Loading patent…
AssigneesEastman Chemical Company, North Carolina State University
InventorsAshfaq Shahanawaz Shaikh, Thomas Allen Puckette, Scott Owens, Syed Maaz, Jack R. Edwards
Estimating the term…
Selective recovery of C2 to C4 hydrocarbons is achieved through the use of a converging-diverging nozzle, or de Laval nozzle. The vapor stream comprising C2 to C4 hydrocarbons is fed into an inlet of a de Laval nozzle having a throat. The vapor stream may have an initial temperature of between 0° C. and 100° C., and an initial pressure of between 200 psig and 500 psig. In the de Laval nozzle, the vapor stream expands after passing through the throat of the de Laval nozzle, producing a vapor stream having reduced temperature and pressure. Then, C2 to C4 hydrocarbons condense from the reduced-temperature vapor stream as liquid droplets, which may be recovered. Fractionation of C2 to C4 hydrocarbons by means of a de Laval nozzle is possible; the technique allows selective recovery of propane from a mixture of propane and ethane.
A method of selectively recovering hydrocarbons with a boiling point of between −105° C. and 5° C.,
A method of fractionating hydrocarbons in a gas stream comprising a first hydrocarbon having 2 or 3 carbon atoms, and a second hydrocarbon having 3 or 4 carbon atoms, where the first and second hydrocarbons do not both have 3 carbon atoms;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.