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US 2024/0318909 A1Published application
Methods for operating hydrocarbon removal systems from natural gas streams
AssigneeExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company
InventorYijun LIU
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods for increasing ethane and non-freezing heavier hydrocarbons recovery in natural gas streams for the liquefaction of natural gas to form liquefied natural gas (LNG), and in particular, utilizing scrub columns to treat the natural gas feedstreams, are provided. Other independent variations of the methods are disclosed herein.
Claims27
A method for operating a hydrocarbon removal system, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) separating at least a portion of a natural gas stream to produce a split stream and a separated natural gas stream;
- (b) cooling at least a portion of the separated natural gas feed stream in one or more heat exchangers to form a pre-cooled feed stream;
- (c) feeding the pre-cooled feed stream into a column, the column comprising an upper section, a mid-section, and a lower section;
- (d) separating a methane-rich overhead stream and a bottom stream from a C5+ hydrocarbon-rich mixture in the upper section of the column;
- (e) cooling the methane-rich overhead stream in a first heat exchanger to produce a first cooled methane-rich stream;
- and
- (f) subsequently,
- (i) feeding the first cooled methane-rich stream to a reflux drum to produce a reflux stream;
- and/or
- (ii) feeding the first cooled methane-rich stream to a Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger (MCHX) to produce a second cooled methane-rich stream, and feeding the second cooled methane-rich stream to the reflux drum to produce a second overhead stream that is essentially free of heavy hydrocarbons.
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A method for operating a hydrocarbon removal system, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) separating at least a portion of a natural gas stream to produce a split stream and a separated natural gas stream;
- (b) cooling at least a portion of the separated natural gas feed stream in a single heat exchanger to form a pre-cooled feed stream;
- (c) feeding the pre-cooled feed stream into a column, the column comprising an upper section, a mid-section, and a lower section;
- (d) separating a methane-rich overhead stream and a bottom stream from a C5+ hydrocarbon-rich mixture in the upper section of the column;
- (e) cooling the methane-rich overhead stream in the single heat exchanger to produce a two-phase stream;
- (f) feeding the two-phase stream into a reflux drum to produce a second overhead stream and a reflux stream;
- and
- (g) feeding the second overhead stream into a Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger (MCHX) of a liquefaction system comprising at least two cooling cycles to produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.