Gas conditioning process and system for extracting a condensable vapour from a supplied gas
AssigneeSage & Time LLP
InventorsJohn Grainger, Geoff Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for extracting a condensable vapour from a supplied gas, comprising the steps of: i) condensing the condensable vapour by cooling the supplied gas at a condensing surface, such that the supplied gas is divided into at least one condensed fraction and a product gas; while ii) removing the at least one condensed fraction from the condensing surface by mechanical scraping means.
Claims18
A process for extracting a condensable vapour from a supplied gas, comprising the steps of:
- i) cooling the supplied gas at a first condensing surface;
- wherein said first condensing surface is temperature controlled to a first temperature for condensing a portion of the condensable vapour in the supplied gas, such that the supplied gas is divided into a preliminary condensed fraction and a process gas;
- while removing the preliminary condensed fraction at the first condensing surface with mechanical scraping means;
- and
- ii) cooling the process gas at a second condensing surface;
- wherein at the second condensing surface is temperature controlled to a second temperature for condensing a further proportion of the remaining condensable vapour in the process gas, such that the process gas is divided into a subsequent condensed fraction and a product gas;
- while removing the subsequent condensed fraction at the condensing surface with mechanical scraping means;
- wherein the preliminary condensed fraction has a higher dew point temperature than the subsequent condensed fraction;
- and wherein the preliminary condensed fraction has a higher viscosity than the subsequent condensed fraction at any given temperature below the second temperature, and wherein the process further comprises the steps of:
- a) collecting the removed subsequent condensed fraction at a first location wherein said first location is temperature controlled to the second temperature;
- and
- b) conveying the subsequent condensed fraction mechanically from the first location to a second location;
- wherein said second location is temperature controlled to the first temperature for heating and/or vaporizing said subsequent condensed fraction to form a heated subsequent fraction;
- and
- c) collecting the removed preliminary condensed fraction at the second location;
- and
- d) conveying the preliminary condensed fraction and heated subsequent fraction mechanically from the second location to a third location;
- wherein said third location is temperature controlled to a temperature higher than the first temperature for heating and/or vaporizing said heated subsequent fraction and preliminary condensed fraction to form a concentrated condensable vapour;
- and
- e) extracting the concentrated condensable vapour from the third location.
The process as claimed in 1, further comprising a step of scrubbing the product gas with a scrubber;
- wherein the scrubbed product gas is subsequently dried using a gas dryer.
The gas conditioning system as claimed in 8, wherein the condensing unit is a scraped surface heat exchanger comprising mechanical scraping means for conveying and removing the preliminary condensed fraction and subsequent condensed fraction from the condensing surface.
The gas conditioning system as claimed in 8, wherein the condensing unit comprises gas/liquid separation means for separating any condensed fraction from gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.