Process for deacidizing a gas by absorption in a solvent with temperature control
AssigneeInstitute Francais du Petrole
InventorsEric Lemaire, Jean-Charles Viltard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a process for treating a gas containing acid gases, the gas is contacted with a methanol-containing aqueous phase and is then contacted in an absorption column with a mixture of solvents including mehtanol, water and a solvent heavier than methanol. Then, the mixture of solvents is at least partly regenerated through pressure reduction and/or heating. The treated gas is cooled by producing at least a methanol-containing aqueous phase that is at least partly recycled. The mixture of solvents flowing out at the bottom of the absorption column is cooled, then re-introduced at a higher level of the absorption column so as to control the temperature in the absorption column.
Claims23
A process for treating a gas containing acid gases, wherein:
- (a) at least a fraction of the gas is contacted with a methanol-containing aqueous phase, the gas being thus charged with methanol at the end of stage (a),
- (b) the gas from stage (a) is contacted, in an absorption column, with a mixture of solvents comprising methanol, water and a solvent heavier than methanol, the gas flowing from the top of said absorption column being thus at least partly freed from the acid gases it contains at the beginning the process prior to stage (a), the mixture of solvents flowing out at the bottom of said absorption column being charged with acid gases,
- (c) the mixture of solvents from stage (b) is at least partly regenerated through pressure reduction and/or heating by releasing at least partly the acid gases, the at least partly regenerated mixture of solvents being recycled to stage (b) at the end of stage (c), and
- (d) the gas from stage (b) is cooled by producing at least a methanol-containing aqueous phase which is at least partly recycled to stage (a),
- said process being characterized in that, in stage (b), the mixture of solvents flowing out at the bottom of said absorption column is cooled, then reintroduced at a higher level of said absorption column, so as to control the temperature in said absorption column.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.