Solar Heat Utilization in Separation Column Reboilers Case Study: Amine Regenerator in South Pars Gas Complex, Assalouyeh

The amine regenerator of acid removal unit in South Pars Gas Complex, Assalouyeh, Iran was modeled. This model was fitted to assess the large scale columns and allow application of solar thermal energy for production of low pressure steam. Heat transfer fluids including Therminol oil, sulfur, or salt melt could be applied to yield thermal energy from a solar collector and to store and transfer it to the reboiler of columns. The Angstrom model was adopted here to simulate solar irradiance. Solar irradiance data for the city of Assalouyeh, during the years of 2009-2014, were collected and applied. The results indicated that based on a reboiler duty of around 21.8 MW, a solar collector area of 148,000 m2 was required with a mass of heat transfer and storage medium of 1247255 kg oil, 1787732 kg salt melt and 3803686 kg sulfur, respectively. This model was applied as an analytical tool to explore and describe the following two problems encountered during real plant operation: fouling in the amine heat exchangers and increasing regenerator pressure.