Patent Grant
10704831
The field of the invention is propane recovery, particularly propane recovery from lean gas mixtures.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Various processes are known for natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery, and especially for the recovery of propane from high pressure feed gas. At a minimum, hydrocarbon content must be sufficient to meet hydrocarbon dewpoint specifications for pipeline transmission. This generally requires installation of a dewpointing unit that includes a gas-gas exchanger and a refrigeration chiller, and frequently includes ethylene glycol injection exchangers. Ethylene glycol injection typically operates at close to −29° C. (−20° F.), primarily due to the technical challenges of phase separation at lower temperatures. Consequently the propane (i.e. C3) recovery of a dewpointing unit is limited to 30% to 50%, depending upon the feed gas composition.
Liquid products (such as liquid propane) have high value, and there are significant economic incentives to recover C3 as efficiently as possible. As a result there are a number of recovery processes for natural gas liquids (NGL) that utilize a variety of arrangements of heat exchangers, multiple columns, turbo expanders, and complex reflux schemes. The use of turbo expanders and plate fin heat exchangers are currently accepted as standard equipment for NGL recovery unit designs, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,481 (to Campbell et al), U.S. Pat. No. 8,590,340 (to Pitman et al), U.S. Pat. No. 7,051,522 (to Mak), and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0,255,012 (to Mak). All publications identified herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply. Such plants typically utilize a refluxed absorber operating at low temperatures (at least −51° C. or −60° F.), which are generated using a turbo-expander that reduces the pressure of a chilled, high pressure gas. While effective (producing propane yields of up to 99%), such turbo-expanders are complex devices that represent a significant capital investment and require significant lead time.
Such processes can achieve high C3 recovery, but can only do so if the feed gas flow rate and composition does not deviate significantly from the conditions for which the plant was designed. If there are significant differences from design conditions (for example, suboptimal pressure, suboptimal flow rates, and/or excessively lean gas composition) process inefficiencies can result. For example, if the supplied gas has a leaner composition than is nominal and is supplied at a lower pressure, the brazed aluminum exchangers typically used in such processes can encounter temperature pinches that result in reduced recovery and lower plant throughput. In such a situation the low feed gas pressure reduces the expansion ratio of the turbo-expanders, resulting in reduced cooling effects and lower C3 recovery. Lean gas composition can be caused by upstream nitrogen injection activities used to enhance oil recovery. Typically, leaner gas will lower the temperature profile in the gas chillers, which can exceed the design limits of existing equipment and cause a safety issue. Safe processing of high nitrogen content gas in an existing plant typically requires the use of an expander bypass valve (due to expander capacity limitations), which reduces C3 recovery and plant throughput. In most instances, in order to maintain high C3 recovery under such conditions the impeller of the expander (or in some instances the entire expander) must be replaced. This is not always feasible in small or remote facilities, where supplies and labor may not be readily available.
Typical NGL recovery units utilize brazed aluminum exchangers which can achieve close temperature approaches (less than 4° F.) and high heat transfer efficiency. Such heat exchangers are compact in design and are low in cost (per square foot of heat transfer area) compared to shell and tube exchangers, and have seen widespread adoption in NGL plants. Brazed aluminum exchangers, however, are prone to fouling and damage from mechanical and thermal stress. Aluminum is also a relatively reactive metal and will form amalgams with mercury, even with mercury concentrations in the ppm range. This results in material fatigue and corrosion. In most NGL plants, a mercury removal bed is installed upstream from the NGL recovery unit to protect such aluminum equipment. Aluminum is also prone to thermal stress from high operating temperature, sudden temperature changes, and/or high temperature differentials. A typical aluminum exchanger cannot be operated above 150° F. and temperature differentials between heat exchanger passes must be less than 50° F. Exposure to high temperatures weakens aluminum welds and will result in exchanger failure. As a result, plants utilizing brazed aluminum exchangers require significant operator attention, particularly during startup, shutdown, or whenever temperature excursion is likely.
Almost in all cases, high propane recovery plants require brazed aluminum exchangers and turbo-expander integrated with complex heat exchange configurations, multiple columns and various refluxes. Such brazed aluminum exchangers are prone to stress failure, and while turbo-expander(s) can be utilized to improve recovery efficiency and reduce energy consumption, optimal performance of such devices is limited to the design flow rate. Rotating equipment such as the expander-compressors used in current NGL recovery processes is limited to a turndown rate of approximately 60%. Below this turndown rate, the expander has to be shut down, and the unit operated in a JT valve (i.e. bypass) mode. Under such circumstances NGL recovery is significantly reduced.
In current shale gas exploration the resulting feed gas compositions and flow rates are uncertain. As a result there are inherent design difficulties with the traditional plant designs for NGL recovery from such sources. To accommodate these uncertainties typical mid-stream processors are forced to employ multiple turbo-expander units to accommodate the inevitable variations in turndown gas flow and gas composition. While such an approach can achieve basic process requirements, the use of multiple turbo-expander units significantly increases design complexity, capital costs, and maintenance requirements.
Current high C3 recovery processes, with their high equipment counts and requirement for experienced and highly skilled staff, are not a suitable choice for shale-gas NGL plants or plants located in remote locations. While numerous attempts have been made to improve the efficiency and economy of processes for separating and recovering ethane, propane, and heavier natural gas liquids from natural gas and other sources, all or almost all of them suffer from one or more disadvantages. Most significantly, heretofore known configurations and methods are configured for very high C3 recovery with complex design.
Thus there remains a need for simple and robust systems and methods that permit highly efficient recovery of C2 and C3 NGL fractions when supplied with a broad range of feed gas compositions and pressures.
The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems and methods that provide highly efficient recovery of NGL products, including propane and ethane, from both rich and lean feed gases. Systems of the inventive concept utilize isenthalpic expander, such as Joule-Thompson valves, and propane refrigeration to reduce process stream temperatures, and can utilize simple tube and shell heat exchangers. As a result, such systems can be prepared with relatively little lead time, are easily modularized, and require a minimum of maintenance during operation. Using such methods propane recovery from the feed gas can exceed 85%. In some embodiments propane recovery can exceed 95%. In addition, plants incorporating such systems and/or methods can readily switch between propane production and ethane production.
One embodiment of the inventive concept is a method of processing a feed gas stream. Such a method includes cooling the feed gas stream to produce a cooled feed gas stream, segregating the cooled feed gas into a vapor fraction and a liquid fraction, separating the vapor fraction from the liquid fraction, expanding the liquid fraction using an isenthalpic process (for example using a Joule-Thompson valve) to provide cooling to the feed gas and form an expanded liquid fraction; expanding the vapor fraction in an isenthalpic fashion (for example using a Joule-Thompson valve) to form an expanded vapor fraction; and applying the expanded vapor fraction to a fractioning column (for example a deethanizer) to produce a C3+ product (which is recovered as a propane product) and an overhead product. At least part of the expanded vapor fraction and the overhead product are transferred to an absorber. The absorber and the fractioning column are operated at a pressure of between 200 psig to 500 psig. In some embodiments the stream of feed gas and/or the vapor fraction are cooled using propane refrigeration. In other embodiments cooling is accomplished using a shell tube heat exchanger. Feed gas is applied at an initial pressure of at least 100 psia, cooled at a pressure ranging from 500 psia to 1200 psia, and expanded at a pressure ranging from 300 psig to 500 psig. In still other embodiments the method described above for propane (C3) recovery can be switched to an ethane (C2 or C2+ liquid) recovery mode by rerouting the overhead product recovered from the fraction column/deethanizer to the bottom of the absorber. In such an embodiment the liquid fraction is a C2+ enriched liquid fraction and the vapor fraction is a C2+ depleted vapor fraction when the method is operated in ethane recovery mode; similarly the liquid fraction is a C3+ enriched liquid fraction and the vapor fraction is a C3+ depleted vapor fraction when the method is operated in propane recovery mode.
Some embodiments include the additional step of separately expanding the vapor fraction and liquid fraction, with the vapor portion expanded using a Joule-Thomson valve prior to transfer to the absorber during propane recovery, and, optionally, divided into a first portion and a second portion with the first portion routed to the absorber subcooler to form a methane rich reflux to the absorber during ethane recovery operation. Still other embodiments include the additional step of cooling the overhead product by propane refrigeration and diverting at least part the cooled overhead product to provide at least part of reflux of the fractioning column during propane recovery operation and rerouting the overhead produce directly to the bottom of the absorber bottom ethane recovery operation while bypassing the overhead product cooling step. In such an embodiment the reflux has a temperature between −34° C. (−30° F.) to −57° C. (−70° F.) during propane recovery, and a temperature between −51° C. (−60° F.) to −73° C. (−100° F.) during ethane recovery.
In another embodiment of the inventive concept, an additional heat exchanger is provided that receives a cold stream from the bottom of the absorber. This heat exchanger is used to provide further cooling (for example, in addition to propane refrigeration) of the overhead stream from the fractioning column prior to transfer of this stream to the top portion of the absorber. Such an embodiment provides improved propane recovery relative to methods of the inventive concept that do no incorporate this additional cooling.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The inventor has found, surprisingly, that feed gas at any pressure can be processed in configurations and methods that employ feed gas compression, propane refrigeration, and expansion of the chilled feed gas (for example, in a Joule-Thompson valve) to an absorber to provide highly efficient (i.e. ≥85%) recovery of propane or ethane (depending upon plant configuration) without the use of turbo expanders. Plants of the inventive concept can also be readily switched between propane recovery and ethane recovery modes. Such a process can reduce the temperature of the feed gas to a degree sufficient for condensation of a portion of the feed gas into a C3+ depleted vapor and a C2+ enriched liquid, which can be separated to produce a C3+ liquid product and a C2 enriched vapor that can advantageously be used a reflux to the absorber.
It should be appreciated that the contemplated methods do not require the use of turbo-expanders and brazed aluminum heat exchangers as is typical of conventional methods. Consequently they are more robust in operation, capable of high flow turndown, and lower in plant costs. This is particularly true for small Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) plants (i.e., 200 MMscfd or less). Most typically, contemplated plant configurations and methods achieve propane recovery in the range of 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or more than 95% of the propane available in the feed gas while having a lower specific energy consumption than prior art NGL processes. Moreover, it should be appreciated that most of the cooling duties can be provided by propane refrigeration and by expansion (for example through the use of one or more Joule-Thomson valves). While it is preferred that volume is expanded and/or pressure is reduced in an isenthalpic expansion device such as a Joule-Thomson valve, alternative isenthalpic expansion devices (for example, expansion nozzles) can be used. It should be appreciated that systems and methods of the inventive concept achieve high (i.e. ≥85%) recovery but do not require the use of turbo-expander/compressor, and can use simple and robust shell and tube heat exchangers rather than the brazed aluminum exchangers of conventional high recovery methods. Such shell and tube exchangers are more durable and forgiving in operation than brazed aluminum exchangers. Since they are constructed from stainless steel or carbon steel, shell and tube heat exchangers do not react with mercury and can withstand thermal excursion.
Advantageously, systems and processes of the inventive concept can be adapted for ethane recovery with only relatively minor changes in the flow of product streams (which can be accomplished with minor additional piping and valving), and can recover 40, 60%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, or more than 95% of the available ethane. As a result embodiments of the inventive concept can enable gas processors to preserve the capability of mid-range ethane recovery while maintaining high propane recovery if, for example, they are required to export ethane as a product for petrochemical production.
In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as concentration, reaction conditions, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as concentration, reaction conditions, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include only commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value with a range is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groups used in the appended claims.
Preferred embodiments of the inventive concept are directed to plant configurations and methods that are used to recover from 80% to 95% of propane in feed gases based on a two column configuration, in which a feed gas is first separated, for example using an inlet separator, to produce a vapor stream that is compressed, treated, and dried prior to being cooled by propane refrigeration. This vapor stream can be further separated to produce a chilled vapor that is subsequently reduced in pressure by an isenthalpic process, for example by using a Joule-Thomson (JT) valve, nozzle, capillary, and/or other throttling device. This chilled vapor can be directed to an absorber, which generates a C3+ depleted overhead fraction and a C2+ enriched bottom fraction. The C2+ enriched bottom fraction can be processed in a fractionating column (for example a non-refluxed deethanizer) that generates a C3+ NGL product and an overhead C2 enriched vapor. This C2 enriched vapor can be cooled, for example by propane refrigeration and/or an overhead gas cooler, to produce a cold lean reflux that is directed to the absorber. In some embodiments, a liquid stream from the inlet separator is first separated (for example, in a feed liquid stripper) to provide an ethane depleted liquid that is further fractionated (for example, in a stabilizer) to produce a C3+ overhead liquid and a condensate bottom product. Such a condensate bottom product can have a Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of about 10 psia.
In preferred embodiments of the inventive concept, shell and tube exchangers are used in chillers and as heat exchangers in order to ensure robust operation that is essential for operating NGL plants or plants in remote locations. In some embodiments of the inventive concept, JT valves are used to generate deep chilling. This advantageously permits adaptation of the process to various feed gases (such as those with high nitrogen content) and high turndown flow, while maintaining high C3 recovery. As shown in
Another embodiment of the inventive concept is a method for ethane recovery that reroutes a deethanizer overhead vapor to the bottom or a lower portion of an absorber to absorb the ethane component of the feed gas. This can be coupled with a split flow arrangement in the feed section to provide a methane rich subcooled liquid to absorb the resulting ethane. Such an embodiment can provide recovery of 40 to 60% or more of the available ethane.
One should appreciate that the disclosed methods and configurations provide many advantageous technical effects, including reduced equipment counts, simple operation, improved tolerance for variation in the composition, flow rate, and pressure of the feedstock, increased flexibility in product delivery, and improved robustness and durability relative to prior art turbo-expander plants, while maintaining high recovery of propane and/or ethane products. These are important considerations, particularly for small and/or remotely located plants, where skilled labor and resources are typically in short supply. In addition, without the need to factor in the use of long lead time items utilized in manufacturing turbo-expanders and brazed aluminum exchangers, an NGL plant of the inventive concept can be engineered, modularized, and delivered to a plant site in a time frame that is not achievable using conventional approaches. Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following description of various embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.
The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter. Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements. Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.
As used herein, the term “about” in conjunction with a numeral refers to a range of that numeral starting from 20% below the absolute of the numeral to 20% above the absolute of the numeral, inclusive. For example, the term “about −50° F.” refers to a range of −30° F. to −70° F., and the term “about 600 psig” refers to a range of 400 psig to 800 psig. The term “C2+ enriched” or “C3+ enriched” liquid, vapor, or other fraction as used herein refers to a liquid, vapor, or other fraction that has a higher molar fraction of C2 or heavier (for C2+ enriched), or C3 or heavier (for C3+ enriched) components than the liquid, vapor, or other fraction from which the C2+ enriched or C3+ enriched liquid, vapor, or other fraction is derived. Similarly, the term “C2+ depleted” or “C3+ depleted” liquid, vapor, or other fraction as used herein means that the liquid, vapor, or other fraction has a lower molar fraction of C2, C3 (respectively), and/or heavier components than the liquid, vapor, or other fraction from which the C2+ depleted or C3+ depleted liquid, vapor, or other fraction is derived. The term “C2+” as used herein refers to ethane and heavier hydrocarbons. The term C3+ as used herein refers to propane and heavier hydrocarbons.
The C2 depleted liquid bottom fraction 7 can be heated in a heat exchanger 59 by a stabilizer bottom stream 15 to about 60° C. to 90° C. (140° F. to 200° F.), forming a stream 11 which can be reduced in pressure to about 90 to 150 psia and transferred to a stabilizer 60. The stabilizer 60 can be heated with a reboiler 61, and fractionates stream 11 into a C3+ NGL overhead fraction 12 and the C5+ condensate bottom fraction 15. As noted above, the condensate bottom fraction 15 can be utilized in a heat exchanger 59. This generates a 10 psia RVP condensate stream 16. The C3+ NGL overhead fraction 12 can be cooled by cooling water (CW) and/or ambient air in a heat exchanger 62 and separated in a separator 64 to form a C3+NGL liquid stream 13, a portion of which can be transferred to the stabilizer using a pump 63 as stream 14 for use as reflux, with the remaining portion 17 forming at least part of an NGL product stream 40. The portion of the C3+ NGL liquid stream 13 that is diverted for use as reflux can range from 20% to 90% of the flow.
As noted above, a compressed vapor stream 91 (600 to 900 psig) can be treated in an AGRU Unit 65 for removal of acidic contaminants (for example CO2 and H2S) and further dried in a tetraethyleneglycol (TEG) Unit 66 for removal of water content to produce stream 20. The TEG dehydration process can be configured for varying degrees of water removal, for example water removal sufficient to meet a water dewpoint of about −80 to −110° F., in order to accommodate the needs of downstream equipment. The dried vapor 20 can be cooled using a residue gas stream 31 in a heat exchanger 67 to about −12° C. to 4° C. (10° F. to 40° F.) to generate a stream 21, and can be further cooled by a JT liquid stream 26 in a heat exchanger 68 to about 5 to 25° F., forming stream 22. The dried and cooled stream 22 can be subsequently chilled using propane refrigeration in a heat exchanger 69 to from about −37° C. (−35° F.) to about −41° C. (−42° F.), forming a mixed stream 23 that can be separated in a separator 70 to produce a vapor stream 24 and a liquid steam 25. The liquid stream 25 can be reduced in pressure, for example using a JT valve 71, to produce a stream 26 that provides at least a portion of the cooling duty in a heat exchanger 68. The resulting stream 27 can be directed to a fractionation column 76 for further processing.
The vapor stream 24 can be reduced in pressure, for example in a JT valve 72, to a reduced pressure of about 300 psia to about 500 psia, and chilled to about −46° C. (−50° F.) to about −51° C. (−60° F.) to produce a stream 28. In a preferred embodiment the reduced pressure of vapor stream 28 is about 415 psia. While the letdown pressure is typically 415 psia, it can range from about 300 psia to about 500 psia, depending on the feed gas composition and/or the desired level of C3 recovery. The C3 content in stream 28 can be absorbed by a cold reflux stream 41 that is provided by a fractionation column 76 (for example, a deethanizer).
The fractionation column bottom stream 29 can transferred by a pump 74 to form stream 32, which is directed to a deethanizer 76. Deethanizer 76 can be a non-refluxed column (for example, a stripper) that is heated with a reboiler 77, producing a C3+ NGL stream 34 with less than about 0.1 to 1.5 mole % ethane (which can form at least part of a Y-Grade NGL product stream 40) and a C2 enriched overhead stream 33. Such a deethanizer overhead 33 can be cooled using propane refrigeration in a heat exchanger 78 to a temperature ranging from about −37° C. (−35° F.) to about −41° C. (−42° F.), generating stream 35 which can be further chilled to about −43° C. to −54° C. (−45° F. to −65° F.) by heat exchanger 75 (that utilizes absorber overhead stream 30) to form stream 36. Stream 36 can be reduced in pressure, for example using a JT valve 79, and further chilled to form a cold reflux stream 41, at least a portion of which can be transferred to the absorber 73.
As noted above, overhead stream 30 produced by the absorber 73 can be utilized in a heat exchanger 75, which in turn forms stream 31. Stream 31 can, in turn, be utilized in a second heat exchanger 67 to form stream 37. Stream 37 can be compressed in compressor 81 to form compressed stream 38. This compressed stream 38 can subsequently be heated, for example using a reboiler 80, to form at least part of a Sales Gas stream 39.
Another embodiment of the inventive concept is depicted in
The material balance of an exemplary rich feed gas (i.e. stream 1) and of various process and product streams depicted in the exemplary system depicted in
The material balance of an exemplary lean feed gas (i.e. stream 1) and of various process and product streams depicted in the exemplary configuration of
The low power consumption of the contemplated methods is at least partially due to the high efficiency of propane (or equivalent) refrigeration, which is particularly true when such systems are operated under cold ambient conditions (as are frequently encountered in remote installations). In the embodiments depicted in
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C . . . and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/587,842, filed on Dec. 31, 2014, entitled “Systems and Methods for Flexible Propane Recovery”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 61/923,095 filed on Jan. 2, 2014, entitled “Methods and Configurations for Flexible Propane Recovery” and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/028,158 filed on Jul. 23, 2014, entitled “Methods and Configurations for Flexible Propane Recover,” all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20180266756 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62028158 | Jul 2014 | US | |
| 61923095 | Jan 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14587842 | Dec 2014 | US |
| Child | 15985813 | US |
