Method and Apparatus For Removal Of Oil From Utility Gas Stream

• US 20110031103A1
• Filed: 03/18/2009
• Published: 02/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bruce T. Kelley, Edward W. Corcoran, Harry W. Deckman, Martin N. Webster, Paul Lawrence Tanaka, Paul Scott Northrop, Peter C. Rasmussen, Peter I. Ravikovitch, Preeti Kamakoti, Wieslaw Jerzy Roth
• Original Assignee: Bruce T. Kelley, Edward W. Corcoran, Harry W. Deckman, Martin N. Webster, Paul Lawrence Tanaka, Paul Scott Northrop, Peter C. Rasmussen, Peter I. Ravikovitch, Preeti Kamakoti, Wieslaw Jerzy Roth
• Inventors: Tanaka, Paul Lawrence, Deckman, Harry W., Ravikovitch, Peter I., Kamakoti, Preeti, Roth, Wieslaw Jerzy, Northrop, Paul Scott, Corcoran, Edward W., Kelley, Bruce T., Webster, Martin N., Rasmussen, Peter C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,126,138 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 203/41
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/102 Carbon
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/104 Alumina
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/108 Zeolites
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/1085 characterized by a silicon-aluminium ratio
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/1124 Metal oxides
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/20 Organic adsorbents
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/204 Metal organic frameworks (MOF's)
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2253/342 Monoliths
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2257/70 Organic compounds not provided for in groups B01D2257/00 - B01D2257/602
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 2259/40088 by heating
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/04 with stationary adsorbents B01D53/025 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0407 Constructional details of adsorbing systems
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0438 Cooling or heating systems
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 53/0462 Temperature swing adsorption
• 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: F04D 29/124 with special means for adducting cooling or sealing fluid
• CPC Class Codes: Y02C 20/40 of CO2

Abstract

The present application is directed to a method and system for preparing gaseous utility streams from gaseous process streams, particularly, removing oil contamination from such streams prior to use in a dry gas seal. The methods and systems may include at least one kinetic swing adsorption process including pressure swing adsorption, temperature swing adsorption, calcination, and inert purge processes to treat gaseous streams for use in dry gas seals of rotating equipment such as compressors, turbines and pumps and other utilities. The adsorbent materials used include a high surface area solid structured microporous and mesoporous materials.

Claims

1. A system for treating a gaseous feed stream, comprising:

a selective component removal system, comprising;

a gaseous feed stream inlet configured to pass a gaseous feed stream into a swing adsorption unit having at least one structured adsorbent bed comprising a high surface area solid, wherein;

the gaseous feed stream includes a volume of oil droplets and a volume of oil vapor and has a pressure of at least about 1,000 pounds per square inch;

the at least one structured adsorbent bed is configured to remove at least a portion of the volume of oil droplets and a portion of the volume of oil vapor to provide a substantially oil-free gaseous outlet stream; and

the at least one structured adsorbent bed is regenerated in a kinetic swing adsorption process.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the kinetic swing adsorption process is selected from the group consisting of a calcination process, a temperature swing process, a pressure swing process, an inert purge process, and any combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the system is configured to remove the volume of oil droplets and vapor in a sharp adsorption front as modeled by a Langmuir isotherm.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one structured adsorbent bed is regenerated by raising the temperature of the structured adsorbent bed to at least about 250°

C.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the structured adsorbent bed is regenerated by a thermal wave process.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the structured adsorbent bed is regenerated by a gas or fluid flowed co-currently, counter-currently, or orthogonally (e.g. crossflow) to a flow direction of the gaseous feed stream.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a fluid impermeable housing substantially surrounding the swing adsorption unit.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the fluid impermeable housing is operable at up to about 10,000 pounds per square inch.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the structured adsorbent bed is selected from the group consisting of a parallel channel contactor, a structured flow through adsorbent contactor, a flow through adsorbent, and any combination thereof.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a segmented contactor configured to house at least two structured adsorbent beds, wherein each pair of structured adsorbent beds is separated by a seal.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the oil is a substantially ash-free oil.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the oil is a synthetic composed of a random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide has an average molecular weight greater than about 1,200 gram/mole and less than or equal to about 2,500 gram/mole.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cooling jacket operatively engaging the at least one structured adsorbent bed.

15. The system of claim 2, further comprising a heater selected from the group consisting of an indirect electric adsorbent bed heater, a direct electric adsorbent bed heater, a direct gas heating fluid, and any combination thereof.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger configured to utilize cooling fluid to cool the substantially oil-free gaseous outlet stream.

17. The system of claim 1, further comprising an accumulator configured to hold the substantially oil-free gaseous outlet stream.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the high surface area solid is selected from the group consisting of:

alumina, mesoporous solids, and microporous solids.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the high surface area solid is selected from the group consisting of:

aluminas, carbons, activated carbon, charcoal, cationic zeolites, high silica zeolites, highly siliceous ordered mesoporous materials, sol gel materials, ALPO materials (microporous and mesoporous materials containing predominantly aluminum phosphorous and oxygen), SAPO materials (microporous and mesoporous materials containing predominantly silicon aluminum phosphorous and oxygen), MOF materials (microporous and mesoporous materials comprised of a metal organic framework) and ZIF materials (microporous and mesoporous materials comprised of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks).

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the high surface area solid has a surface area greater than about 10 square meters per gram (m²/gm).

21. The system of claim 3, wherein greater than 99.99999 percent of the oil is removed from the gaseous feed stream.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the high surface area solid is a 12-14 ring zeolite with a Si to Al ratio of more than about 50:

1.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the high surface area solid is an ordered mesoporous material of the M41S family.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising a conditioning unit.

25. A method of treating a gaseous feed stream, comprising:

providing a gaseous feed stream having a volume of oil therein;

treating a portion of the gaseous feed stream using a selective component removal system having at least one swing adsorption process unit to form a utility stream for use in a utility component, wherein the at least one swing adsorption process unit includes a structured adsorbent bed comprising a high surface area solid and configured to remove at least a portion of the volume of oil;

regenerating the swing adsorption process unit in a calcination process;

feeding the utility stream into the utility component, wherein the utility stream is compatible with the utility component; and

utilizing the utility stream in the utility component.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the gaseous feed stream contains at least one hydrocarbon component.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a compressor discharge stream.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the gaseous feed stream is a high pressure process stream.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the gaseous feed stream is at a pressure above the critical point of the gaseous feed stream.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the gaseous feed stream is at a pressure of from at least about 100 bar to at least about 500 bar.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the gaseous feed stream is at a pressure of from at least about 200 bar to at least about 320 bar.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one of the at least one utility component is selected from the group consisting of a compressor, a compressor string, a turbo-expander compressor, a turbo-expander generator, a pump, a fired steam boiler, a fired process heater, a gas engine, a hermetically sealed direct-drive electric motor, turbomachinery equipped with magnetic bearings, and a gas turbine.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first utility stream is utilized as a dry seal gas for at least one of a dry gas seal, a labyrinth seal, and a mechanical seal in the at least one utility component.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the at least one swing adsorption process unit is selected from the group of units consisting of a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit, a thermal swing adsorption (TSA) unit, a partial pressure swing or displacement purge adsorption (PPSA) unit, a rapid cycle thermal swing adsorption (RCTSA) unit, a rapid cycle pressure swing adsorption (RCPSA) unit, a rapid cycle partial pressure swing or displacement purge adsorption (RCPPSA) unit, a compact PSA, a compact TSA, a compact PPSA, and any combination thereof.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the selective component removal system (SCRS) further comprises at least one of an absorption unit, a membrane separation unit, a molecular sieve, a distillation tower, and a glycol contactor.

36. A structured adsorbent contactor, comprising:

an inlet end;

an outlet end; and

a plurality of open flow channels extending from the inlet end to the outlet end, wherein a portion of the plurality of open flow channels are sealed at the inlet end and the remainder of the plurality of flow channels are sealed at the outlet end, and wherein the surface of the open flow channels are comprised of a structured adsorbent material having a selectivity for a first component of a mixture over a second component of the mixture greater than one.

37. The contactor of claim 36, wherein the contactor has less than about 20 volume percent of its open pore volume in pores with diameters greater than about 20 angstroms and less than about one micron.

38. The structured adsorbent contactor of claim 36, wherein the adsorbent material has a selectivity for oil over CH₄ greater than about 10.

39. The adsorbent contactor of claim 36 wherein the adsorbent material is comprised of a high surface area solid material selected from the group consisting of alumina, mesorporous solids, and microporous solids.

40. The adsorbent contactor of claim 39 wherein the adsorbent material is a structured microporous adsorbent selected from the group consisting of zeolites, titanosilicates, ferrosilicates, stannosilicates, aluminophosphates (ALPOs), silicaaluminophosphates (SAPOs), microporous and mesoporous activated carbons, mesoporous materials, structured mesoporous materials, and carbon molecular sieves.

41. The adsorbent contactor of claim 40 wherein the structured microporous adsorbent is a zeolite selected from the group consisting of MFI, faujasite, and Beta.

42. The adsorbent contactor of claim 41, wherein the structured mesoporous adsorbent is selected from the M41S family.

43. The adsorbent contactor of claim 42 wherein the structured microporous adsorbent is comprised of a molecular sieve selected from the group consisting of carbons, activated carbons, charcoal, cationic zeolites, high silica zeolites, highly siliceous ordered mesoporous materials, sol gel materials, aluminophosphates (ALPOs), silicoaluminophosphates (SAPOs), metal organic framework (MOF) materials, and zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) materials.

44. The adsorbent contactor of claim 43, wherein the structured microporous adsorbent is an 12-14 ring zeolite with a Si to Al ratio of more than about 50:

1.