Plural stage distillation of a natural gas stream

Patent · Tue Oct 05 04:00:00 EDT 1976

OSTI ID:7320591

Solomon, S M

Natural gas, containing carbon dioxide and nitrogen, is demethanized in a first fractional distillation tower to provide an overhead of nitrogen and methane free of carbon dioxide and components heavier than methane. A sidestream is withdrawn from the first tower at a point therein where carbon dioxide concentration is maximized and the sidestream is fractionated in a second tower to recover methane and carbon dioxide as overhead. Nitrogen is rejected from the carbon dioxide free overhead from the first tower by liquefaction of methane to provide a send-out gas free of nitrogen. The cold potential of various streams is used to provide cooling requirements for the process.

• Assignee: Lummus Co.
• Patent Number(s): US 3983711
• OSTI ID: 7320591
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030300* -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
030400 -- Natural Gas-- Products & By-Products
ALKANES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DISTILLATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
LIQUEFACTION
METHANE
NATURAL GAS
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES