
NAPHTHACHEMIE	France	FUSHUN	China
BRAZI	Rumania	OUCC	Taiwan

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

The ethanolamine technology of CONSER consists of the following main steps:

Reaction
Ammonia recovery and concentration
Purification

Reaction

Monoethanolamine (MEA), Diethanolamine (DEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA) are produced by the non catalytic reaction of ethylene oxide with ammonia in aqueous solution.
Products distribution may be controlled by proper choice of the ethylene oxide/ammonia ratio in the reaction feed.
The higher the ratio of ammonia to oxide, the higher will be the amount of MEA in the reactor product.
MEA, DEA and TEA distribution in the reactor product can be also modified by recycling some MEA and/or DEA to the reactor.

Ammonia recovery and concentration

The reactor effluent flows to an ammonia stripper where the excess ammonia is separated from the solution. The overhead vapors of the stripper are cooled and condensed and then fed to an ammonia absorption column. Fresh ammonia makeup is fed into the absorption column and both streams form the aqueous ammonia feed to the reactor.
The ammonia free amines, in aqueous solution, are fed to an evaporation system where most of the water is removed. The water is recovered for use in the ammonia absorber.

Purification

The raw amines are fed to a drying column where the last fraction of water is removed.
The dried amines are then separated in a series of distillation columns which produce the final mono-, di- and tri-ethanolamine products.