Configurations And Methods For Improved Natural Gas Liquids Recovery
First Claim
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1. A method of recovering natural gas liquids from natural gas, comprising:
- feeding a vapor portion of a cooled feed gas in a first column to thereby form a first column bottom product and a first column overhead product, and providing alternate first and second reflux streams to the first column;
feeding the first column bottom product to a second column to thereby produce a second column overhead and a second column bottom product;
compressing the first column overhead product and expanding a portion of the compressed first column overhead product;
using the expansion of the compressed first column overhead product to provide cooling to the feed gas when the second column overhead is used as the second reflux stream, and using the expansion of the compressed first column overhead product to provide cooling to the first column when the portion of the first column overhead product is used as the first reflux; and
using expansion of the second column overhead product to provide cooling to the first column.
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Abstract
Contemplated plants for recovery of NGL from natural gas employ alternate reflux streams in a first column and a residue gas bypass stream, wherein expansion of various process streams provides substantially all of the refrigeration duty in the plant. Contemplated plants not only have flexible recovery of ethane between 2% and 90% while recovering at least 99% of propane, but also reduce and more typically eliminate the need for external refrigeration.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of recovering natural gas liquids from natural gas, comprising:
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feeding a vapor portion of a cooled feed gas in a first column to thereby form a first column bottom product and a first column overhead product, and providing alternate first and second reflux streams to the first column; feeding the first column bottom product to a second column to thereby produce a second column overhead and a second column bottom product; compressing the first column overhead product and expanding a portion of the compressed first column overhead product; using the expansion of the compressed first column overhead product to provide cooling to the feed gas when the second column overhead is used as the second reflux stream, and using the expansion of the compressed first column overhead product to provide cooling to the first column when the portion of the first column overhead product is used as the first reflux; and using expansion of the second column overhead product to provide cooling to the first column. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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11. A natural gas liquids recovery plant comprising:
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a first column fluidly coupled to a second column such that a first column bottom product is provided to the second column, wherein the first column is configured to allow refluxing using alternate first and second reflux streams; a compressor that is fluidly coupled to the first column and configured to compress a first column overhead; a bypass conduit that is configured to provide a portion of compressed first column overhead to alternately a feed exchanger or the first column as the first reflux stream; and a second conduit that is configured to provide a second column overhead to the first column as (a) a column feed when the portion of the compressed first column overhead is provided to the first column as the first reflux or (b) the second reflux stream when the portion of the compressed first column overhead is provided to the feed exchanger. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification