Method of purifying a natural gas by mercaptan adsorption
AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole
InventorsMichel Thomas, Eszter Toth, Fabrice Lecomte, Geraldine Laborie, Chantal Rigaill
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The raw natural gas is deacidized and dehydrated in units DA and DH. The treated gas is then purified by adsorption of the mercaptans in first enclosure A1. Part of the purified gas is heated in E1, then fed into second enclosure A2 so as to discharge the water adsorbed by the adsorbent material contained in this second enclosure. A water-laden purge gas is fed into third enclosure A3 containing a mercaptan-laden adsorbent material. In A3, the mercaptans are desorbed and replaced by the water. The gas from the third enclosure is washed in unit L, then recycled.
Claims14
1) A method of purifying a natural gas containing mercaptans, comprising the following stages:
- a) removing the mercaptans from said gas by contacting with a first amount of adsorbent material, so as to obtain a purified gas,
- b) contacting part of the purified gas obtained in stage a) with a water-laden second amount of adsorbent material, in order to discharge the water therefrom,
- c) contacting a gas fraction comprising water with a mercaptan-laden third amount of adsorbent material, in order to displace the mercaptans by water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.