Reactor system for acetylene absorption and selective hydrogenation

Abstract

A system including an acetylene absorption and hydrogenation reactor configured to receive an acetylene-rich gas stream and a hydrogen stream flowing upwards or downwards to a reaction zone and a cooled liquid solvent flowing downwards to the reaction zone, wherein the cooled recycled liquid solvent stream extracts acetylene in the acetylene-rich gas stream and hydrogen in the hydrogen stream and at least a portion of the acetylene is converted to ethylene in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst and hydrogen under hydrogenation reaction conditions to produce an acetylene-lean gas effluent and a heated liquid solvent effluent, and a first heat exchanger for receiving the heated liquid solvent effluent, the first heat exchanger being configured to remove heat from the heated liquid solvent effluent and produce the cooled recycled liquid solvent stream as part of a continuous solvent recycle loop.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.