Abstract
Absorption with diethanol amine is a process used in the oil refinery to reduce the concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, due to this component is corrosive to the equipment which this is going to be used for, such as motors, reactors among others, also when this component is expulsed to the atmosphere could cause acid rain which is harmful for the vegetation, the environment, humanity, animals by the way this increase the aquifers toxicity.
In this work, an environmental evaluation of the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) absorption with dimethyl- ethyl amine was performed followed by mercaptans extraction and further conversion to disulfides and carbonile sulfur (COS) extraction by mono-ethanol-amine. The evaluation was carried out using computer-aided tools based on the waste reduction algorithm (WARGUI), quantifying the impacts of a process on its surroundings and classifying them into 8 categories. Four different case studies were considered, taking into account the products of the process and the COS removal unit. The results show that both atmospheric and toxicological impacts are generated by the process. The main wastes generated are hydrogen sulfide and disulfide oil.
