Process for the purification of a glycol solution
First Claim
1. A process for the purification of glycol solutions based on one or more glycols and containing water and, as impurities, dissolved salts, which are dissociated as anions and cations, and hydrocarbons in at least one of the dissolved and emulsified states, said process consisting essentially ofa) incorporating into the glycol solution to be purified an amount of water which allows demixing of the resulting mixture into a hydrocarbon phase consisting of virtually all of the hydrocarbons present in said glycol solution to be purified, and into a glycol phase, formed of the other constituents of the glycol solution and the added water;
- b) separating the glycol phase from the hydrocarbon phase; and
c) subjecting the separated glycol phase to a desalting treatment for elimination of the salts dissolved in said glycol phase by making use of a technique for the selective separation of the anions and cations of said salts, with production of a purified glycol solution having a low hydrocarbon content and a controlled salt content.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An amount of water is added to a glycol solution to be purified to enable segregation of the resulting mixture into a hydrocarbon phase and a glycol phase. The hydrocarbon phase is separated from the glycol phase and said glycol phase is desalted, e.g. by electrodialysis, to give a desalted and substantially hydrocarbon-free glycol solution which is then concentrated by steam stripping. The method is useful for purifying waste glycol solutions resulting from oil or gas production effluent processing using glycols, and in particular from a gas hydrate inhibition treatment or natural gas dehydration.
21 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A process for the purification of glycol solutions based on one or more glycols and containing water and, as impurities, dissolved salts, which are dissociated as anions and cations, and hydrocarbons in at least one of the dissolved and emulsified states, said process consisting essentially of
a) incorporating into the glycol solution to be purified an amount of water which allows demixing of the resulting mixture into a hydrocarbon phase consisting of virtually all of the hydrocarbons present in said glycol solution to be purified, and into a glycol phase, formed of the other constituents of the glycol solution and the added water; -
b) separating the glycol phase from the hydrocarbon phase; and c) subjecting the separated glycol phase to a desalting treatment for elimination of the salts dissolved in said glycol phase by making use of a technique for the selective separation of the anions and cations of said salts, with production of a purified glycol solution having a low hydrocarbon content and a controlled salt content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification