Method and apparatus for cooling a hydrocarbon stream

A method, comprising at least the steps of:

• (a) passing an initial hydrocarbon stream through a first separator to provide an initial overhead stream and a mixed hydrocarbon feed stream;
• (b) cooling the initial overhead stream in a main heat exchanger to provide a cooled hydrocarbon stream;
• (c) separating a C1 overhead stream from the mixed hydrocarbon feed stream, and subsequently separating one or more C2, C3 and C4 overhead streams from the mixed hydrocarbon feed stream;
• (d) admixing one or more of the C2 overhead stream, the C3 overhead stream and the C4 overhead stream with the C1 overhead stream to provide a cooled stream, thereby bypassing the main heat exchanger;
• (e) passing the cooled hydrocarbon stream through a first valve to provide an expanded cooled hydrocarbon stream and passing the expanded cooled hydrocarbon stream into an end gas/liquid separator to provide:
• an end-flash gas stream, and
• a liquefied product stream;
• (f) passing the cooled stream to a second heat exchanger, thereby still bypassing the main heat exchanger, and further indirectly cooling the cooled stream against the end-flash gas stream in the second heat exchanger to provide an at least partly liquefied cooled stream, and subsequently
• (g) combining the at least partly liquefied cooled stream with the expanded cooled hydrocarbon stream.