Merichem Liquid Hydrocarbon-Treating Technologies
Shell Global Solutions (US) Inc. and Merichem Company have formed an alliance
to allow Shell Global Solutions to market and license Merichem’s technologies.
Shell Global Solutions
Selecting the optimum treatment for removing impurities
from hydrocarbon streams is a challenging task for any
refiner. To help customers access best-in-class solutions,
Shell Global Solutions has an alliance with Merichem
Company, the leading technology licensor for caustic
treating of light and middle distillate hydrocarbons.
This allows Shell Global Solutions to offer a series of
proven liquid hydrocarbon treating technologies that
complement its own technology portfolio. These are
designed to remove mercaptans, carbonyl sulphide
(COS), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2)
and naphthenic acids.
The Shell Global Solutions–Merichem offer covers the
following technologies:
n
THIOLEX™;
n
NAPFINING™;
n
THIOLEX COS;
n
NAPFINING HiTAN;
n
REGEN ;
n
EXOMER™;
n
REGEN ULS;
n
AQUAFINING™;
n
MERICAT™;
n
MERICON™;
n
MERICAT C;
n
CHLOREX™;
n
MERICAT J;
n
AMINEX™; and
n
MERICAT II;
n
AMINEX COS.
®
Merichem has a 70-year track record in the oil and
gas business, and has licensed more than 800 process
units worldwide.
AT A GLANCE
Customer driver: Legislative constraints (permits/licence
to operate, fuel specifications); margin improvement (product
upgrade, optimised production, efficiency and availability)
Solution: A suite of technologies to remove H2S,
mercaptans, COS and other acidic contaminants from
hydrocarbon streams
Value delivered: High performance impurity
removal; smaller unit footprint and reduced capital
and operating expenditures
Proof point: More than 800 licensed process
units worldwide
About the technology
Merichem’s licensed technologies are primarily based on
its proprietary, state-of-the-art, non-dispersive FIBER FILM®
Contactor. A retaining cylinder packed with very fine,
proprietary metal fibres, the FIBER FILM Contactor has
been licensed worldwide to treat problems throughout
the hydrocarbon processing industries.
The technology achieves non-dispersive-phase contact
without the problems inherent in conventional dispersive
mixing devices, such as aqueous phase carryover,
hydrocarbon losses, lack of turndown ability, long settling
times, plugging and flooding. Moreover, because the
aqueous phase adheres to the fibres in the FIBER FILM
Contactor rather than being dispersed into the
Untreated
hydrocarbon
Treated
hydrocarbon
pRoof poINTs
Tüpraş
Fresh caustic or
lean caustic
from REGEN®
Spent caustic
or rich caustic
to REGEN®
Figure 1: THIOLEX technology employs the FIBER FILM Contactor as the mass
transfer device and utilises caustic as the treating reagent to remove acid gas
and mercaptan compounds from liquid and gas hydrocarbon streams.
hydrocarbon phase, carryover is virtually eliminated.
Uncontrollable emulsions are also eliminated because
effective phase contact occurs without dispersion.
Process description
THIOLEX: Caustic extraction of acid gas and mercaptan
compounds from liquid and gas hydrocarbon streams
(Figure 1). The technology has been licensed for over 220
units since 1980.
THIOLEX COS: Caustic/catalyst extraction of acid gas
and COS compounds from liquid and gas
hydrocarbon streams.
REGEN: Regeneration of rich caustic streams to
improve caustic utilisation. Typically, REGEN is used to
regenerate the mercaptide-rich caustic that THIOLEX
purges, returning a lean caustic stream for additional
mercaptan removal. Disulphide oil (DSO) gravity
separation or solvent washing minimises the impact of
DSO back-extraction (Figure 2). It can also be used to
revive rich or spent caustic streams emanating from
refinery treating units. REGEN technology was first
licensed in 1980. To date, Merichem has granted
operating licences to 151 units worldwide.
REGEN ULS: Regeneration of mercaptide-rich caustic,
which yields a lean caustic with minimal DSO backextraction into the LPG. Ultra-low sulphur levels can be
achieved in the treated product. Ideal applications are
high-sulphur coker LPG streams and LPG streams, and
LPG products requiring less than 5ppm sulphur. The
technology can often treat LPG pre-fractionation in a
single train, whereas conventional technologies usually
require multiple trains post-fractionation.
MERICAT and MERICAT C: A caustic/catalyst/air mixture
removes hydrogen sulphide and sweetens mercaptan
compounds in gasoline, naphtha, condensate and crude
oil streams (Figure 3). The technology has been licensed
to more than 148 units since 1977.
Turkish oil company Tüpraş selected Merichem
technologies to treat a 22,000 barrel-per-stream-day
hydrocarbon stream at its Izmir refinery. NAPFINING,
MERICAT II, and AQUAFINING technologies are
being used to help meet jet fuel specifications.
Merichem also licensed its MERICON spent caustic
neutralisation technology to treat up to 1.6 m3/h of
spent caustic ahead of the existing wastewater
treatment plant.
Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co. Ltd.
Samsung selected Merichem technologies for its
heavy-ends by-product upgrade project.
NAPFINING, MERICAT II and AQUAFINING
technologies treat 15,000 barrels-per-stream-day of
jet fuel in order to meet internationally accepted jet
fuel specifications.
Refineria de Cartagena SA (Reficar)
Reficar selected Merichem technologies to treat
hydrocarbons and spent caustic at its refinery in
Cartagena, Colombia. AMINEX, THIOLEX and
REGEN technologies are used to treat coker LPG
and saturated LPG at the facility. In addition,
NAPFINING, MERICAT II, and AQUAFINING
technologies, in conjunction with salt and clay beds,
treat kerosene and jet fuel streams.
Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd
Shell selected Merichem technologies for a revamp
project at its refinery in Pulau Bukom, Singapore.
Merichem will supply its THIOLEX and REGEN
technologies to treat propane/propylene, butane/
butylene and light catalytically cracked gasoline
streams in order to meet product specifications.
Source
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
Saturated LPG (H2S, RSH, COS)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
LSR/HSR naphtha (H2S, RSH)
THIOLEX, REGEN, MERICAT
Jet fuel/kerosene (RCOOH, RSH)
NAPFINING HiTAN, MERICAT II, MERICAT J, AQUAFINING
Diesel (RCOOH)
NAPFINING HiTAN, AQUAFINING
Catalytic refomer
Unstabilised reformate
(HCl, NH4Cl)
CHLOREX
FCC or RCC
Unsaturated LPG (H2S, RSH, COS)
THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
Light FCC gasoline (H2S, RSH)
THIOLEX, REGEN, MERICAT, EXOMER
Heavy or full range FCC gasoline
(H2S, RSH)
MERICAT, MERICAT II, MERICAT J, EXOMER
LPG and naphtha (H2S, RSH,
COS)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS, MERICAT
Downstream
applications
Coker, visbreaker or
hydrocracker
Source
Midstream
applications
Applicable technologies
Overhead offgas (H2S, RSH,
COS, CO2)
Crude distillation unit
NGL fractionation
Source
Gas production field
Upstream
applications
Stream (impurities)
Oil production field
Oil sands heavy oil
upgrader
Stream (impurities)
Applicable technologies
Natural gas (H2S, RSH, COS, CO2)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
Propane (H2S, RSH, COS)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
Butane (H2S, RSH)
THIOLEX, REGEN, REGEN ULS
Natural gasoline (H2S, RSH)
THIOLEX, REGEN, MERICAT II, MERICAT J
Stream (impurities)
Applicable technologies
Natural gas (H2S, RSH, COS, CO2)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN
LPG (H2S, RSH, COS)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN
Condensate (H2S, RSH)
NAPFINING, THIOLEX, REGEN, MERICAT, MERICAT II
Associated gas (HCl, NH4, NH4Cl)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN
Light crude oil (H2S, CO2,
RCOOH, RSH)
NAPFINING, MERICAT
Fuel gas (H2S, RSH, COS, CO2)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN
LPG (H2S, RSH, COS)
AMINEX, THIOLEX, REGEN
Offgas
Air
Oxidiser
DSO gravity
separator
Spent
caustic
Catalyst
Rich caustic
from THIOLEX
Catalyst
Fresh
cascaded
caustic
Spent caustic
Fresh
caustic
Lean caustic
to THIOLEX
Solvent/DSO
Treated
hydrocarbon
Air
Fresh
solvent
Solvent
wash
Coal
Untreated
hydrocarbon
Sand filter
Figure 2: REGEN technology processes regenerable rich caustic streams
produced in the refinery, allowing it to be recycled thereby significantly
improving caustic utilisation. Typically REGEN is coupled with extractive
THIOLEX technology to regenerate the mercaptide-rich caustic purged
from the THIOLEX system, returning a lean caustic stream for additional
mercaptan removal.
MERICAT J: A special solution mixed with air oxidises
heavy mercaptans in jet fuel and middle distillate streams
without the need for a fixed carbon bed.
MERICAT II: A caustic/catalyst/air mixture removes
hydrogen sulphide and sweetens mercaptan
compounds in jet fuel, kerosene and gasoline and
naphtha streams. MERICAT II has been licensed to over
43 units since 1986.
NAPFINING and NAPFINING HiTAN: Caustic
extraction of naphthenic acid compounds from jet fuel,
kerosene, diesel, condensate and crude oil streams.
NAPFINING technology was first licensed in 1977. Since
then, Merichem has granted operating licences to 75 units
worldwide. Unlike electrostatic precipitators, the
technology offers an on-stream factor between routine
turnarounds of 100% and can process high TAN (>0.1
mg KOH/g) feeds.
EXOMER: A proprietary treating reagent removes the
recombinant mercaptans that form in selectively hydrotreated
fluidised catalytic cracked gasoline or heavier molecular
weight mercaptans from liquid hydrocarbon streams. The
capital expenditure for a grassroots EXOMER unit is
35–50% of the cost of incremental hydrotreating capacity,
and the operating costs per barrel are approximately
60–70% less when compared with hydrotreating.
AQUAFINING: Water extraction of soluble organic and
inorganic impurities from liquid and gas hydrocarbon
streams. AQUAFINING technology was first licensed in
1978 and to date has Merichem has granted 90 unit
operating licenses worldwide.
MERICON: On-site solutions for the processing of spent
caustics to reduce their biochemical oxygen demand and
chemical oxygen demand, control odour and adjust acidity.
Figure 3: MERICAT and MERICAT C technologies employ the FIBER FILM
Contactor as the mass transfer device and utilise a caustic/catalyst/air mixture
as the treating reagent to remove hydrogen sulphide and sweeten mercaptan
compounds in gasoline, naphtha, condensate and crude oil streams.
The technology produces a neutral brine effluent stream
that can be routed to waste-water treating facilities,
evaporation ponds or waterways. MERICON technology
was first licensed in 1988. To date, Merichem has granted
operating licences to 27 units worldwide.
CHLOREX: Alkaline water extraction of inorganic chloride
compounds from reformer gas and liquid product streams.
CHLOREX designs produce a more readily handled
effluent stream compared with the waste material
generated by sacrificial solid adsorbent beds. The
technology has been licensed four times since 1991.
AMINEX and AMINEX COS: A special amine removes
acid gas and COS compounds from LPG-type and gas
streams. The technology has been licensed 27 times
since 1998.
HAvE yOu CONsidErEd HOw yOu CAN
n
n
n
n
rocess feedstocks that contain difficult-to-remove
P
impurities
Achieve higher levels of impurity removal?
void emulsification, carryover and pressure
A
drop in your mixing vessels?
Minimise your use of fresh caustic?
All statements regarding Merichem Company, its affiliates and their
products are based solely on information provided by Merichem Company
and have not been independently verified by Shell Global Solutions.
For more information, please visit our website at www.shell.com/globalsolutions
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