Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Natural gas treatment

Patent ·
OSTI ID:5748679
A novel, low-cost gas-treating unit developed by Gulf Oil Corp. is particularly suited to the removal of moisture and higher hydrocarbons from natural gas at many small fields where conventional methods would be too expensive. Natural gas, after mixing with antifreeze, is cooled at about pipeline pressure by countercurrent heat exchange with a refrigerant to condense higher boiling point hydrocarbons. Uncondensed vapors, separated at pipeline pressure from the condensed liquid, are heated by concurrent heat transfer with the refrigerant used to cool the natural gas to pipeline temperature for delivery to a sales point. The condensed higher hydrocarbons are expanded to a lower pressure for use as a cooling medium in the condenser of a fractionating tower before being fed into the fractionating tower at a midpoint for methane and ethane stripping. The refrigerant is cycled through a compression and Joule-Thomson refrigeration system. The heat of compression of the refrigerant provides heat for the reboiler of the fractionating tower.
Assignee:
Gulf Oil Corp.
Patent Number(s):
US 4128410
OSTI ID:
5748679
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English