Process and vessel for removing one or more sulfur compounds

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9457293-B2
Application number	US-201213709509-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2012
Priority date	Dec 10, 2012
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

One exemplary embodiment can be a process for removing one or more sulfur compounds from a first liquid. The process can include passing the first liquid through a first inlet and a second liquid through a second inlet, and passing the first liquid through a first outlet and the second liquid through a second outlet of a vessel. The vessel may further have a plurality of vortex contactors. Often, the plurality of vortex contactors has a first vortex contactor, in turn including at least one wall and a frustum. The at least one wall can form a perimeter about an interior space and include a first side and a second side forming a passageway communicating the first liquid from an exterior to the interior space, and a frustum positioned proximate to the passageway and abutting the at least one wall for facilitating contacting of the first and second liquids to extract the one or more sulfur compounds from the first liquid to the second liquid.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for removing one or more sulfur compounds from a first liquid comprising a contaminant said process comprising:
A) passing the first liquid through a first inlet and a second liquid through a second inlet of a vessel, wherein the vessel further comprises:
1) a plurality of vortex contactors, wherein the plurality of vortex contactors comprises at least a first and a second vortex contactor, each vortex contactor in turn comprising:
a) at least one wall forming a perimeter about an interior space and comprising a first side and a second side forming a passageway communicating the first liquid from an exterior to the interior space; and
b) a frustum positioned proximate to the passageway and abutting the at least one wall for facilitating contacting of the first and second liquids to extract the one or more sulfur compounds from the first liquid to the second liquid; and

2) a first outlet and a second outlet;

B) passing the first and second liquids through the passageways of the plurality of vortex contactors;
C) passing the first and second liquids from the plurality of vortex contactors through a coalescer thereby forming a contaminate-depleted liquid and a contaminate-enriched liquid; and
D) passing the contaminate-depleted liquid through the first outlet and the contaminate-enriched liquid through the second outlet.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the frustum comprises a funnical frustum to facilitate formation of a vortex in the passageways.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the vessel is substantially cylindrical and orientated horizontally.

4. The process according to claim 3 , wherein the vessel further comprises a first end and a second end, a top, and a bottom, wherein the first and second inlets are formed at the first end and the first outlet is at the top and the second outlet is at the bottom of the vessel.

5. The process according to claim 4 , further comprising passing the first liquid to a third inlet and passing the second liquid to a fourth inlet at the second end of the vessel wherein the first and second outlets are proximate to a middle of the vessel.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the coalescer further comprises at least one of a metal mesh, a hydrophobic mesh, a hydrophilic mesh, one or more metal wires, steel wool, one or more vanes, one or more glass fibers, sand, and a coalescing media including one or particulates.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first liquid is a hydrocarbon liquid and the second liquid is an alkaline liquid and wherein the first and second liquids downstream of the coalescer form a first phase and a second phase, wherein the first phase substantially comprises the contaminant-depleted hydrocarbon liquid and the second phase substantially comprises the contaminate-enriched alkaline liquid.

8. The process according to claim 7 , wherein the first liquid is a hydrocarbon liquid and the second liquid is an alkaline liquid and wherein the contaminant-depleted liquid comprises no more than about 10 ppm, by weight, of the alkaline liquid.

9. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising communicating the second liquid to an inlet manifold for providing the second liquid to respective vortex contactors.

10. The process according to claim 9 , further comprising communicating the contacted second liquid to an outlet collector manifold from the respective vortex contactors wherein the outlet collector manifold is coupled to a pipe for providing the contacted second liquid proximate to a bottom of the vessel.

Assignees

• Uop Llc
• Boreskov Inst Of Catalysis Siberian Branch Of Russian Acad Of Sciences
• Boreskova Inst Kataliza Sibir

Inventors

• Sattar Aziz
• Aiken Daniel K
• Kuzmin Andrey

Classifications

• C10G2300/202

  Heteroatoms content, i.e. S, N, O, P · CPC title

• C10G2300/1037

  Hydrocarbon fractions · CPC title

• B01D11/0446 Primary

  Juxtaposition of mixers-settlers · CPC title

• C10G21/08

  Inorganic compounds only · CPC title