JP5753535B2 - Hydrocarbon gas treatment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for the separation of gases containing hydrocarbons. Applicants claim priority based on United States Code No. 35/119 (e) of US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 186,361, filed June 11, 2009. Applicants have also made a continuation-in-part of US patent application Ser. No. 12 / 772,472 filed on May 3, 2010, and US patent application Ser. No. 12 / filed on Mar. 31, 2010. Filed as a continuation-in-part of 750,862 and as a continuation-in-part of US patent application Ser. No. 12 / 717,394 filed on Mar. 4, 2010 and filed on Jan. 19, 2010 US Code No. 35/120 as a continuation-in-part of US Patent Application No. 12 / 689,616 and as a continuation-in-part of US Patent Application No. 12 / 372,604, filed February 17, 2009. Claim priority based on. Assignee's S.C. M.M. E. products LP and Ortoff
Engineers, Ltd. Was a party to a joint research agreement that took effect before the invention of this application was made.

  Ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, and / or heavier hydrocarbons are natural gas, refinery gas derived from other hydrocarbon materials such as coal, crude oil, naphtha, oil shale, tar sand, and lignite And from various gases such as synthesis gas streams. Natural gas usually has a large proportion of methane and ethane, ie methane and ethane together constitute at least 50 mole percent of the gas. The gas also contains relatively smaller amounts of heavier hydrocarbons such as propane, butane, pentane, etc., as well as hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other gases.

The present invention generally relates to the recovery of ethylene, ethane, propylene, propane, and heavier hydrocarbons from such gas streams. Typical analysis of the gas stream to be processed in accordance with this invention, in approximate mole percent, methane 90.3% 4.0% ethane and other C ₂ components, is 1.7% propane and other _{C 3} components, 0.3% isobutane, 0.5% is the standard butane, and 0.8% of pentane, was added the remainder would be comprised of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Gases containing sulfur may also be present.

  Historically, price fluctuations in both natural gas and its natural gas liquid (NGL) constituents sometimes reduced the incremental value of ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, and heavier components as liquid products There was also. This results in extensive changes to processes that can provide more efficient recovery of these products, processes that can provide efficient recovery with less capital investment, and recovery of certain components There has been a need for a process that can be easily adapted or adjusted to. Available processes for separating these materials include those based on gas cooling and refrigeration, oil absorption, and oil absorption of refrigerated oil. In addition, low temperature processes have become widespread due to the availability of economical equipment that expands the gas being processed and simultaneously generates power while extracting heat from the gas. Depending on the pressure of the gas source, the richness of the gas (ethane, ethylene, and heavier hydrocarbon content), and the desired end product, each of these processes or a combination thereof may be employed.

The low temperature expansion process is now commonly used for natural gas liquid recovery because it provides maximum simplicity with ease of start-up, operational flexibility, good efficiency, safety, and good reliability. preferable. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,292,380, 4,061,481, 4,1
40,504, 4,157,904, 4,171,964, 4,185,978, 4,251,249, 4,278,457, 4,519, 824, 4,617,039, 4,687,499, 4,689,063, 4,690,702, 4,854,955, 4,869,740 4,889,545, 5,275,005, 5,555,748, 5,566,554, 5,568,737, 5,771,712, 5,799,507, 5,881,569, 5,890,378, 5,983,664, 6,182,469, 6,578,379, 6, 712,880, 6,915,662, 7,191,617, , 219,513, U.S. Reissue Patent No. 33,408, and co-pending U.S. Patent Applications Nos. 11 / 430,412, 11 / 839,693, 11 / 971,491, and 12 / 206,230 describes a relevant process (but the detailed description of the invention in some cases is based on different processing conditions than those described in the cited US patents).

In a typical cold expansion recovery process, the feed gas stream under pressure is cooled by heat exchange with other streams of the process and / or an external refrigeration source such as a propane compression refrigeration system. When the gas is cooled, there is a case where the liquid is condensed and and collected in one or more separators as high-pressure liquids containing some of the desired C _{2 +} components. Depending on the richness of the gas and the amount of liquid produced, the high pressure liquid may expand to a lower pressure and be fractionated. Vaporization that occurs during liquid expansion results in further cooling of the stream. Under some conditions, it may be desirable to pre-cool the high pressure liquid prior to expansion in order to further reduce the temperature resulting from expansion. An expanded stream containing a mixture of liquid and vapor is fractionated in a distillation (demethanizer or deethanizer) column. Among the column, the desired C ₂ components as bottom liquid product, C ₃ components, and heavier residual methane as overhead vapor from the hydrocarbon component, nitrogen, and to separate the other volatile gases, or remains as overhead vapor from the hydrocarbon components of the desired C ₃ components and heavier as bottoms liquid product methane, C ₂ components, nitrogen, and to separate the other volatile gases, expansion cooled stream (s Or) are distilled.

  If the feed gas is not fully condensed (typically not fully condensed), the vapor remaining from the partial reduction can be split into two streams. One portion of the vapor is brought to a lower pressure through a work expansion machine or engine, or expansion valve, where additional liquid is condensed as a result of further cooling of the stream. The pressure after expansion is essentially the same as the pressure at which the distillation column is operated. The combined gas and liquid phases resulting from the expansion are fed to the column as a feed.

  The remaining portion of the steam is cooled and substantially condensed by heat exchange with other process streams, such as the overhead of the cold fractionation tower. Some or all of the high pressure liquid may be combined with this vapor portion prior to cooling. The resulting cooled stream is then expanded through a suitable expansion device, such as an expansion valve, to the pressure at which the demethanizer is activated. During expansion, some of the liquid will evaporate, resulting in cooling of the entire stream. The flash expanded stream is then fed to the demethanizer as a top feed. Typically, the vapor portion of the flash expanded stream and the demethanizer overhead vapor are combined as residual methane product gas in the upper separator section of the fractionation tower. Alternatively, the cooled and expanded stream may be fed to a separator to provide a vapor stream and a liquid stream. The vapor is combined with the tower overhead and the liquid is fed to the column as a column top feed.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,380 U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,481 U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,504 U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,904 US Pat. No. 4,171,964 US Pat. No. 4,185,978 US Pat. No. 4,251,249 U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,457 U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,824 U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,039 U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,499 US Pat. No. 4,689,063 U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,702 US Pat. No. 4,854,955 U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,740 U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,545 US Pat. No. 5,275,005 US Pat. No. 5,555,748 US Pat. No. 5,566,554 US Pat. No. 5,568,737 US Pat. No. 5,771,712 US Pat. No. 5,799,507 US Pat. No. 5,881,569 US Pat. No. 5,890,378 US Pat. No. 5,983,664 US Pat. No. 6,182,469 US Pat. No. 6,578,379 US Pat. No. 6,712,880 US Pat. No. 6,915,662 US Patent No. 7,191,617 US Pat. No. 7,219,513 US Reissue Patent No. 33,408 US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 430,412 US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 839,693 US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 971,491 US patent application Ser. No. 12 / 206,230

In an ideal operation of such a separation process, the residual gas leaving the process contains substantially all of the methane in the feed gas, is essentially free of heavier hydrocarbon components, and is demethanized. The bottom fraction exiting the unit will contain substantially all of the heavier hydrocarbon components and will be essentially free of methane or higher volatile components. In practice, however, this ideal situation is not obtained because conventional demethanizers operate primarily as stripping columns. The methane product of the process thus typically includes steam exiting the fractionation stage at the top of the column, along with steam that has not undergone any rectification step. The top liquid feed contains a substantial amount of these components and heavier hydrocarbon components, resulting in a corresponding balanced amount of steam in the vapor leaving the top fractionation stage of the demethanizer. A significant loss of C ₃ and C ₄ + components occurs, resulting in C ₃ components, C ₄ components, and heavier hydrocarbon components. Loss of these desirable components, steam rises, contacts the gas the evaporated C ₃ components, C ₄ components, and from the heavier hydrocarbons significant amount capable component absorbs liquid (reflux) If possible, it could be significantly reduced.

In recent years, the preferred process for hydrocarbon separation uses the upper absorber section to provide additional rectification of rising steam. One way to form a reflux stream for the upper rectification zone is to use a side draw of steam rising in the lower part of the column. Since C ₂ components of lower vapor of the column is relatively high concentrations, only available frozen at low temperature in the vapor exiting the top of the rectification section often used to raise the pressure Rather, a significant amount of liquid can be condensed in this side draw stream. This condensed liquid, primarily liquid methane and ethane, then absorbs C ₃ , C ₄ , and heavier hydrocarbon components from the vapor rising through the upper rectification zone, thereby demethanizing. It can be used to incorporate these valuable components in the bottom liquid product from the apparatus. US Pat. No. 7,191,617 is an example of this type of process.

  The present invention employs a novel means that performs the various steps described above more efficiently and uses a device with a lower number of parts. This is accomplished by combining what was previously an individual equipment element into a common housing, thereby reducing the land use space required for the processing plant and reducing capital costs of the equipment. Is done. Surprisingly, Applicants have also found that a smaller arrangement also significantly reduces the power consumption required to achieve a given recovery level, thereby increasing processing efficiency and reducing equipment operating costs. Found to decrease. In addition, a smaller arrangement also eliminates much of the piping used to interconnect individual equipment elements of traditional plant designs, further reducing capital costs, and also associated flanged piping connections The part is lost. Piping flanges are potential sources of leakage of hydrocarbons (volatile organic compounds that contribute to greenhouse gases, VOCs, and may also be precursors of atmospheric ozone production). Eliminating the flange reduces the potential for release to the atmosphere that can harm the environment.

According to the present invention, it can be seen that a C ₃ and C ₄ + recovery greater than 99% can be obtained without the need for pumping of the reflux stream to the demethanizer without loss in C ₂ component recovery. Has been issued. The present invention provides the further advantage that recovery rates in excess of 99% of the C ₃ and C ₄ + components can be maintained when the C ₂ component recovery is adjusted from a high value to a low value. In addition, the present invention is, C ₂ components with lower energy requirements compared with the prior art while maintaining the same recovery levels (or C ₃ components) and than methane from components of heavy (or C ₂ components) and more Allows essentially 100% separation of light components. The present invention is applicable at lower pressures and warmer temperatures, but under conditions requiring NGL recovery column overhead temperatures of −50 ° F. [−46 ° C.] or less, 400-1500 psia [2,758]. It is particularly advantageous when treating the feed gas in the range of 10 to 342 kPa (a) or more.

  For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following examples and figures. Referring to the drawings, it is as follows.

3 is a flow diagram of a prior art natural gas processing plant according to US Pat. No. 7,191,617. It is a flowchart of the natural gas processing plant which concerns on this invention. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative means of application of the present invention to a natural gas stream.

  In the following discussion of the above drawings, a table summarizing the flow rates calculated for representative process conditions is provided. In the tables presented herein, the value for flow rate (mole / hour) is rounded to the nearest integer for convenience. The overall stream flow rate shown in the table includes all components that are not hydrocarbons and is therefore generally greater than the sum of the stream flow rates for the hydrocarbon components. The indicated temperature is an approximate value rounded to the nearest temperature. It should also be noted that the process design calculations made for purposes of comparing the processes shown in the figures are based on the assumption that there is no heat leak from ambient to process (or from process to ambient). The quality of commercially available insulation makes this a very reasonable assumption and is typically made by those skilled in the art.

  For convenience, process parameters are reported in both traditional British and International Unit System (SI) units. The molar flow rates given in the table may be interpreted in either pound mole / hour or kilogram mole / hour. The energy consumption reported as horsepower (HP) and / or 1000 British thermal units / hour (MBTU / Hr) corresponds to the molar flow rate expressed in pounds mole / hour. The energy consumption reported as kilowatts (kW) corresponds to the molar flow rate expressed in kilogram mol / hour.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram showing the design of a processing plant for recovering C ₂ + components from natural gas using the prior art according to US Pat. No. 7,191,617. In the simulation of this process, the inlet gas enters the plant as stream 31 at 110 ° F. [43 ° C.] and 915 psia [6,307 kPa (a)]. If the inlet gas contains a concentration of sulfur compounds that would prevent the product stream from meeting specifications, the sulfur compounds are removed (not illustrated) by appropriate pretreatment of the feed gas. In addition, the feed stream is usually dehydrated to prevent the formation of hydrates (ice) under low temperature conditions. For this purpose, solid desiccants are typically used.

The feed stream 31 is divided into two parts: streams 32 and 33. Stream 32 is cooled to −32 ° F. [−36 ° C.] by heat exchange with the cold residual gas stream 50 a in heat exchanger 10, while stream 33 is in heat exchanger 11. Heat exchange with demethanizer reboiler liquid (stream 43) at 50 ° F [10 ° C] and side reboiler liquid (stream 42) at -36 ° F [-38 ° C] to -18 ° F [-28 ° C] To be cooled. Stream 32a and stream 33a are recombined to form stream 31a, which enters separator 12 at −28 ° F. [−33 ° C.] and 893 psia [6,155 kPa (a)] for the separation. Steam (
Stream 34) is separated from the condensed liquid (stream 35). The separator liquid (stream 35) is expanded by expansion valve 17 to the working pressure of fractionator 18 (approximately 401 psia [2,765 kPa (a)]), with stream 35a at a feed point below the middle of the column. Before being fed to the fractionation tower 18, the stream 35a is cooled to -52 ° F [-46 ° C].

  Vapor from the separator 12 (stream 34) is divided into two streams 38 and 39. Stream 38, which contains about 32% of the total steam, passes through heat exchanger 13 in a heat exchange relationship with cold residual gas stream 50, and is cooled and substantially condensed in heat exchanger 13. The resulting substantially condensed −130 ° F. [−90 ° C.] stream 38 a is then flash expanded through expansion valve 14 to the working pressure of fractionator 18. A portion of the stream is vaporized during expansion, resulting in cooling of the entire stream. In the process illustrated in FIG. 1, the expanded stream 38b exiting the expansion valve 14 reaches a temperature of −140 ° F. [−96 ° C.] and the fractionator 18 at a feed point above the middle of the column. To be supplied.

  The remaining 68% of the steam from the separator 12 (stream 39) enters the work expansion machine 15, where mechanical energy is extracted from this portion of the high pressure feed. Machine 15 expands the steam substantially isentropically to the tower operating pressure, and this work expansion cools expanded stream 39a to a temperature of approximately -94 ° F [-70 ° C]. A typical commercial inflator can recover on the order of 80-85% of the theoretically available work in ideal isentropic expansion. The recovered work is often used to drive a centrifugal compressor (such as element 16) that can be used, for example, to recompress the heated residual gas stream (stream 50b). The partially condensed and expanded stream 39a is then fed to the fractionation tower 18 as a feed at a feed point below the middle of the column.

The demethanizer in column 18 is a conventional distillation column that contains a plurality of vertically spaced trays, one or more packed beds, or some combination of trays and packed beds. . As is common in natural gas processing plants, the demethanizer tower has an expanded stream 38b that rises to condense and absorb two zones: the C ₂ component, the C ₃ component, and the heavier components. And an upper absorption (rectification) zone 18a containing a tray and / or packed bed to provide the necessary contact between the vapor portion of 39a and the descending cold liquid, and descending liquid and ascending vapor And a lower stripping (demethanization) section 18b containing the trays and / or packed beds to provide the necessary contact between them. The demethanizer section 18b also heats a portion of the liquid flowing down the column to provide stripping vapor that flows up the column and strips the liquid product of methane and lighter components (stream 44). And reboilers that evaporate (such as the reboilers and side reboilers previously described). The liquid product stream 44 exits the bottom of the column at 74 ° F. [23 ° C.] based on a typical specification with a methane to ethane ratio of 0.010: 1 on a mass basis in the bottom product.

  A portion of the distilled steam (stream 45) is drawn from the upper region of the stripping zone 18b. This stream is then cooled from -109 ° F [-78 ° C] to -134 ° F [-92 ° C] and exits the top of the demethanizer 18 at a low temperature of -139 ° F [-95 ° C]. It is partially condensed in the heat exchanger 20 by heat exchange with the demethanizer overhead stream 41 (stream 45a). The cold demethanizer overhead stream is warmed slightly to -134 ° F [-92 ° C] as the stream cools and condenses at least a portion of stream 45 (stream 41a).

  The operating pressure (398 psia [2,748 kPa (a)]) in the reflux separator 21 is maintained slightly lower than the operating pressure of the demethanizer 18. This provides the driving force to pass the distilled vapor stream 45 through the heat exchanger 20 and into the reflux separator 21 where the condensed liquid (stream 47) is free of any condensation. Is separated from untreated steam (stream 46). Stream 46 is then combined with warmed demethanizer overhead stream 41a from heat exchanger 20 to form a cold residual gas stream 50 of -134 ° F [-92 ° C].

The liquid stream 47 from the reflux separator 21 is raised by the pump 22 to a pressure slightly higher than the operating pressure of the demethanizer 18, and the stream 47a is then used as a cold column top feed (reflux). To be supplied. This low temperature liquid reflux absorbs and condenses the rising C ₃ and heavier components in the rectification region above the absorption zone 18a of the demethanizer 18.

  The distillation vapor stream (stream 41) forming the tower overhead is warmed in the heat exchanger 20 in providing cooling to the distillation stream 45 as described above and then combined with the stream 46 to produce a cooler stream. A residual gas stream 50 is formed. The residual gas passes countercurrently to the incoming feed gas through the heat exchanger 13 where it is heated to -46 ° F. [-44 ° C.] (stream 50a) and the heat exchanger. 10 and is heated in the heat exchanger 10 to 102 ° F. [39 ° C.] as it is provided, as described above (stream 50b). The residual gas is then compressed again in two stages. The first stage is a compressor 16 driven by an expansion machine 15. The second stage is a compressor 23 driven by an auxiliary power source that compresses residual gas (stream 50d) to sales line pressure. After cooling to 110 ° F. [43 ° C.] in the discharge cooler 24, the residual gas stream 50e is 915 psia [6,307 kPa] sufficient to meet line requirements (usually on the order of inlet pressure). (A)] flows into the sales gas pipeline.

A summary of stream flow and energy consumption for the process illustrated in FIG. 1 is set forth in the following table.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 2 illustrates a process flow diagram according to the present invention. The feed gas composition and conditions considered in the process presented in FIG. 2 are the same as those in FIG. Accordingly, the process of FIG. 2 can be compared to the process of FIG. 1 to illustrate the advantages of the present invention.

In the simulation of the process of FIG. 2, the inlet gas enters the plant as stream 31 and is divided into two parts, streams 32 and 33. The first portion, ie stream 32, enters the heat exchange means in the upper region of the feed cooling zone 118a inside the processing assembly 118. This heat exchange means may be a fin-and-tube heat exchanger, a plate heat exchanger, a brazed aluminum heat exchanger, or other types of heat including a multi-tube heat exchanger and / or a multi-service heat exchanger. It may consist of a transmission device. The heat exchange means is a residual gas from the condensation section 118b inside the processing assembly 118 being heated in the heat exchange means in the lower region of the stream 32 and the feed cooling section 118a flowing through one tube of the heat exchange means. • Configured to provide heat exchange with the stream. Stream 32 is cooled while further heating the residual gas stream, and stream 32a exits the heat exchange means at -30 ° F [-35 ° C].

  The second portion, stream 33, enters the heating and mass transfer means of the stripping zone 118e inside the processing assembly 118. This heating and mass transfer means may also include fin and tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, or other multi-tubular heat exchangers and / or multiservice heat exchangers. It may consist of a type of heat transfer device. The heating and mass transfer means is cooled while the stream 33 is heating the distillation liquid stream, and cools the stream 33a to -42 ° F [-41 ° C] before the stream 33a exits the heating and mass transfer means. As such, it is configured to provide heat exchange between the stream 33 flowing through one tube of heating and mass transfer means and the distilled liquid stream flowing down from the absorption zone 118d inside the processing assembly 118. As the distillation liquid stream is heated, a portion of this is vaporized to form a stripping vapor that rises as the remaining liquid continues to flow down through the heating and mass transfer means. The heating and mass transfer means stripping vapor so that the means also functions to provide mass transfer between the gas phase and the liquid phase for stripping the liquid product stream 44 of methane and lighter components. And provides continuous contact between the distilled liquid stream.

  Streams 32a and 33a are recombined to form stream 31a, which is 34 ° F [37 ° C.] and 900 psia [6,203 kPa (a)] in separator section 118f inside processing assembly 118. As soon as it enters, the vapor (stream 34) is separated from the condensed liquid (stream 35). Separator section 118f has an internal head or other means to separate separator section 118f from stripping section 118e so that the two sections inside processing assembly 118 can operate at different pressures.

  Vapor (stream 34) and liquid (stream 35) from separator section 118f are each divided into two streams: streams 36 and 39 and streams 37 and 40, respectively. A stream 36 containing about 31% of the total vapor is combined with a stream 37 containing about 50% of the total liquid, and the combined stream 38 is in the lower region of the feed cooling zone 118a inside the processing assembly 118. Enter heat exchange means. This heat exchanging means may likewise be fin-and-tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, or other multi-tubular heat exchangers and / or multi-service heat exchangers It may consist of a type of heat transfer device. The heat exchanging means is comprised of the stream 38 flowing through one tube of the heat exchanging means and the residual gas stream from the condensation section 118b such that the stream 38 is cooled and substantially condensed while heating the residual gas stream. Configured to provide heat exchange between.

  The resulting substantially condensed −128 ° F. [−89 ° C.] stream 38a is then passed through the expansion valve 14 to the rectification zone 118c (absorption means) and absorption zone 118d (separately) within the processing assembly 118. Is expanded to a working pressure (approximately 402 psia [2,772 kPa (a)]). A portion of the stream may vaporize during expansion, resulting in cooling of the entire stream. In the process illustrated in FIG. 2, the expanded stream 38b exiting the expansion valve 14 reaches a temperature of −139 ° F. [−95 ° C.], and the treatment set between the rectification zone 118c and the absorption zone 118d. It is supplied to the solid 118.

  The remaining 69% of steam (stream 39) from separator section 118f enters work expansion machine 15, where mechanical energy is extracted from this portion of the high pressure feed. Machine 15 expands the steam substantially isentropically to the operating pressure of absorption zone 118d, and this work expansion cools expanded stream 39a to a temperature of approximately -100 ° F [-73 ° C]. The partially condensed and expanded stream 39a is then fed as a feed to the lower region of the absorption zone 118d inside the processing assembly 118 and contacted by the liquid supplied to the upper region of the absorption zone 118d. become. The remaining 50% of the liquid from the separator section 118f (stream 40) is expanded by the expansion valve 17 to the operating pressure in the stripping section 118e inside the processing assembly 118, so that the stream 40a is -60 ° F [-51. [Centigrade]. The heating and mass transfer means for the stripping zone 118e is comprised of an upper part and a lower part so that the expanded liquid stream 40a can be introduced into the stripping zone 118e between the two parts.

  A portion of the distillation vapor (first distillation vapor stream 45) is drawn from the upper region of the stripping zone 118e at -95 ° F [-71 ° C] and the heat of the condensation zone 118b inside the processing assembly 118. Directed to the exchange means. This heat exchanging means may likewise be fin-and-tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, or other multi-tubular heat exchangers and / or multi-service heat exchangers It may consist of a type of heat transfer device. The heat exchange means includes a first flow that flows through one tube of the heat exchange means such that the second distillation steam stream is heated while the second distillation steam stream cools the first distillation steam stream 45. It is configured to provide heat exchange between the distilled steam stream 45 and a second distilled steam stream originating from the rectification zone 118c inside the processing assembly 118. Stream 45 is cooled to -134 ° F [-92 ° C] and is at least partially condensed before exiting the heat exchange means and separating into its respective gas phase and liquid phase. The gas phase (if present) is combined with the heated second distillation vapor stream exiting the heat exchange means to form a residual gas stream that provides cooling in the feed cooling zone 118a as described above. The liquid phase (stream 48) is fed by gravity flow as a cold column top feed (reflux) to the upper region of the rectification zone 118c inside the processing assembly 118.

Each of the rectification section 118c and the absorption section 118d is an absorbent means comprising a plurality of vertically spaced trays, one or more packed beds, or some combination of trays and packed beds. To accommodate. The trays and / or packed beds in the rectification zone 118c and the absorption zone 118d provide the necessary contact between the rising vapor and the falling cold liquid. The liquid portion of the expanded stream 39a mixes with the liquid descending from the absorption section 118d and the combined liquid continues to flow downward into the stripping section 118e. Stripping vapor resulting from stripping zone 118e is combined with the vapor portion of expanded stream 39a and rises through absorption zone 118d, condenses in contact with the descending cold liquid, and from these vapors C ₂ component, C Absorbs most of the _three components and the heavier components. Vapor originating from absorption zone 118d is combined with any vapor portion of expanded stream 38b and rises through rectification zone 118c, condenses in contact with the descending cold liquid (stream 48) and remains in these vapors. and which absorb most of the components of the C ₃ components and heavier. The liquid portion of the expanded stream 38b mixes with the liquid descending from the rectification zone 118c, and the combined liquid continues to flow downward into the absorption zone 118d.

The distillation liquid flowing down from the heating and mass transfer means in the stripping section 118e inside the processing assembly 118 is stripped of methane and lighter components. The resulting liquid product (stream 44) exits the lower region of stripping section 118e and exits processing assembly 118 at 74 ° F. [23 ° C.]. The second distillation vapor stream resulting from rectification zone 118c is warmed in condensation zone 118b in providing cooling to stream 45 as described above. The warmed second distillation steam stream is combined with any steam separated from the cooled first distillation steam stream 45 as described above. The resulting residual gas stream is heated in the feed cooling zone 118a in providing cooling to the streams 32 and 38 as previously described, and as soon as this the residual gas stream 50 causes the processing assembly 118 to move 104 °. Go out at F [40 ° C]. The residual gas stream is then compressed again in two stages, a compressor 16 driven by the expansion machine 15 and a compressor 23 driven by an auxiliary power source. After being cooled to 110 ° F. [43 ° C.] in the discharge cooler 24, the residual gas stream 50c is 915 psia [6,307 kPa] (usually on the order of inlet pressure) sufficient to meet line requirements. (A)] flows into the sales gas pipeline.

A summary of stream flow and energy consumption for the process illustrated in FIG. 2 is set forth in the following table.

  Comparison between Table 1 and Table 2 shows that the present invention maintains essentially the same ethane recovery rate (85.03% compared to 85.00% of the prior art) and 99% propane recovery rate compared to the prior art. It shows a slight improvement from .11% to 99.16% and maintains essentially the same butane + recovery (99.98% versus 99.99% of the prior art). However, a further comparison of Tables 1 and 2 shows that product yields were achieved using significantly less power than the prior art. In terms of recovery efficiency (defined by the amount of ethane recovered per unit power), the present invention represents an improvement of greater than 5% over the prior art FIG. 1 process.

  The improvement in recovery efficiency provided by the present invention over the prior art FIG. 1 process is mainly due to two factors. First, the small arrangement of heat exchange means in the feed cooling zone 118a and condensation zone 118b and heating and mass transfer means in the stripping zone 118e inside the processing assembly 118 is the piping found in conventional processing plants. Eliminate the pressure drop imposed by interconnecting The result is that the residual gas flowing to the compressor 16 is at a higher pressure in the present invention compared to the prior art, so that the residual gas entering the compressor 23 is at a significantly higher pressure, thereby Reduces the power required by the present invention to return gas to pipeline pressure.

  Second, the heating and material of the stripping zone 118e to simultaneously heat the distilled liquid exiting the absorption zone 118d while allowing the resulting vapor to contact the liquid and strip its volatile components. Using moving means is more efficient than using a conventional distillation column with an external reboiler. Volatile components are continuously stripped out of the liquid, and the concentration of volatile components in the stripping vapor decreases more quickly, thereby improving the stripping efficiency for the present invention.

  The present invention provides two other advantages over the prior art in addition to increased processing efficiency. First, the compact arrangement of the processing assembly 118 of the present invention results in eight separate device elements in the prior art (heat exchangers 10, 11, 13, and 20, FIG. 1, separator 12, reflux separator 21). , Reflux pump 22 and fractionation column 18) are replaced by a single device element (processing assembly 118 of FIG. 2). This reduces land use space requirements, eliminates interconnected piping, eliminates the power consumed by the return pump, and reduces the capital and operating costs of the processing plant using the present invention over that of the prior art. Decrease. Second, eliminating interconnecting piping reduces the number of potential leak sources in a plant, where the processing plant using the present invention has much fewer flanged connections compared to the prior art. Means that. Hydrocarbons are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some of which are classified as greenhouse gases, and some of them may be precursors of atmospheric ozone production, which are Means to reduce the possibility of release to the atmosphere that may be harmful to the environment.

Other Embodiments As described above with respect to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the first distillation vapor stream 45 is partially condensed and the resulting condensation is performed in the rectification zone 118c of the processing assembly 118. It is used to absorb the components of the C ₃ components valuable from the vapor rising and heavier throughout. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in cases where other design considerations indicate that some of the vapor or condensation should bypass the rectification zone 118c and / or the absorption zone 118d of the processing assembly 118, only a portion of these vapors. It may be advantageous to handle this in this way or to use only part of the condensation as absorbent. Some situations may favor total condensation rather than partial condensation of the first distillation vapor stream 45 in the condensation section 118b. In other situations, it may be preferred that the first distillation vapor stream 45 be a full vapor side draw from the stripping section 118e rather than a partial vapor side draw. It should also be noted that it may be advantageous to use external refrigeration depending on the composition of the feed gas stream to provide partial cooling of the first distillation vapor stream 45 in the condensation zone 118b.

  When the feed gas is leaner, the amount of liquid separated in stream 35 is between the expanded stream 39a and expanded liquid stream 40a shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 6, and 8. The additional mass transfer zone in the stripping zone 118e may be small enough that it is not justified. In such a case, the heating and mass transfer means of the stripping zone 118e may be configured as a single zone, and the expanded liquid stream 40a is a material as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 7, and 9. Introduced above the moving means. In some situations, it may be preferable to combine the expanded liquid stream 40a with the expanded stream 39a and then feed the combined stream as a single feed to the lower region of the absorbent area 118d. In some situations, it may be preferable to supply all of the liquid stream 35 directly to the stripping section 118e via the stream 40, or to combine all of the liquid stream 35 with the stream 36 via the stream 37. is there. In the former case, there is no flow in stream 37 (as indicated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 2-9) and separator area 118f (FIGS. 2-5) or separator 12 (FIGS. 6-9). Only the steam in stream 36 from flows to stream 38. In the latter case, an expansion device (such as expansion valve 17) for stream 40 is not required (as indicated by the dotted lines in FIGS. 3, 5, 7, and 9).

  In some situations, it may be advantageous to use an external separator vessel to separate the cooled feed stream 31a rather than including the separator section 118f in the processing assembly 118. As shown in FIGS. 6-9, the separator 12 can be used to separate the cooled feed stream 31 a into a vapor stream 34 and a liquid stream 35.

  Some situations include a cooled second portion instead of the first portion (stream 36) of the steam stream 34 to form a stream 38 that flows to the heat exchange means in the lower region of the feed cooling section 118a. It may be preferable to use (stream 33a in FIGS. 2-9). In such cases, only the cooled first portion (stream 32a) is fed to the separator section 118f (FIGS. 2-5) or the separator 12 (FIGS. 6-9) and all the resulting steam Stream 34 is fed to work expansion machine 15.

  Depending on the amount of heavier hydrocarbons in the feed gas and the feed gas pressure, the cooled feed stream entering the separator section 118f of FIGS. 3 and 5 or the separator 12 of FIGS. 31a may not contain any liquid (because it is above its dew point or because it is above its clicon den bar). In such cases, there is no liquid in the streams 35 and 37 (as indicated by the dotted lines), so only the vapor (FIGS. 3 and 5) from the separator section 118f in the stream 36 or the separator in the stream 36. 12 (FIGS. 7 and 9) only flows to stream 38 and is expanded and substantially condensed stream 38b fed to processing assembly 118 between rectification section 118c and absorption section 118d; Become. In such circumstances, the separator area 118f (FIGS. 3 and 5) or the separator 12 (FIGS. 7 and 9) in the processing assembly 118 may not be required.

  Feed gas conditions, plant scale, available equipment, or other factors may indicate that the work expansion machine 15 can be eliminated or replaced with an alternative expansion device (such as an expansion valve) There is sex. The expansion of the individual streams is shown with a specific expansion device, but alternative expansion means may be employed as appropriate. For example, the conditions may ensure work expansion of a substantially condensed portion of the feed stream (stream 38a).

According to the present invention, the use of external refrigeration may be employed, particularly in the case of rich inlet gas, to supplement the available cooling for the inlet gas from the distillation vapor and liquid streams. In such cases, the heating and mass transfer means may be a separator section 118f (or gas collection means in the case when the cooled feed stream 31a does not contain liquid) as shown by the dotted lines in FIGS. Or heating and mass transfer means may be included in the separator 12 as shown by the dotted lines in FIGS. This heating and mass transfer means can be fin and tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers, brazed aluminum heat exchangers, or other types including multi-tube heat exchangers and / or multi-service heat exchangers The heat transfer device may be used. The heating and mass transfer means passes through one tube of the heating and mass transfer means so that the refrigerant further cools the vapor and condenses into additional liquid and descends into a portion of the liquid that is removed in stream 35. It is configured to provide heat exchange between the flowing refrigerant stream (eg, propane) and the vapor portion of the upward flowing stream 31a. Alternatively, the conventional gas chiller (s) may be configured such that the stream 32a, the stream 33a, and the stream 31a before entering the separator section 118f (FIGS. 2-5) or the separator 12 (FIGS. 6-9), and It can be used to cool the stream 31a with a refrigerant.

Depending on the amount of C ₂ components to be recovered at a temperature and richness and liquid product stream 44 of feed gas, the liquid exiting the stripping section 118e is enough available from the stream 33 to meet product specifications There may be no heating. In such cases, the heating and mass transfer means of the stripping zone 118e may include equipment for providing auxiliary heating by the heating medium as shown by the dotted lines in FIGS. Alternatively, separate heating and mass transfer means can be included in the lower region of the stripping zone 118e to provide auxiliary heating, or the stream 33 is fed to the heating and mass transfer means of the stripping zone 118e. It can be heated with a heating medium before being done.

  Depending on the type of heat transfer device selected for the heat exchange means in the upper and lower regions of the feed cooling zone 118a and / or in the condensation zone 118b, a single multi-tube heat transfer device and / or multiple It may be possible to combine these heat exchange means in the service heat transfer device. In such cases, the multi-tubular heat transfer device and / or multi-service heat transfer device may be any steam separated from stream 32, stream 38, stream 45, cooled stream 45 to achieve the desired cooling and heating. And means suitable for dispersing, separating and collecting the second distillation vapor stream.

  Some situations may be desirable to provide additional mass transfer in the upper region of stripping section 118e. In such cases, the mass transfer means is below the place where the expanded stream 39a enters the lower region of the absorption zone 118d and the cooled second portion 33a exits the heating and mass transfer means of the stripping zone 118e. It can be positioned above the place to go.

  A somewhat preferred option for the embodiment of FIGS. 2-5 of the present invention is to provide a separator vessel for the cooled first portion 32a and a separator vessel for the cooled second portion 33a, separation Combining the vapor streams separated in the separator vessel to form the vapor stream 34 and combining the liquid streams separated in the separator vessel to form the liquid stream 35. Another rather preferred option for the present invention is to cool the stream 37 in separate heat exchange means inside the feed cooling section 118a (rather than combining stream 37 with stream 36 to form a combined stream 38). ) Expanding the cooled stream in a separate expansion device and feeding the expanded stream to an intermediate region of the absorption zone 118d.

In some situations, especially when lower levels C ₂ component recovery rate is desired, it may be advantageous to provide a reflux for the upper region of the stripping section 118e. In such cases, the liquid phase of the cooled stream 45 exiting the heat exchange means in the condensation zone 118b can be divided into two parts: stream 48 and stream 49. Stream 48 is fed to the rectification section 118c as its top feed so that the distillation steam in this section of the processing assembly 118 can be partially rectified before the first distillation steam stream 45 is withdrawn. Meanwhile, the stream 49 is supplied to the upper region of the stripping section 118e. In some cases, the gravity flow of streams 48 and 49 may be appropriate (FIGS. 2, 3, 6, and 7), while in other cases the liquid phase (stream 47) may be desirable (FIGS. 4, 5, 8, and 9). Several factors in the relative amounts of the divided the liquid phase while, including gas pressure, feed gas composition, the desired C ₂ components recovery levels, and the amount of available horsepower of stream 48 and stream 49 Will depend on. Optimal partitioning cannot generally be predicted without evaluating a particular situation for a particular application of the present invention. Some situations supply all the liquid phase as top feed in stream 48 to stream 48 c and not in stream 49 in the upper region of stripping area 118 e as indicated by the dotted line for stream 49. May be preferred.

  The relative amount of feed found in each branch of the split steam feed includes gas pressure, feed gas composition, the amount of heat that can be economically extracted from the feed, and the amount of horsepower available. It will be appreciated that it will depend on several factors. Additional feed above the absorption zone 118d may increase recovery while reducing the power recovered from the inflator, thereby increasing the horsepower requirement for recompression. Increasing the feed below the absorption area 118d reduces horsepower consumption but may also reduce product recovery.

The present invention provides an improvement of C ₂ component, C ₃ component, and heavier hydrocarbon component or C ₃ component and heavier hydrocarbon component per utility consumption required to operate the process. Provide recovery. Improvements in utility consumption required to operate the process include reduced power requirements for compression or recompression, reduced power requirements for external refrigeration, reduced energy requirements for auxiliary heating, It may appear in the form of reduced energy requirements for tower reboiling, or a combination thereof.

  While what has been considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, the invention may be subject to various conditions, feed types, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims, for example. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made to this or other requirements.

Claims (22)

A gas stream (31) containing methane, a C ₂ component, a C ₃ component, and a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50) , the C ₂ component, the C ₃ component, and a process for separating the relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing most of the hydrocarbon components of the hydrocarbon component or said C ₃ components and heavier heavier,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33) ;
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a cooled gas stream (31a, 34) ;
(5) The cooled gas stream (31a, 34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39) ;
(6) The first stream (36) is cooled so that substantially all of the first stream (36) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure, whereby the first stream ( 36) is further cooled,
(7) A processing assembly (118 ) in which the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) contains first absorption means, second absorption means, heating and mass transfer means and one or more heat exchange means. ) Is supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the first absorption means, the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means,
(8) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(9) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118) , whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44) ,
(10) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(11) At least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(12) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(13) said heated second distillation vapor stream, before SL combined with the residual vapor stream containing steam has not been any condensed to form a vapor stream combined,
(14) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50) ;
(15) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118) ; This provides at least part of the cooling of step (2), step (6), and step (10),
(16) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature in the upper region of the first absorption means is the relatively low volatile fraction (44 ) most of the components in is effective in maintaining the temperature to be recovered,
process. Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ And a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing most of the components and heavier hydrocarbon components
A process for separating,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a partially condensed gas stream (31a);
(5) The partially condensed gas stream (31a) is fed to a separation means and separated in the first separation means to produce a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream ( 35) and provide
(6) The steam stream (34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39),
(7) The first stream (36) is cooled so that substantially all of the first stream (36) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure so that the first stream is Further cooled,
(8) A processing assembly (118) in which the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) contains a first absorption means, a second absorption means, a heating and mass transfer means, and one or more heat exchange means. ) Is supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the first absorption means, the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means,
(9) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(10) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118), whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44),
(11) At least a portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) is expanded to the lower pressure, below the second absorption means and above the heating and mass transfer means. Fed to the processing assembly (118) as a feed;
(12) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(13) at least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(14) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(15) the heated second distillation vapor stream is combined with the residual vapor stream containing any uncondensed vapor to form a combined vapor stream;
(16) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(17) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118); This provides at least a portion of the cooling of step (2), step (7), and step (12),
(18) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means is reduced to the relatively low volatile fraction (44 Effective to maintain a temperature at which most of the components in
process. Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ And a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing most of the components and heavier hydrocarbon components
A process for separating,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a partially condensed gas stream (31a);
(5) The partially condensed gas stream (31a) is fed to a separation means and separated in the first separation means to produce a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream ( 35) and provide
(6) The steam stream (34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39),
(7) the first stream (36) is combined with at least a portion (37) of the at least one liquid stream (35) to form a combined stream (38);
(8) The combined stream (38) is cooled so that substantially all of the combined stream (38) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure, thereby the combined stream. (38) is further cooled,
(9) The processing assembly (118) in which the expanded, cooled and combined stream (38b) contains a first absorption means, a second absorption means, a heating and mass transfer means, and one or more heat exchange means. Supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the first absorption means, the first absorption means being positioned above the second absorption means,
(10) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(11) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118), whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44),
(12) Any remaining portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) is expanded to the lower pressure, below the second absorption means and above the heating and mass transfer means. Fed to the processing assembly (118) as a feed;
(13) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(14) at least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(15) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(16) the heated second distillation vapor stream is combined with the residual vapor stream containing any uncondensed vapor to form a combined vapor stream;
(17) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(18) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118); This provides at least a portion of the cooling of step (2), step (8), and step (13),
(19) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature in the upper region of the first absorption means is the relatively low volatile fraction (44 Effective to maintain a temperature at which most of the components in
process. A process according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the separating means is housed in the processing assembly (118). Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ And a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing most of the components and heavier hydrocarbon components
A process for separating,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a partially condensed gas stream (31a);
(5) The partially condensed gas stream (31a) is fed to a separation means and separated in the first separation means to produce a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream ( 35) and provide
(6) The steam stream (34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39),
(7) The first stream (36) is cooled so that substantially all of the first stream (36) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure so that the first stream is Further cooled,
(8) A processing assembly (118) in which the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) contains a first absorption means, a second absorption means, a heating and mass transfer means, and one or more heat exchange means. ) Is supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the first absorption means, the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means,
(9) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(10) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118), whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44),
(11) (i) the heating and mass transfer means has an upper region and a lower region;
(Ii) at least a portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) is expanded to the lower pressure, and the expanded at least portion (40a) of the at least one liquid stream (35) is Supplied to the processing assembly (118), between the upper and lower regions of the heating and mass transfer means,
(12) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(13) at least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(14) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(15) the heated second distillation vapor stream is combined with the residual vapor stream containing any uncondensed vapor to form a combined vapor stream;
(16) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(17) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118); This provides at least a portion of the cooling of step (2), step (7), and step (12),
(18) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means is reduced to the relatively low volatile fraction (44 Effective to maintain a temperature at which most of the components in
process. Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ And a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing most of the components and heavier hydrocarbon components
A process for separating,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a partially condensed gas stream (31a);
(5) The partially condensed gas stream (31a) is fed to a separation means and separated in the first separation means to produce a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream ( 35) and provide
(6) The steam stream (34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39),
(7) the first stream (36) is combined with at least a portion (37) of the at least one liquid stream (35) to form a combined stream (38);
(8) The combined stream (38) is cooled so that substantially all of the combined stream (38) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure, thereby the combined stream. (38) is further cooled,
(9) The processing assembly (118) in which the expanded, cooled and combined stream (38b) contains a first absorption means, a second absorption means, a heating and mass transfer means, and one or more heat exchange means. Supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the first absorption means, the first absorption means being positioned above the second absorption means,
(10) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(11) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118), whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44),
(12) (i) the heating and mass transfer means has an upper region and a lower region;
(Ii) any remaining portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) is expanded to the lower pressure, and any expanded remaining portion (40a) of the at least one liquid stream (35) , Supplied to the processing assembly (118), between the upper and lower regions of the heating and mass transfer means,
(13) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(14) at least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(15) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(16) the heated second distillation vapor stream is combined with the residual vapor stream containing any uncondensed vapor to form a combined vapor stream;
(17) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(18) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118); This provides at least a portion of the cooling of step (2), step (8), and step (13),
(19) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature in the upper region of the first absorption means is the relatively low volatile fraction (44 Effective to maintain a temperature at which most of the components in
process. A process according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the separating means is housed in the processing assembly (118). Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and heavier hydrocarbon component or said C ₃ A process for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) The gas stream (31) is divided into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) the first part (32) is cooled;
(3) the second part (33) is cooled;
(4) the cooled first portion (32a) is combined with the cooled second portion (33a) to form a cooled gas stream (31a);
(5) (i) The processing assembly (118) contains a gas collection means, a first absorption means, a second absorption means, a heating and mass transfer means and one or more heat exchange means,
(Ii) additional heating and mass transfer means is included within the gas collection means, the additional heating and mass transfer means including one or more conduits for an external refrigeration medium;
(Iii) the cooled gas stream (31a) is directed to the additional heating and mass transfer means to be supplied to the gas collection means and to be further cooled by the external refrigeration medium;
(Iv) the further cooled gas stream (34) is divided into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39);
(6) The first stream (36) is cooled so that substantially all of the first stream (36) condenses and is then expanded to a lower pressure, whereby the first stream ( 36) is further cooled,
(7) The expanded and cooled first stream (38b) is supplied as a feed between the first absorption means and the second absorption means housed in the processing assembly (118); One absorbing means is positioned above the second absorbing means;
(8) The second stream (39) is expanded to the lower pressure and supplied to the second absorption means as a bottom feed;
(9) A distilled liquid stream is collected from the lower region of the second absorption means and heated in the heating and mass transfer means contained in the processing assembly (118), whereby the Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while simultaneously stripping more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream to the processing assembly ( 118) from the relatively low-volatile fraction (44),
(10) A first distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the heating and mass transfer means and cooled sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the first distillation vapor stream, thereby condensing Forming a stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distillation steam stream is cooled;
(11) At least a portion of the condensed stream is fed to the first absorption means as a top feed;
(12) a second distillation vapor stream is collected from the upper region of the first absorption means and heated;
(13) the heated second distillation vapor stream is combined with the residual vapor stream containing any uncondensed vapor to form a combined vapor stream;
(14) the combined vapor stream is heated, and then the heated and combined vapor stream is discharged from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(15) the heating of the second distillation steam stream and the combined steam stream is accomplished in one or more heat exchange means housed in the processing assembly (118); This provides at least part of the cooling of step (2), step (6), and step (10),
(16) The amount and temperature of the feed stream to the first absorption means and the second absorption means is such that the temperature in the upper region of the first absorption means is the relatively low volatile fraction (44 Effective to maintain a temperature at which most of the components in
process. (1) Additional heating and mass transfer means are included within the separation means, the additional heating and mass transfer means including one or more conduits for an external refrigeration medium,
(2) the vapor stream is directed to the additional heating and mass transfer means to be cooled by the external refrigeration medium to form additional condensation;
(3) The claim 2, claim 3, claim 6, claim 6, or claim 3, wherein the additional condensation becomes part of the at least one liquid stream (35) separated therein. Process according to 7. (1) the condensed stream is divided into at least a first reflux stream (48) and a second reflux stream (49) ;
(2) the first reflux stream (48) is fed to the first absorption means as the top feed;
(3) The second reflux stream (49) is fed to the processing assembly (118) as a feed below the second absorption means and above the heating and mass transfer means. The process according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, claim 5, claim 6, claim 7, claim 8 or claim 9. 1 for an external heating medium, wherein the heating and mass transfer means supplements the heating provided by the second part (33) for the stripping of the more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream. In claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, claim 5, claim 7, claim 8, claim 9, or claim 10, comprising one or more conduits The process described. A gas stream (31) containing methane, a C ₂ component, a C ₃ component, and a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and the C ₂ component, C ₃ component and more an apparatus for separating the relatively low volatility fractions containing most of the hydrocarbon components of the hydrocarbon component or said C ₃ components and heavier heavy (44),
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33) ;
(2) for cooling said first portion (32) of receiving and said first portion (32), heat exchange means, heat and mass transfer means, the first absorbing means, the second absorbing means, liquid collection Means, a heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the first steam collecting means and the second steam collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) connected to the means and dividing the first is housed in said processing assembly (118) for cooling said second portion (33) of the receiving and the second portion (33) Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) receiving said cooled first portion (32a) and said cooled second portion (33a ) and forming said cooled gas stream (31a, 34) with said heat exchange means; First combining means connected to the heating and mass transfer means;
(5) the to separate the cooling gas stream (31a, 34) and the receiving and the cooled gas stream (31a, 34) a first stream (36) second stream (39) a A second dividing means connected to one combining means;
(6) the heat exchange means cools the first stream (36) enough to receive the first stream (36) and substantially condense the first stream (36) ; Further connected to said second dividing means for
(7) connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed first stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed first stream (38a) to a lower pressure; First expansion means;
(8) In the processing assembly (118) for receiving the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) as a feed to and between the first absorbing means and the second absorbing means. a housed and the first connected to said expansion means first absorbing means and the second absorbing means, said first absorbing means is positioned above the said second absorbing means, first And a second absorption means,
(9) a second expansion means connected to said second, separate means for inflating said second accepts stream (39) and said second stream (39) to a lower said pressure Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means to supply the expanded second stream as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(10) a liquid collecting means contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the second absorbent means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of the second absorbent means;
(11) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44) ,
(12) a first steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; Collecting means;
(13) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(14) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the separation means;
(15) Second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means. Collecting means;
(16) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (13). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(17) The connected to said heat exchange means to and form a combined vapor stream accepted the residual vapor stream containing the heated second distillation vapor stream and before Symbol vapor is not any condensed Two means of combining;
(18) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the second combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the steps (2) and the steps Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (6) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50) ;
(19) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ An apparatus for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) heat exchange means, heating and mass transfer means, first absorption means, second absorption means, liquid collection for receiving said first part (32) and cooling said first part (32) Means, a heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the first steam collecting means and the second steam collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) received in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first dividing means for receiving the second part (33) and cooling the second part (33); Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) the heat exchange means for receiving the cooled first portion (32a) and the cooled second portion (33a) and forming a partially condensed gas stream (31a); And a first combining means connected to the heating and mass transfer means;
(5) receiving the partially condensed gas stream (31a) and separating the partially condensed gas stream (31a) into a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream (35); Separating means connected to said first combining means for
(6) a second dividing means connected to the separating means for receiving the steam stream (34) and dividing it into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39);
(7) the heat exchanging means cools the first stream (36) enough to accept the first stream (36) and substantially condense the first stream (36); Further connected to said second dividing means for
(8) connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed first stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed first stream (38a) to a lower pressure; First expansion means;
(9) In the processing assembly (118) for receiving the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) as a feed to and between the first absorbing means and the second absorbing means. A first absorption means and a second absorption means housed and connected to the first expansion means, wherein the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means; And a second absorption means,
(10) second expansion means connected to the second dividing means for receiving the second stream (39) and expanding the second stream (39) to the lower pressure; Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means for supplying the expanded second stream (39a) as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(11) liquid collection means housed in said processing assembly (118) and connected to said second absorption means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of said second absorption means;
(12) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44),
(13) third expansion means connected to the separation means for receiving at least a portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) and expanding it to the lower pressure; A third expansion means is configured to supply the expanded liquid stream (40a) as a feed thereto below the second absorption means and above the heating and mass transfer means. A third expansion means further connected to (118);
(14) a first vapor collection means contained in the processing assembly and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distilled vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; ,
(15) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(16) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the second separation means;
(17) second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means; Collecting means;
(18) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (15). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(19) a second connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the heated second distillation steam stream and the residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam and forming a combined steam stream; Means to combine
(20) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the second combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the steps (2) and the steps Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (7) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(21) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ An apparatus for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) heat exchange means, heating and mass transfer means, first absorption means, second absorption means, liquid collection for receiving said first part (32) and cooling said first part (32) Means, a heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the first steam collecting means and the second steam collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) received in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first dividing means for receiving the second part (33) and cooling the second part (33); Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) the heat exchange means for receiving the cooled first portion (32a) and the cooled second portion (33a) and forming a partially condensed gas stream (31a); And a first combining means connected to the heating and mass transfer means;
(5) receiving the partially condensed gas stream (31a) and separating the partially condensed gas stream (31a) into a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream (35); Separating means connected to said first combining means for
(6) a second dividing means connected to the separating means for receiving the steam stream (34) and dividing it into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39);
(7) means for receiving said first stream (36) and at least a portion (37) of said at least one liquid stream (35) and said second dividing means to form a combined stream (38); A second combining means connected to the separating means;
(8) the heat exchanging means cools the combined stream (38) enough to accept the combined stream (38) and substantially condense the combined stream (38); Further connected to said second combining means for
(9) a first connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed and combined stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed and combined stream (38a) to a lower pressure; 1 expansion means;
(10) receiving the expanded, cooled and combined stream (38b) in the processing assembly (118) for receiving as a feed between the first and second absorbent means; And the first absorption means and the second absorption means connected to the first expansion means, wherein the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means. A second absorption means;
(11) second expansion means connected to the second dividing means for receiving the second stream (39) and expanding the second stream (39) to the lower pressure; Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means for supplying the expanded second stream (39a) as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(12) a liquid collection means contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the second absorption means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of the second absorption means;
(13) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44),
(14) third expansion means connected to the separation means for receiving and expanding any remaining portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) to the lower pressure; The third expansion means is configured to supply the expanded liquid stream (40a) as a feed thereto below the second absorption means and above the heating and mass transfer means. A third expansion means further connected to the solid (118);
(15) a first vapor collection means contained in the processing assembly and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; ,
(16) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(17) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the second separation means;
(18) second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means; Collecting means;
(19) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (16). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(20) a third connected to the heat exchange means to receive the heated second distilled steam stream and the residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam and to form a combined steam stream; Means to combine
(21) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the third combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the step (2) and the step Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (8) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(22) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: 15. An apparatus according to claim 13 or claim 14 , wherein the separating means is housed in the processing assembly (118) . Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ An apparatus for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) heat exchange means, heating and mass transfer means, first absorption means, second absorption means, liquid collection for receiving said first part (32) and cooling said first part (32) Means, a heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the first steam collecting means and the second steam collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) received in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first dividing means for receiving the second part (33) and cooling the second part (33); Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) the heat exchange means for receiving the cooled first portion (32a) and the cooled second portion (33a) and forming a partially condensed gas stream (31a); And a first combining means connected to the heating and mass transfer means;
(5) receiving the partially condensed gas stream (31a) and separating the partially condensed gas stream (31a) into a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream (35); Separating means connected to said first combining means for
(6) a second dividing means connected to the separating means for receiving the steam stream (34) and dividing it into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39);
(7) the heat exchanging means cools the first stream (36) enough to accept the first stream (36) and substantially condense the first stream (36); Further connected to said second dividing means for
(8) connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed first stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed first stream (38a) to a lower pressure; First expansion means;
(9) In the processing assembly (118) for receiving the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) as a feed to and between the first absorbing means and the second absorbing means. A first absorption means and a second absorption means housed and connected to the first expansion means, wherein the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means; And a second absorption means,
(10) second expansion means connected to the second dividing means for receiving the second stream (39) and expanding the second stream (39) to the lower pressure; Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means for supplying the expanded second stream (39a) as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(11) liquid collection means housed in said processing assembly (118) and connected to said second absorption means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of said second absorption means;
(12) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44),
(13) (i) the heating and mass transfer means has an upper region and a lower region;
(Ii) third expansion means connected to the separation means for receiving at least a portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) and expanding it to the lower pressure; A third expansion means is used to supply at least a portion (40a) of the expanded liquid stream as a feed thereto between the upper and lower areas of the heating and mass transfer means. The third expansion means further connected to the assembly (118);
(14) a first steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; Collecting means;
(15) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(16) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the second separation means;
(17) second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means; Collecting means;
(18) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (15). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(19) a second connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the heated second distillation steam stream and the residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam and forming a combined steam stream; Means to combine
(20) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the second combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the steps (2) and the steps Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (7) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(21) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ An apparatus for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) heat exchange means, heating and mass transfer means, first absorption means, second absorption means, liquid collection for receiving said first part (32) and cooling said first part (32) Means, a heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the first steam collecting means and the second steam collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) received in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first dividing means for receiving the second part (33) and cooling the second part (33); Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) the heat exchange means for receiving the cooled first portion (32a) and the cooled second portion (33a) and forming a partially condensed gas stream (31a); And a first combining means connected to the heating and mass transfer means;
(5) receiving the partially condensed gas stream (31a) and separating the partially condensed gas stream (31a) into a vapor stream (34) and at least one liquid stream (35); Separating means connected to said first combining means for
(6) a second dividing means connected to the separating means for receiving the steam stream (34) and dividing it into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39);
(7) means for receiving said first stream (36) and at least a portion (37) of said at least one liquid stream (35) and said second dividing means to form a combined stream (38); A second combining means connected to the separating means;
(8) the heat exchanging means cools the combined stream (38) enough to accept the combined stream (38) and substantially condense the combined stream (38); Further connected to said second combining means for
(9) a first connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed and combined stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed and combined stream (38a) to a lower pressure; 1 expansion means;
(10) receiving the expanded, cooled and combined stream (38b) in the processing assembly (118) for receiving as a feed between the first and second absorbent means; And the first absorption means and the second absorption means connected to the first expansion means, wherein the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means. A second absorption means;
(11) second expansion means connected to the second dividing means for receiving the second stream (39) and expanding the second stream (39) to the lower pressure; Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means for supplying the expanded second stream (39a) as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(12) a liquid collection means contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the second absorption means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of the second absorption means;
(13) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44),
(14) (i) the heating and mass transfer means has an upper region and a lower region;
(Ii) a third expansion means connected to the separation means for receiving any remaining portion (40) of the at least one liquid stream (35) and expanding it to the lower pressure; The third expansion means supplies any remaining portion (40a) of the expanded at least one liquid stream as a feed to it between the upper and lower areas of the heating and mass transfer means A third expansion means further connected to the processing assembly (118) to:
(15) a first vapor collection means contained in the processing assembly and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; ,
(16) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(17) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the second separation means;
(18) second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means; Collecting means;
(19) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (16). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(20) a third connected to the heat exchange means to receive the heated second distilled steam stream and the residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam and to form a combined steam stream; Means to combine
(21) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the third combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the step (2) and the step Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (8) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(22) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: 18. An apparatus according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the separating means is housed in the processing assembly (118). Methane, C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Component, and a gas stream (31) containing a heavier hydrocarbon component, a volatile residual gas fraction (50), and said C ₂ Ingredient C ₃ Components and heavier hydrocarbon components or the C ₃ An apparatus for separating the components and a relatively low volatility fraction (44) containing a majority of the heavier hydrocarbon components,
(1) a first dividing means for dividing the gas stream (31) into a first part (32) and a second part (33);
(2) heat exchange means, heating and mass transfer means, gas collection means, first absorption means, second absorption to receive the first part (32) and cool the first part (32). Heat exchange means housed in a processing assembly (118) containing the means, liquid collecting means, first vapor collecting means and second vapor collecting means and connected to the first dividing means;
(3) received in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first dividing means for receiving the second part (33) and cooling the second part (33); Heating and mass transfer means;
(4) the heat exchange means and the heating to receive the cooled first portion (32a) and the cooled second portion (33a) and to form a cooled gas stream (31a); And a first combining means connected to the mass transfer means;
(5) (i) a gas collection means is contained in the processing assembly (118);
(Ii) additional heating and mass transfer means is included within the gas collection means, the additional heating and mass transfer means including one or more conduits for an external refrigeration medium;
(Iii) the gas collection means receives the cooled gas stream and the cooled gas stream (31a) to the additional heating and mass transfer means to be further cooled by the external refrigeration medium Connected to said first combining means for directing,
(Iv) a second dividing means connected to the gas collecting means for receiving the further cooled gas stream (34) and dividing it into a first stream (36) and a second stream (39); ,
(6) the heat exchange means cools the first stream (36) enough to receive the first stream (36) and substantially condense the first stream (36); Further connected to said second dividing means for
(7) connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the substantially condensed first stream (38a) and expanding the substantially condensed first stream (38a) to a lower pressure; First expansion means;
(8) In the processing assembly (118) for receiving the expanded and cooled first stream (38b) as a feed to and between the first absorbing means and the second absorbing means. A first absorption means and a second absorption means housed and connected to the first expansion means, wherein the first absorption means is positioned above the second absorption means; And a second absorption means,
(9) second expansion means connected to the second dividing means for receiving the second stream (39) and expanding the second stream (39) to the lower pressure; Second expansion means further connected to the second absorption means to supply the expanded second stream as a bottom feed to the second absorption means;
(10) a liquid collecting means contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the second absorbent means for receiving a distilled liquid stream from a lower region of the second absorbent means;
(11) The heating and mass transfer means is further connected to the liquid collection means for receiving the distillation liquid stream and heating the distillation liquid stream, thereby simultaneously removing more volatile components from the distillation liquid stream. Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of step (3) while stripping, and then heating and stripping the distilled liquid stream from the processing assembly (118) to the relatively low volatility distillation. Dispense as minutes (44),
(12) a first steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the heating and mass transfer means for receiving a first distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the heating and mass transfer means; Collecting means;
(13) for the heat exchange means to cool the first distillation steam stream sufficient to receive the first distillation steam stream and condense at least a portion of the first distillation steam stream; Further connected to the first steam collecting means to form a condensed stream and a residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam remaining after the first distilled steam stream has cooled. ,
(14) the first absorption means is further connected to the heat exchange means to receive at least a portion of the condensed stream as a top feed to the separation means;
(15) Second steam contained in the processing assembly (118) and connected to the first absorbent means for receiving a second distillation vapor stream from an upper region of the first absorbent means. Collecting means;
(16) The heat exchange means is further connected to the second steam collecting means to receive the second distillation steam stream and heat the second distillation steam stream, thereby the step (13). Supply at least part of the cooling of the
(17) a second connected to the heat exchange means for receiving the heated second distillation steam stream and the residual steam stream containing any uncondensed steam and forming a combined steam stream; Means to combine
(18) The heat exchanging means is further connected to the second combining means to receive the combined steam stream and heat the combined steam stream, thereby the steps (2) and the steps Supplying at least a portion of the cooling of (6) and then discharging the heated combined vapor stream from the processing assembly (118) as the volatile residual gas fraction (50);
(19) In order to maintain the temperature of the upper region of the first absorption means at a temperature at which most of the components in the relatively low volatile fraction (44) are recovered, and Control means adapted to adjust the amount and temperature of the feed stream to the second absorption means;
A device comprising: (1) Additional heating and mass transfer means are included within the separation means, the additional heating and mass transfer means including one or more conduits for an external refrigeration medium,
(2) the vapor stream is directed to the additional heating and mass transfer means to be cooled by the external refrigeration medium to form additional condensation;
(3) the additional condensation becomes part of the at least one liquid stream (35) separated therein;
An apparatus according to claim 13, claim 14, claim 15, claim 16, claim 17, or claim 18. (1) a third dividing means for receiving said condensed stream and said heat exchange means for dividing said condensed stream into at least a first reflux stream (48) and a second reflux stream (49); Connected to
(2) the first absorption means is adapted to be connected to the third dividing means for receiving the first reflux stream (48) as the top feed to the third dividing means; ,
(3) The heating and mass transfer means is adapted to be connected to the third dividing means for receiving the second reflux stream (49) as a top feed to the third dividing means. ,
An apparatus according to claim 12, claim 13, claim 14, claim 15, claim 16, claim 17, claim 18, claim 19, or claim 20. One or more for an external heating medium, wherein the heating and mass transfer means supplements the heating supplied by the second part for the stripping of the more volatile components from the distilled liquid stream Apparatus according to claim 12, claim 13, claim 14, claim 15, claim 16, claim 17, claim 19, claim 20 or claim 21, comprising a conduit.

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