Effect of ammonia treatment on mercaptan removal from kerosene

Rehab Motasiem El-maghraby^(*,1), Galal Abd El-aleem^(*), Fatma Khalifa Gad^(*), Mohammed Saad^(**)

^(*) Department of petrochemical and petroleum refining engineering, Faculty of petroleum and mining engineering, Suez, Egypt

^(**)  Suez oil processing company, Suez, Egypt

Abstract

The present research work relates to the removal of mercaptan and total acidity from kerosene by using ammonia solution. The effect of ammonia treatment on mercaptan concentration and total acidity in kerosene is investigated. The results are compared by that obtained with caustic treatment of the same kerosene samples. The results show that the mercaptan concentration decreases with the increase in caustic and ammonia concentrations, and that ammonia is effective in the treatment of total acidity in kerosene.

The aim of this research work is to prove that ammonia treatment unit can be an alternative to caustic treatment unit. The operating conditions of the proposed ammonia treatment unit are mentioned. Comparative economic study is conducted between the proposed ammonia treatment unit and an existing caustic treatment unit in Egypt. The study shows that ammonia treatment can replace caustic treatment for the production of  jet fuel from kerosene with an economic and less problem causing process.