Monoethanolamine for different industries..
Dear Sir/Madam,
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We are pleased to offer Monoethanolamine (MEA).Â
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Monoethanolamine, also called *-aminoethanol (often abbreviated as
ETA or MEA), is an organic chemical compound that is both a primary
amine (due to an amino group in its molecule) and a primary alcohol
(due to a hydroxyl group). Like other amines, monoethanolamine acts
as a weak base. Monoethanolamine is a toxic, flammable, corrosive,
colorless, viscous liquid with an odor similar to that of ammonia.
Monoethanolamine is commonly called MEA in order to be
distinguished from diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA).
Monoethanolamine is the second-most-abundant head group for
phospholipids, substances found in biological membranes.
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Uses
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MEA is used in aqueous solutions for scrubbing certain acidic
gases. It is used as feedstock in the production of detergents,
emulsifiers, polishes, pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors,
chemical intermediates.
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Gas stream scrubbing
Aqueous solutions of MEA (solutions of MEA in water) are used as a
gas stream scrubbing liquid in amine treaters. For example, aqueous
MEA is used to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas. Aqueous
solutions can weakly dissolve certain kinds of gases from a mixed
gas stream. The MEA in such solutions, acting as a weak base, then
neutralizes acidic compounds dissolved in the solution to turn the
molecules into an ionic form, making them polar and considerably
more soluble in a cold MEA solution, and thus keeping such acidic
gases dissolved in this gas-scrubbing solution. Therefore, large
surface area contact with such a cold scrubbing solution in a
scrubber unit can selectively remove such acidic components as
hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and CO2 from some mixed gas streams. For
example, basic solutions such as aqueous MEA or aqueous potassium
carbonate can neutralize H2S into hydrosulfide ion (HS-) or CO2
into bicarbonate ion (HCO*-). H2S and CO2 are only weakly-acidic
gases. An aqueous solution of a strong base such as sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) will not readily release these gases once they
have dissolved. However, MEA is rather weak base and will
re-release H2S or CO2 when the scrubbing solution is heated.
Therefore, the MEA scrubbing solution is recycled through a
regeneration unit, which heats the MEA solution from the scrubber
unit to release these only slightly-acidic gases into a purer form
and returns the regenerated MEA solution to the scrubber unit again
for reuse.
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pH-control amine
Monoethanolamine is often used for alkalinization of water in steam
cycles of power plants, including nuclear power plants with
pressurized water reactors. This alkalinization is performed to
control corrosion of metal components. ETA (or sometimes a similar
organic amine, e.g., morpholine) is selected because it does not
accumulate in steam generators (boilers) and crevices due to its
volatility, but rather distributes relatively uniformly throughout
the entire steam cycle. In such application, ETA is a key
ingredient of so-called "all-volatile treatment" of water
(AVT).