Variable capacity multiple-leg packed separation column system and method of operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016332112-A1
Application number	US-201615223223-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 29, 2016
Priority date	Jul 2, 2013
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An industrial packed column system and method of operation for gas stream processing to remove a component by liquid absorbent contact includes:
a. a plurality of packed tubular members having ends aligned, in vertical parallel array to form a first bundle, b. an upper lean absorption liquid inlet and lower rich absorption liquid outlet; c. a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packing material, connected to a raw feed gas manifold via control valves for selectively admitting the feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members, d. an upper treated gas outlet, connected via valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw as inlet of one or more of the other tubular members, and

the apparatus equipped with appropriate systems so that desired portions of the treated gas stream exiting a tubular member can be passed for further treatment to at least one other tubular member in the first bundle.

First claim

1 . An industrial packed column system for processing a raw gas feedstream to remove at least a portion of an undesired component by contact with a liquid absorbent to meet an end product specification, the system comprising:
a. a plurality of tubular members having upper and lower ends aligned in a vertical parallel array to form a first bundle, b. each tubular member having a packed section positioned between its upper and lower ends, the packed section containing a packing material, c. each of the tubular members having a lean absorption liquid inlet positioned above the packed section and a rich absorption liquid outlet positioned below the packed section, d. each of the tubular members having a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packed section and a treated gas outlet at the top of the tubular member above the packed section, e. each of the raw feed gas inlets connected to a raw feed gas manifold that is in fluid communication with a source of the raw gas feedstream, f. at least one flow control valve associated with each of the raw feed gas inlets for selectively admitting the raw feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members, g. each of the respective treated gas outlets being connected via a valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw gas inlet of one or more of the other tubular members in the first bundle,
whereby all or a portion of a treated gas stream exiting a tubular member can pass for further treatment to at least one of the other tubular members in the first bundle;
h. a programmed processor/controller and associated memory operatively coupled to flow control valves that are actuated by a signal that corresponds to a condition detected by one or more sensors that monitor the component load in the treated as and/or the absorbent rich liquid, the programmed processor/controller configured and adapted to (i) compare the actual component load data received from one or more of the sensors to historical system operating data stored the memory, and (ii) to transmit a signal to actuate one or more of the flow control valves to (iii) effectuate the continued treatment of the feed gas or (iv) to pass the treated gas to the treated gas collection manifold for discharge from the system.

2 . The system of claim 1 in which the first bundle consists of at least three tubular members.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the liquid absorbent is selected from the group consisting of triethylene glycol (TEG), ethylene glycol, methyl ethylene glycol and methyldiethanolamine.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the packing material is a solid packing material selected to provide a predetermined pressure drop for a range of superficial gas velocities of the raw wet feed gas.

5 . The industrial packed column system of claim 1 further comprising:
j. a rich liquid absorbent manifold connected to each of the rich absorption liquid outlets;
k. a lean liquid absorbent manifold connected to each of the lean liquid absorption inlets;
l. a rich liquid absorbent regeneration unit in fluid communication with the rich liquid absorbent manifold;
m. one or more flow control valves operatively coupled to the processor/controller to effectuate the transfer of the rich liquid absorbent to the lean liquid absorbent manifold and to return lean liquid absorbent to the lean liquid absorbent manifold.

6 . The system of claim 5 that comprises at least two bundles linked in fluid communication.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the bundles are dimensioned and configured for positioning in a closely-spaced arrangement in the interior of a cylindrical separation column of conventional design before being linked in fluid communication.

8 . The system of claim 6 in which the treated gas manifold of the first bundle is in fluid communication via a valved conduit with the raw feed gas manifold of at least a second bundle, whereby at least a portion of the treated gas stream can pass from the first bundle to the second bundle for further treatment.

9 . They system of claim 6 comprising three bundles, where each bundle contains four tubular members.

10 . The system of claim 8 in which the processor/controller is programmed to mix a portion of the untreated raw feed gas with a portion of treated feed gas that exceeds the end product specification to provide a treated gas stream end product that meets the specification.

11 . The system of claim 10 wherein the processor/controller is programmed using an engineering program.

12 . A method of processing a raw gas feedstream to remove at least a portion of an undesired component by contact with a liquid absorbent to produce a treated gas stream containing a predetermined desired lower concentration of the undesired component, the process comprising:
a. providing a plurality of tubular members having upper and lower ends aligned in a vertical parallel array to form a first bundle,
each tubular member having a packed section positioned between its upper and lower ends, the packed section containing a packing material,
each of the tubular members having a lean absorbent liquid inlet positioned above the packed section, means for distributing the absorbent liquid over the upper surface of the packing materials, and a rich absorbent liquid outlet positioned below the packed section,
each of the tubular members having a raw gas feed inlet positioned below the packed section and a treated gas outlet at the top of the tubular member above the packed section,
each of the raw feed gas inlets connected to a raw feed gas manifold via control valves for selectively admitting the feed gas to one or more of the plurality of tubular members,
each of the treated gas outlets being respectively connected via a valved conduit to (i) a treated gas collection manifold and (ii) the raw gas inlet of one or more of the other tubular members in the first bundle;
b. introducing a lean liquid absorbent into the packed section via the liquid inlet; c. introducing the raw gas stream into the raw gas inlet of one of the tubular members and into contact with the absorbent liquid in the packed section, and passing a treated gas stream from the tubular member; d. determining whether the concentration of the undesired component in the treated gas stream passed from the tubular member is equal to or less than the desired lower concentration; and e. passing the treated gas stream having a concentration of the undesired compound at or less than the desired lower value to the treated gas collection manifold, or transferring the treated gas stream having a concentration of the undesired compound greater than the desired lower value to the raw feed gas inlet of another tubular member in the first bundle and repeating steps (d) and (e), above.

13 . The method of claim 12 which includes determining the concentration of the undesired component in the treated gas stream by analyzing a signal transmitted by a sensor, the signal being received by a programmed computer/processor with memory and compared to stored historical data corresponding to the concentration of the undesired component.

14 . The method of claim 12 where the undesired component is water and the process includes:
a. analyzing a sample of the raw wet feed gas to determine the water load;
b. selecting the water load specification desired for the treated end product and entering that value into the programmed processor;
c. compare the water load data of the raw gas analysis with the historical data and select a matching value or the closest water load having a higher value;
d. conduct a process simulation on the prog

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Salu Samusideen Adewale
• Zahrani Talal A

Classifications

• B01D2252/2023

  Glycols, diols or their derivatives · CPC title

• B01D2252/20489

  with two or more hydroxyl groups · CPC title

• B01D53/263 Primary

  by absorption · CPC title

• B01D53/1493

  Selection of liquid materials for use as absorbents · CPC title

• B01D53/1412

  Controlling the absorption process · CPC title