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US 2016/0097587 A1Published application
Apparatus for ethane liquefaction with demethanization
AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
InventorsMichael A. TURNEY, Yasser JEBBARI
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Abstract
The apparatus for liquefying a gaseous stream received from a pipeline that is comprised predominantly of ethane and a relatively small amount of other components by using a mixed refrigerant refrigeration cycle loop incorporating heavy hydrocarbons, as well as a distillation column to remove constituents lighter than ethane.
Claims12
An apparatus for ethane liquefaction with demethanization, the apparatus comprising:
- a conduit configured to provide an ethane feed under pressure, wherein the ethane feed is comprised primarily of ethane, wherein the ethane further comprises methane;
- a first cooler configured to cool the ethane feed to a first temperature to form a pre-cooled ethane feed, wherein the first temperature is sufficiently warm to prevent ice formation;
- a dryer system configured to remove water from the pre-cooled ethane feed to form a dry ethane feed;
- a main liquefaction heat exchanger configured to cool the dry ethane feed to form a partially cooled ethane stream;
- a distillation column having a top section, an intermediate section, and a bottom section, wherein the intermediate section of the distillation column is in fluid communication with an intermediate portion of the heat exchanger such that the intermediate section of the distillation column is configured to receive the partially cooled ethane stream from the intermediate portion of the heat exchanger, wherein the distillation column is configured to fractionate the partially cooled ethane stream into an ethane rich liquid, which accumulates near the bottom section of the distillation column, and a methane rich gas, which accumulates near the top section of the distillation column;
- a bottom conduit in fluid communication with the bottom section of the distillation column and the heat exchanger, such that the heat exchanger is configured to receive the ethane rich liquid from the distillation column;
- and
- a mixed refrigerant refrigeration cycle configured to provide refrigeration used to cool the ethane rich liquid to produce a liquid ethane product.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.