Oxidative coupling of methane for olefin production
First Claim
1. An apparatus for exchanging heat, the apparatus comprising:
- a first chamber and a second chamber;
a plurality of tubes configured to contain a process fluid that flows from an inlet in the first chamber to an exit of the second chamber, passing through the first chamber and the second chamber; and
a steam drum configured to contain a liquid phase and a gas phase of a cooling fluid, wherein (i) the steam drum is in fluidic communication with the first chamber such that the liquid phase of the cooling fluid is contacted with an exterior of the plurality of tubes in the first chamber to boil the cooling fluid using heat derived from the process fluid, and (ii) the steam drum is in fluidic communication with the second chamber such that the gas phase of the cooling fluid is contacted with an exterior of the plurality of tubes in the second chamber to super-heat the cooling fluid using heat derived from the process fluid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides natural gas and petrochemical processing systems, including oxidative coupling of methane reactor systems that may integrate process inputs and outputs to cooperatively utilize different inputs and outputs in the production of higher hydrocarbons from natural gas and other hydrocarbon feedstocks. The present disclosure also provides apparatuses and methods for heat exchange, such as an apparatus that can perform boiling and steam super-heating in separate chambers in order to reach a target outlet temperature that is relatively constant as the apparatus becomes fouled. A system of the present disclosure may include an oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) subsystem that generates a product stream comprising compounds with two or more carbon atoms, and a dual compartment heat exchanger downstream of, and fluidically coupled to, the OCM subsystem.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for exchanging heat, the apparatus comprising:
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a first chamber and a second chamber; a plurality of tubes configured to contain a process fluid that flows from an inlet in the first chamber to an exit of the second chamber, passing through the first chamber and the second chamber; and a steam drum configured to contain a liquid phase and a gas phase of a cooling fluid, wherein (i) the steam drum is in fluidic communication with the first chamber such that the liquid phase of the cooling fluid is contacted with an exterior of the plurality of tubes in the first chamber to boil the cooling fluid using heat derived from the process fluid, and (ii) the steam drum is in fluidic communication with the second chamber such that the gas phase of the cooling fluid is contacted with an exterior of the plurality of tubes in the second chamber to super-heat the cooling fluid using heat derived from the process fluid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for exchanging heat, the method comprising:
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(a) providing a heat exchanger comprising a first chamber and a second chamber; (b) flowing a process fluid into the first chamber at an initial temperature; (c) in the first chamber, decreasing the initial temperature of the process fluid to an intermediate temperature by boiling a first quantity of a cooling fluid using a first quantity of heat derived from the process fluid; (d) flowing the process fluid into the second chamber at the intermediate temperature; and (e) in the second chamber, further decreasing the intermediate temperature of the process fluid to an exit temperature to a target temperature by super-heating the boiled cooling fluid from (b) using a second quantity of heat derived from the process fluid, wherein no more than about 100 milliseconds (ms) of time passes between the process fluid reaching the intermediate temperature and initiation of super-heating the boiled cooling fluid. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification