Combined recovery of hydrogen and hydrocarbon liquids from hydrogen-containing gases
AssigneeFluor Technologies Corporation
InventorSatish Reddy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pressure differential of a feed gas (110) between a compressor (120) and expander (160) is employed to cool the feed gas to condense and remove at least a portion of one component to produce a partially depleted feed gas from which another component may then be removed. In especially preferred aspects, the feed gas comprises C2-C5 hydrocarbons and hydrogen, wherein the hydrocarbons are condensed in the cooler and hydrogen is removed using a pressure swing adsorption unit (180).
Claims17
A plant comprising:
- a compressor that compresses a feed gas comprising a first component and a second component, thereby forming a compressed feed gas having a first pressure;
- a cooler that cools the compressed feed gas to a temperature sufficient to condense at least part of the first component in the compressed feed gas;
- a first separator that separates the cooled compressed feed gas into a first vapor portion and a first liquids portion, wherein the first vapor portion is expanded in an expander to a second pressure to form an expanded stream;
- and
- a second separator that separates the expanded stream into a second liquids portion and a second vapor portion, wherein the second vapor portion provides refrigeration of the compressed feed gas in the cooler.
A plant in which a pressure differential of a feed gas between a compressor and an expander is employed to cool the feed gas to a temperature that is sufficient to condense at least a portion of a first component of the feed gas and to thereby produce a partially depleted feed gas, and in which a second component is removed from the partially depleted feed gas using a pressure swing adsorption unit.
A method of separating a first component and a second component from a feed gas, comprising:
- compressing the feed gas from pressure P0 to pressure P1, and further compressing the feed gas from pressure P1 to pressure P2;
- cooling the feed gas at pressure P2 to a temperature sufficient to condense at least a portion of the first component of the feed gas;
- separating the cooled feed gas in a first separator into a first vapor portion and a first liquid portion comprising the first component, and expanding the first vapor portion in an expander to pressure P1, thereby producing a cooled expanded product;
- and
- separating the cooled expanded product in a second separator into a second vapor portion comprising the second component and a second liquid portion comprising the first component, wherein the second vapor portion provides refrigeration for the cooling of the feed gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.