Adsorber for pretreatment of natural gas containing bulk hydrogen sulfide
AssigneeUop LLC
InventorsBradley P. Russell, Mark E. Schott, Gordon T. Cartwright
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a process for removing heavy hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide from natural gas. The combination of a silica-gel and an activated carbon adsorber allow for a significant reduction in the overall bed volume required for removal of hydrocarbons.
Claims20
A process for pretreatment of a natural gas stream containing methane, higher hydrocarbons, 10-40 mole % hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide wherein said process comprises passing said natural gas stream through at least one layer of a silica gel adsorbent and then through at least one layer of an activated carbon adsorbent under controlled conditions at which the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon adsorbent for the higher hydrocarbons exceeds that of the silica gel adsorbent.
A natural gas pretreatment process, comprising:
- selecting a natural gas stream containing higher hydrocarbons and having 10-40 mole % hydrogen sulfide;
- and
- passing the selected natural gas stream through at least one layer of silica gel adsorbent and through at least one layer of an activated carbon adsorbent at a feed pressure exceeding approximately 25 bar to promote co-adsorption of hydrogen sulfide on the silica gel adsorbent while suppressing higher hydrocarbon loadings thereon.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.