gases with a high percentage of CO2 such as the offgas from the steam reforming process used in ammonia production or the flue gases from power plants. Both H2S and CO2 are acid gases and hence corrosive to carbon steel. However, in an amine treating unit, CO2 is the stronger acid of the two. H2S forms a film of iron sulfide on the surface of the steel that acts to protect the steel. When treating gases with a high percentage of CO2, corrosion inhibitors are often used and that permits the use of higher concentrations of amine in the circulating solution. Another factor involved in choosing an amine concentration is the relative solubility of H2S and CO2 in the selected amine. The choice of the type of amine will affect the required circulation rate of amine solution, the energy consumption for the regeneration and the ability to selectively remove either H2S alone or CO2 alone if desired. For more information about selecting the amine concentration, the reader is referred to Kohl and Nielsen's book. MEA and DEA MEA and DEA are primary and secondary amines. They are very reactive and can effectively remove a high volume of gas due to a high reaction rate. However, due to stoichiometry, the loading capacity is limited to 0.5 mol CO2 per mole of amine. MEA and DEA also require a large amount of energy to strip the CO2 during regeneration, which can be up to 70% of total operating costs. They are also more corrosive and chemically unstable compared to other amines. Uses In oil refineries, that stripped gas is mostly H2S, much of which often comes from a sulfur-removing process called hydrodesulfurization. This H2S-rich stripped gas stream is then usually routed into a Claus process to convert it into elemental sulfur. In fact, the vast majority of the 64,000,000 metric tons of sulfur produced worldwide in 2005 was byproduct sulfur from refineries and other hydrocarbon processing plants. Another sulfur-removing process is the WSA Process which recovers sulfur in any form as concentrated sulfuric acid. In some plants, more than one amine absorber unit may share a common regenerator unit. The current emphasis on removing CO2 from the flue gases emitted by fossil fuel power plants has led to much interest in using amines for removing CO2 (see also: carbon capture and storage and conventional coal-fired power plant). In the specific case of