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US 10,300,402 B2Granted
Thin-film treatment of high-value glycol and amine solvents to remove contaminants
AssigneeTessenderio Kerley, Inc.
InventorsDavid Thomas Hagerman, I. John Seward, Jr.
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Abstract
A method for cleaning a contaminated solvent used to treat a gas stream, for example a contaminated glycol or a contaminated amine stream, by vacuum evaporation using a mechanically-maintained horizontally-orientated thin film evaporator, where the contaminant material is recovered from the thin film in solvent-free form, as either a heavy organic material or as free flowing salts.
Claims16
A steady-state method of treating a contaminated solvent stream with a horizontal thin film evaporator having a heated substrate surface, the process comprising:
- a. providing to the horizontal thin film evaporator a feed stream of contaminated solvent comprising
- i. sulfolane or a blend of sulfolane with an amine, and
- ii. one or more contaminants comprising salts, organics, solids, or mixtures thereof;
- b. forming and mechanically maintaining a thin film of contaminated solvent disposed on the heated substrate surface at sub-atmospheric pressure, said thin film having a film thickness, wherein the thin film is repeatedly wiped to maintain the film thickness and to move the thin film along the heated substrate surface;
- c. recovering a tops vapor phase comprising the solvent, forming a recovered solvent, wherein the concentration of contaminants in the recovered solvent is substantially reduced from the concentration of contaminants in the feed stream;
- and
- d. recovering a bottoms phase from the heated substrate surface, wherein said bottoms phase comprises less than 20% by weight solvent.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.