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US 5,350,519 AGranted
Pervaporation process and use in treating waste stream from glycol dehydrator
AssigneeMembrane Technology and Research, Inc.
InventorsJurgen Kaschemekat, Richard W. Baker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Pervaporation processes and apparatus with few moving parts. Ideally, only one pump is used to provide essentially all of the motive power and driving force needed. The process is particularly useful for handling small streams with flow rates less than about 700 gpd. Specifically, the process can be used to treat waste streams from glycol dehydrator regeneration units.
Claims49
A process for treating a waste stream from a glycol dehydrator regeneration process, comprising the steps of:
- (i) withdrawing from said regeneration process an incoming waste stream comprising steam and an organic compound;
- (ii) condensing at least a portion of said waste stream;
- (iii) passing at least a portion of the resulting at-least-partially condensed waste stream through a liquid-ring pump and thence to a separator wherein an over-pressure can be maintained by said liquid-ring pump;
- (iv) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to pass an aqueous liquid stream from said separator across the feed side of a pervaporation unit having a feed side and a permeate side, on which permeate side a reduced pressure is maintained by connecting said liquid-ring pump on its suction side to said permeate side;
- (v) withdrawing from said feed side a water stream depleted in organic compound compared with said aqueous liquid stream;
- (vi) withdrawing from said permeate side a permeate stream enriched in organic compound compared with said aqueous liquid stream, passing said permeate stream through said liquid-ring pump and returning it on the high-pressure side to said separator;
- (vii) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to withdraw uncondensed gas from said separator;
- (viii) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to withdraw an organic liquid phase from said separator.
5 more elements
Liquid-treating apparatus, comprising a feed conduit, a separator having an inlet and three outlets, a pervaporation unit having a feed side and a permeate side, and a liquid-ring pump having a high-pressure side and a suction side, wherein;
- (i) an over-pressure can be maintained in said separator by connecting said liquid-ring pump on its high-pressure side to said inlet of said separator;
- (ii) one of said outlets of said separator is in liquid-transmitting connection with said feed side of said pervaporation unit;
- (iii) said permeate side of said pervaporation unit is maintained at reduced pressure by connecting said liquid-ring pump on its suction side to said permeate side;
- (iv) said feed conduit is connected to said liquid-ring pump so that fluid flowing in said feed conduit can pass into said liquid-ring pump;
- (v) said over-pressure is sufficient at least to provide part of a motive force to drive a liquid stream from one of said outlets of said separator across said feed side of said pervaporation unit and is sufficient at least to provide part of a motive force to drive withdrawal of a second liquid stream from the second outlet of said separator and withdrawal of a gaseous stream from the third outlet of said separator;
- (vi) said reduced pressure is sufficient to drive transmembrane permeation in said pervaporation unit.
3 more elements
A pervaporation process, comprising the steps of:
- (i) passing a stream for treatment by pervaporation through a liquid-ring pump and thence to a separator wherein an over-pressure can be maintained by said liquid-ring pump;
- (ii) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to pass a first liquid phase from said separator across the feed side of a pervaporation unit having a feed side and a permeate side, on which permeate side a reduced pressure is maintained by connecting said liquid-ring pump on its suction side to said permeate side;
- (iii) withdrawing from said feed side a liquid stream depleted in one component compared with said first liquid phase;
- (iv) withdrawing from said permeate side a permeate stream enriched in said one component compared with said first liquid phase;
- passing said permeate stream through said liquid-ring pump and returning it on the high-pressure side to said separator;
- (v) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to withdraw a gaseous phase from said separator;
- (vi) using said over-pressure at least as part of a motive force to withdraw a second liquid phase from said separator.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.