Distillative separation of carbon dioxide from light hydrocarbons

Patent · Tue Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:6169650

Holmes, A S; Ryan, J M

In the cryogenic distillative separation of methane from the acid-gas and hydrocarbon components of natural gas, processors generally have difficulty in separating by distillation the carbon dioxide from the light hydrocarbon products (such as ethane) because of the formation of CO/sub 2/-hydrocarbon azeotropes. Koch engineers have discovered that butane is an effective agent for preventing azeotrope formation. Although the presence of butane in the natural gas is not sufficient to prevent this formation, separating butane from the bottoms product and adding it back to the column at the appropriate point aids in the production of separate CO/sub 2/ and ethane streams.

• Assignee: Koch Process Systems, Inc.
• Patent Number(s): US 4350511
• OSTI ID: 6169650
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
CARBON DIOXIDE
SEPARATION PROCESSES
METHANE
NATURAL GAS
BUTANE
DISTILLATION
ETHANE
ALKANES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
030300* - Natural Gas- Drilling
Production
& Processing