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Process Raman Analyzers For Water & Wastewater Treatment
Optimizing Water and Wastewater Management with Raman Technology
HORIBA Process Instruments offers real-time, inline Raman spectroscopy solutions for monitoring refinery water and wastewater streams. Primary applications include sour water stripping and amine regeneration, two of the most analytically demanding aqueous processes in a refinery. Our Process Raman analyzers measure critical components directly in the process stream, replacing never-ending and constant grab samples that can take hours to return a result from the laboratory.
Your Simple, Cost-efficient Turnkey Solution
At HORIBA Process Instruments, we understand the unique demands of your industry. Our cutting-edge solutions are designed to deliver accurate, real-time insights for process optimization, safety, and compliance. From oil and gas to pharmaceuticals and beyond, we provide reliable tools that empower you to monitor critical parameters, reduce operational costs, and improve product quality.
The Challenge With Refinery Water and Wastewater Monitoring
Refineries generate significant volumes of wastewater throughout the production process. Sour water, water contaminated with dissolved hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), ammonium salts, phenols, and other compounds, is a byproduct of hydroprocessing, crude distillation, and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) operations. Before this water can be reused in the refinery or discharged, these contaminants must be removed to meet both operational requirements and environmental regulations.
The sour water stripper (SWS) is the primary treatment unit for this purpose. Steam is applied to drive H2S and ammonia out of solution into the gas phase, where they are routed to downstream units such as the sulfur recovery unit (SRU). Efficient operation of the SWS depends on accurately knowing the concentrations of these species in real time, both at the inlet and outlet of the stripper.
The same challenge applies to amine regeneration units (ARUs). Rich amine, saturated with H2S and CO2 absorbed from sour gas streams across the refinery, must be stripped back to lean amine for reuse in gas treating. The regeneration cycle needs to hit a precise lean loading target on every pass, which requires knowing the actual acid gas content of both the rich amine coming in and the lean amine going out.
The problem with these conventional methods is that most refineries rely on grab samples sent to the laboratory for wet chemistry analysis. This process can take hours per sample, preventing real-time, corrective action. In the time between samples, process conditions can shift, leading to over-stripping, under-stripping, excess steam usage, or off-spec treated water.
Why Raman Spectroscopy Is Well-Suited for Aqueous Streams
One of the practical advantages of Raman spectroscopy in water and wastewater applications is the weak Raman scattering signal of water itself. Unlike near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, where water absorbs strongly and can mask signals from other components, Raman systems see water as largely transparent. This makes Raman particularly well-suited for measuring dissolved species in aqueous matrices without requiring sample extraction, drying, or dilution.
Key technical advantages for water and wastewater monitoring include:
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Inline, non-invasive measurement: The Raman probe interfaces directly with the process stream through a sapphire window. No reagents, no sample conditioning, no moving parts in contact with the process fluid.
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Simultaneous multi-component analysis: A single analyzer can measure H2S, NH3, ammonium salts, amine species, and other dissolved components in a single spectral acquisition.
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Long fiber optic cable lengths: HORIBA's systems support fiber optic cable runs of up to 350 meters (approximately 1,000 feet), allowing the base instrument to be located safely in a control room while the probe is positioned at a remote sampling point in the refinery.
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Intrinsically safe probe design: Only light travels through the fiber optic cable. There are no electrical connections at the probe head, which is important for hazardous area classification in refinery environments.
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Real-time output for process control: Results are available continuously and can be integrated directly into distributed control systems (DCS) via Modbus, OPC, or Ethernet protocols, enabling automated process control based on actual composition data.
Applications in Refinery Water and Wastewater Management
Sour Water Stripping
Sour water enters the stripper containing dissolved H2S and ammonia at varying concentrations depending on which refinery units are contributing to the sour water system. The efficiency of the stripping operation is sensitive to these inlet concentrations, as well as to steam flow rate and stripper internals.
HORIBA Process Raman analyzers can be deployed to monitor:
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Inlet sour water composition: H2S, NH3, and ammonium salt concentrations entering the stripper
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Stripper overhead and bottoms quality: Verify that treated water exiting the stripper meets the required specification before routing to reuse or discharge
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Continuous process optimization: Real-time composition data allows operators to adjust steam rates in response to actual feed conditions, reducing energy waste and preventing off-spec treated water
The ability to measure ammonia and hydrogen sulfide simultaneously in the same aqueous stream in real time is a key differentiator versus conventional pH-based or titration methods, which are component-specific, time-delayed, and labor-intensive.
Amine Regeneration
Amine solutions circulate throughout the refinery to absorb H2S and CO2 from hydrocarbon gas streams. As the amine picks up acid gases, it becomes "rich amine" that must be regenerated in the ARU before being returned to service as "lean amine."
The efficiency of the regeneration cycle depends on knowing the acid gas loading of both the rich and lean amine streams. Insufficient stripping leaves residual H2S in the lean amine, reducing its capacity to absorb acid gas in downstream contactors. Over-stripping wastes energy.
HORIBA Raman analyzers can monitor:
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Rich amine inlet loading: Quantify H2S and CO2 concentrations in the rich amine feed to the regenerator
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Lean amine quality: Verify residual acid gas content in the lean amine exiting the regenerator, confirming it meets the required lean loading specification
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Amine degradation products: Detect heat-stable salts and other contaminants in the amine loop that can reduce system capacity and increase corrosion risk
Effluent Quality Assurance
Treated water leaving the sour water stripper or amine system must meet environmental discharge standards before it can be released. Continuous inline monitoring with a Raman analyzer provides a real-time record of treated water quality at the point of discharge, reducing the risk of exceedances and providing the data trail needed for regulatory reporting.
Parameters that can be monitored at the effluent point include residual sulfide, ammonia, and amine concentrations, depending on the specific regulatory requirements and stream composition.
HORIBA Process Instruments Solutions for Wastewater Treatment
The PI-200 Series Process Raman Analyzers are the analytical backbone of our water and wastewater monitoring solutions. The system includes:
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The PI-200-SP (Single Channel): Suited for a single monitoring point, such as the sour water stripper inlet or outlet
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The PI-200-DP (Dual Channel): Allows simultaneous monitoring of two points with one analyzer, for example, the inlet and outlet of a sour water stripper in a single unit
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The PI-200-I (Multichannel): Integrates a fiber multiplexer to monitor up to 17 separate sampling points, useful for refineries with multiple sour water sources or multiple ARUs feeding a shared monitoring system
The analyzer pairs with HORIBA's immersion Raman probe or flow cell configurations.
All systems are controlled and monitored through PROspect software, which handles data acquisition, chemometric model deployment, DCS integration, and audit logging.
Contact HORIBA Process Instruments
If you are evaluating online monitoring options for sour water stripping, amine regeneration, or effluent quality control, contact our team to discuss your process conditions and monitoring objectives. We will work with you to determine whether a Raman analyzer is the right fit and what the implementation would look like for your facility.
Resources
At HORIBA Process Instruments, we are committed to more than just delivering cutting-edge Raman technology—we aim to empower you with the knowledge and tools to excel in your industry. Our Resources & Knowledge Base is your go-to hub for expert insights, technical documentation, and best practices to optimize your process monitoring and analysis.
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