Analysis of semi-solid 'shoe polish' material in a refinery TGTU

摘要

Amine units, and to a lesser extent tail gas treating units (TGTUs), experience occasional "shoe polish" sludge contamination. This contamination causes a series of detrimental effects ranging from fouling to overloading the filtration system in the unit, leading to high filtration costs. In such cases, filtration is not the proper solution; however, it does alleviate the effects of this aggressive, gel-like contamination. Filter media is rapidly restricted to flow, therefore reducing permeability. This causes fast differential pressure increase, which leads to frequent filter maintenance and high costs.