Apparatus and system having a valve assembly and swing adsorption processes related thereto

• US 9,675,925 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2015
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Inventors: Ramkumar, Shwetha, Johnson, Robert A., Mon, Eduardo, Fulton, John W.
• Primary Examiner(s): LAWRENCE JR, FRANK M
• Application Number:
  US14/790,550
• Publication Number:
  US 20160023155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• Field of Search: 95 96, 95139, 96121
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2256/24 Hydrocarbons
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2256/245 Methane
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/304 Hydrogen sulfide
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/502 Carbon monoxide
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/504 Carbon dioxide
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/702 Hydrocarbons
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2259/40009 using sensors or gas analysers
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2259/41 using plural beds of the same adsorbent in series
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0407 Constructional details of adsorbing systems
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0446 Means for feeding or distributing gases
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/047 Pressure swing adsorption
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0473 Rapid pressure swing adsorption
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0476 Vacuum pressure swing adsorption
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 7/0682 using a plurality of flow sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y02C 20/40 of CO2

Abstract

Provided are apparatus and systems having a lessened pulsation through the use of a pulse flow control mechanism. In performing a cyclical swing adsorption process, various streams are passed through adsorbent bed units during various steps in the swing adsorption process. The pulse flow control mechanism is utilized within a manifold of one of the streams to lessen pulsation within the manifold that results from performing the various steps.

Claims

1. A cyclical swing adsorption process for removing contaminants from a gaseous feed stream comprising:

performing a cyclical swing adsorption process by;

passing a portion of a gaseous feed stream through one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units during an adsorption step, wherein the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units is configured to separate one or more contaminants from the portion of the gaseous feed stream to form a product stream;

interrupting the flow of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units; and

removing one or more contaminants from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units during a subsequent swing adsorption process step; and

repeating the cyclical swing adsorption process for a subsequent cycle;

wherein each of the plurality of adsorbent bed units are in fluid communication with a plurality of manifolds, wherein one of the plurality of manifolds is in fluid communication with a pulse flow control mechanism configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds; and

separating a feed stream into the portion of the gaseous feed stream and a repressurization stream in the pulse flow control mechanism prior to passing the gaseous feed stream to a feed manifold of the plurality of manifolds.

2. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, further comprising passing the repressurization stream to a feed repressurization manifold.

3. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 2, wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises a splitter and a pulsation dampener, wherein the splitter is positioned upstream of the feed manifold and the feed repressurization manifold.

4. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 3, wherein the pulsation dampener comprises a pulsation bottle and a choke tube.

5. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more depressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each depressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gas from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units and reduces the pressure within the adsorbent bed unit.

6. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more purge steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each purge step comprises passing a portion of the gas from a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

7. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein performing the cyclical swing adsorption process further comprises performing one or more repressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each repressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to increase the pressure within the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

8. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 90 seconds.

9. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 20 seconds.

10. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream has greater than 0.005 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous feed stream and an adsorbent material in the adsorbent bed has a higher selectivity to CO₂ as compared to hydrocarbons.

11. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the product stream has greater than 98 volume percent hydrocarbons based on the total volume of the product stream.

12. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 1, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream having greater than 20 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous containing stream.

13. A cyclical swing adsorption system comprising:

a plurality of manifolds, wherein each manifold of the plurality of manifolds is associated with one swing adsorption process step of a plurality of swing adsorption process steps;

a plurality of adsorbent bed units coupled to the plurality of manifolds, each of the adsorbent bed units comprising;

a housing;

an adsorbent material disposed within the housing;

a plurality of valves, wherein at least one of the plurality of valves is associated with one of the plurality of manifolds and is configured to manage fluid flow along a flow path extending between the respective manifold and the adsorbent material;

a pulse flow control mechanism in fluid communication with one of the plurality of manifolds and configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds, wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises splitter and a pulsation dampener disposed upstream of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein the splitter and pulsation dampener are configured to separate a feed stream into a feed manifold of the plurality of manifolds that is associated with an adsorption step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and a feed repressurization manifold the plurality of manifolds that is associated with a feed repressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps.

14. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of valves comprise one or more poppet valves.

15. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 13, wherein plurality of manifolds, the plurality of adsorbent bed units and a pulse flow control mechanism are configured to operate at pressures between 0.1 bar absolute (bara) and 100 bara.

16. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 13, wherein the pulsation dampener comprises a pulsation bottle and a choke tube.

17. A cyclical swing adsorption process for removing contaminants from a gaseous feed stream comprising:

performing a cyclical swing adsorption process by;

passing a portion of a gaseous feed stream through one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units during an adsorption step, wherein the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units is configured to separate one or more contaminants from the portion of the gaseous feed stream to form a product stream;

interrupting the flow of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units; and

removing one or more contaminants from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units during a subsequent swing adsorption process step; and

repeating the cyclical swing adsorption process for a subsequent cycle;

wherein each of the plurality of adsorbent bed units are in fluid communication with a plurality of manifolds, wherein one of the plurality of manifolds is in fluid communication with a pulse flow control mechanism configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds and wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises a controller configured to adjust a ramp rate of one or more of a plurality of poppet valves to reduce pressure fluctuations in the one of the plurality of manifolds, wherein each of the plurality of adsorbent bed units comprise one or more poppet valves from the plurality of poppet valves.

18. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more depressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each depressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gas from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units and reduces the pressure within the adsorbent bed unit.

19. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more purge steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each purge step comprises passing a portion of the gas from a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

20. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein performing the cyclical swing adsorption process further comprises performing one or more repressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each repressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to increase the pressure within the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

21. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 90 seconds.

22. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 20 seconds.

23. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream has greater than 0.005 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous feed stream and an adsorbent material in the adsorbent bed has a higher selectivity to CO₂ as compared to hydrocarbons.

24. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 17, wherein the product stream has greater than 98 volume percent hydrocarbons based on the total volume of the product stream.

25. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 18, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream having greater than 20 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous containing stream.

26. A cyclical swing adsorption system comprising:

a plurality of manifolds, wherein each manifold of the plurality of manifolds is associated with one swing adsorption process step of a plurality of swing adsorption process steps;

a plurality of adsorbent bed units coupled to the plurality of manifolds, each of the adsorbent bed units comprising;

a housing;

an adsorbent material disposed within the housing;

a plurality of valves, wherein at least one of the plurality of valves is associated with one of the plurality of manifolds and is configured to manage fluid flow along a flow path extending between the respective manifold and the adsorbent material;

a pulse flow control mechanism in fluid communication with one of the plurality of manifolds and configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds and wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises a controller in communication with one or more of the plurality of valves and is configured to adjust a ramp rate of one or more of the plurality of valves to reduce pressure fluctuations in the one of the plurality of manifolds.

27. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of valves comprise one or more poppet valves.

28. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 26, wherein plurality of manifolds, the plurality of adsorbent bed units and a pulse flow control mechanism are configured to operate at pressures between 0.1 bar absolute (bara) and 100 bara.

29. A cyclical swing adsorption process for removing contaminants from a gaseous feed stream comprising:

performing a cyclical swing adsorption process by;

passing a portion of a gaseous feed stream through one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units during an adsorption step, wherein the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units is configured to separate one or more contaminants from the portion of the gaseous feed stream to form a product stream;

interrupting the flow of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units; and

removing one or more contaminants from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units during a subsequent swing adsorption process step; and

repeating the cyclical swing adsorption process for a subsequent cycle;

wherein each of the plurality of adsorbent bed units are in fluid communication with a plurality of manifolds, wherein one of the plurality of manifolds is in fluid communication with a pulse flow control mechanism configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds;

wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises a pulse flow controller configured to maintain a substantially constant pressure within the one of the plurality of manifolds and wherein the pulse flow controller is configured to operate based on a feed forward algorithm.

30. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, further comprising expanding of the portion of gaseous feed stream from a pressure higher than the pressure in the one of the plurality of manifolds prior to passing the portion of the gaseous feed stream to the one of plurality of adsorbent bed units.

31. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein each of the plurality of adsorbent bed units comprise one or more poppet valves and wherein the feed forward algorithm is based on lift versus time values transmitted from a valve controller associated with one of the one or more poppet valves.

32. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the feed forward algorithm is based on a calculation of a flow area to produce the instantaneous mass flow at each instant in time.

33. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 32, wherein the calculation involves solving the following equation:

34. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more depressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each depressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gas from the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units and reduces the pressure within the adsorbent bed unit.

35. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the subsequent swing adsorption process step comprises:

performing one or more purge steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each purge step comprises passing a portion of the gas from a location external to the one of a plurality of adsorbent bed units to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

36. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein performing the cyclical swing adsorption process further comprises performing one or more repressurization steps in the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units, wherein each repressurization step comprises passing a portion of the gaseous feed stream to the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units to increase the pressure within the one of the plurality of adsorbent bed units.

37. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 90 seconds.

38. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the cycle is performed in a time interval less than about 20 seconds.

39. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream has greater than 0.005 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous feed stream and an adsorbent material in the adsorbent bed has a higher selectivity to CO₂ as compared to hydrocarbons.

40. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the product stream has greater than 98 volume percent hydrocarbons based on the total volume of the product stream.

41. The cyclical swing adsorption process of claim 29, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a hydrocarbon containing stream having greater than 20 volume percent CO₂ based on the total volume of the gaseous containing stream.

42. A cyclical swing adsorption system comprising:

a plurality of manifolds, wherein each manifold of the plurality of manifolds is associated with one swing adsorption process step of a plurality of swing adsorption process steps;

a plurality of adsorbent bed units coupled to the plurality of manifolds, each of the adsorbent bed units comprising;

a housing;

an adsorbent material disposed within the housing;

a plurality of valves, wherein at least one of the plurality of valves is associated with one of the plurality of manifolds and is configured to manage fluid flow along a flow path extending between the respective manifold and the adsorbent material;

a pulse flow control mechanism in fluid communication with one of the plurality of manifolds and configured to lessen pulsation within the one of the plurality of manifolds, wherein the pulse flow control mechanism comprises a pulse flow controller configured to maintain a substantially constant pressure within the one of the plurality of manifolds and the pulse flow controller is configured to operate based on a feed forward algorithm.

43. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the plurality of valves comprise one or more poppet valves.

44. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein plurality of manifolds, the plurality of adsorbent bed units and a pulse flow control mechanism are configured to operate at pressures between 0.1 bar absolute (bara) and 100 bara.

45. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the pulse flow controller is configured to solve the feed forward algorithm based on lift versus time values transmitted from a valve controller associated with one of the one or more poppet valves that are in fluid communication with the one of the plurality of manifolds.

46. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the pulse flow controller is configured to solve the feed forward algorithm to produce the instantaneous mass flow at each instant in time for one of the plurality of manifolds.

47. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 46, wherein the pulse flow controller is configured to solve the following equation:

48. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a feed manifold that is associated with an adsorption step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed upstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

49. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a feed repressurization manifold that is associated with an feed repressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed upstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

50. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a product repressurization manifold that is associated with an product repressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

51. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a product manifold that is associated with an product step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

52. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a purge manifold that is associated with a purge step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

53. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a first product depressurization manifold that is associated with a first product depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

54. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a second product depressurization manifold that is associated with a second product depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

55. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a third product depressurization manifold that is associated with a third product depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

56. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a first feed depressurization manifold that is associated with a first feed depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

57. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a second feed depressurization manifold that is associated with a second feed depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

58. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the one of the plurality of manifolds is a third feed depressurization manifold that is associated with a third feed depressurization step of the plurality of swing adsorption process steps and the pulse flow controller is disposed downstream of the plurality of absorbent bed units.

59. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the plurality of swing adsorption process steps are performed in a time interval less than about 90 seconds.

60. The cyclical swing adsorption system of claim 42, wherein the plurality of swing adsorption process steps are performed in a time interval less than about 20 seconds.