Removal of waste gases such as H₂S and NH₃ are an integral process in nearly all refineries. Amine contactors and strippers are typically located in hydrotreating units while sour water strippers treat combined sour water streams from various sources. Robust, high performance processing technology is essential for efficient and reliable operation. These often-difficult services must operate reliably for the refinery to function.

Amine treating and sour water stripper process

The primary function of hydrotreaters in refineries is to remove sulfur and nitrogen from hydrocarbon streams. The vapor products from this process will be rich in hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, depending upon the feed composition. The amine recovery process uses aqueous amines to absorb the H₂S and NH₃ from the vapor streams. The rich amine is then fed to a stripper column that liberates the H₂S and NH₃ from the amine. The resulting lean amine is then recirculated to the absorber column. The H₂S and NH₃ products are then sent to the sulfur recovery unit (SRU) for sulfur production. Amine columns are often susceptible to foaming.

Additionally, there are aqueous streams collected during the hydrocarbon processing in various units that contains H₂S and NH₃. These streams are processed in a sour water stripper column where the H₂S and NH₃ are stripper from the water and sent to the SRU. The water then goes to further processing. Sour water strippers are often susceptible to foaming and fouling.

The common towers are:

• Absorber column
• Stripper column
• Sour water stripper