Treatment of amine wastes generated in industrial processes.

Abstract

Amines such as monoethanolamines (MEA), ethanolamines (EA), diethanolamines (DEA), and N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) are widely used in post combustion CO 2 capture process (CCP) at natural gas conditioning plants to remove acid gas impurities. These amines have significant impact to the environment and human health. Therefore, amine wastes generated from CCP must be treated before they are exposed to the environment. This paper reviews some of the available methods to treat amines such as using physical treatments (filters, increase in temperature, polymerization), chemical treatments (SO X and NO X in the flue gas, fly ash, acid solvents), and biological treatments (aerobic degradation and anaerobic degradation by microbacteria, nitrate respiration).