Elimination of residual transfer line raffinate from feed to increase normal paraffin separation unit capacity
AssigneeUop LLC
InventorsJeffrey L. Pieper, Stephen W. Sohn, Peter M. Bernard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process to increase the capacity of the adsorbent in a normal paraffin adsorption separation system is presented. A tertiary flush stream is used to improve the capacity of the simulated moving bed system by flushing residual raffinate from the feed transfer line. The flushing removes residual raffinate containing desorbent that competes with the adsorption of normal paraffins from the feedstream. The flush stream is a material that will displace fluid in the column, but will not enter the pores of the adsorbent.
Claims20
A process for increasing the yields of normal paraffins in an adsorption separation system, comprising:
- passing a feedstream comprising a mixture of paraffins through a first port, wherein the normal paraffins in the mixture are preferentially adsorbed by the adsorbent and where the non-normal paraffins remain in the fluid phase, and where the adsorbent is divided into a plurality of adsorbent bed zones that are serially connected through fluid connections, and where each adsorbent bed has a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
- withdrawing a raffinate stream comprising non-normal paraffins through a second port;
- passing a desorbent stream comprising a desorbent through a third port;
- withdrawing an extract stream comprising normal paraffins through a fourth port;
- passing a tertiary flush stream through a fifth port;
- and
- withdrawing the tertiary flush stream through a sixth port;
- wherein each of the streams are passed through different transfer lines in fluid communication with the ports and are directed through a channel in a rotary valve.
A process for increasing the yields of normal paraffins in an adsorption separation system, comprising:
- passing a feedstream comprising a mixture of paraffins through a first port, wherein the normal paraffins in the mixture are preferentially adsorbed by the adsorbent and where the non-normal paraffins remain in the fluid phase, and where the adsorbent is divided into a plurality of adsorbent bed zones that are serially connected through fluid connections, and where each adsorbent bed has a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet;
- withdrawing a raffinate stream comprising non-normal paraffins through a second port;
- passing a desorbent stream comprising a desorbent through a third port;
- withdrawing an extract stream comprising normal paraffins through a fourth port;
- and
- passing an tertiary flush stream through a fifth port, wherein the fifth port is positioned upstream relative to the second port;
- wherein the first port is at the beginning of the adsorption zone, the second port is at the end of the adsorption zone, the third port is at the beginning of the desorption zone, and the fourth port is at the end of the desorption zone, and wherein the adsorption zone and desorption zone are separated by buffer zones.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.