Natural gas processing and systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9969660-B2
Application number	US-201313936870-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2013
Priority date	Jul 9, 2012
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

The present disclosure provides natural gas and petrochemical processing systems including oxidative coupling of methane reactor systems that integrate process inputs and outputs to cooperatively utilize different inputs and outputs of the various systems in the production of higher hydrocarbons from natural gas and other hydrocarbon feedstocks.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for the oxidative coupling of methane to generate hydrocarbon compounds containing at least two carbon atoms (C 2+ compounds), the method comprising:
(a) directing a feed stream comprising methane from a hydrocarbon process into an oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reactor at an inlet temperature between about 400° C. and about 600° C., wherein the OCM reactor is operated under adiabatic conditions without an integrated thermal control system used to maintain little or no temperature gradient across the OCM reactor, wherein the OCM reactor is configured to perform one or more OCM reactions to generate a reactor effluent comprising C 2+ compounds from said methane, wherein said hydrocarbon process is a non-OCM process, wherein during the one or more OCM reactions, the OCM reactor has a positive temperature profile across the OCM reactor, wherein the positive temperature profile includes a first temperature of the feed stream and a second temperature of the reactor effluent, and wherein the second temperature is greater than the first temperature;
(b) performing said one or more OCM reactions in the OCM reactor using said methane to produce the reactor effluent comprising one or more C 2+ compounds;
(c) separating the reactor effluent into at least a first stream and a second stream, wherein the first stream has a lower C 2+ concentration than said second stream, and wherein said second stream has a higher C 2+ concentration than said OCM product stream; and
(d) directing said second stream into said hydrocarbon process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon process is an oil refinery, a natural gas liquids process, or a cracker.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of said first stream is directed into said OCM reactor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of C 2+ compounds in said second stream is less than about 90%.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said first stream has a concentration of C 2+ compounds that is less than about 50%.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said reactor effluent is separated in at most three separation units.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said reactor effluent is separated in at most two separations units.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating is with the aid of pressure swing adsorption.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating is with the aid of cryogenic separation.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first stream and said second stream are directed into said hydrocarbon process.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of C 2+ compounds in said second stream is within about 20% of a concentration of the C 2+ compounds in a portion of said hydrocarbon process into which the second stream is directed.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said reactor effluent further comprises non-C 2+ impurities.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said non-C 2+ impurities comprise one or more of nitrogen (N 2 ), water (H 2 O), argon (Ar), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ).

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein said second stream has a lower concentration of said non-C 2+ impurities than said first stream.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said one or more C 2+ compounds are hydrocarbons having between two and five carbon atoms.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the C 2+ compounds comprise ethylene.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein a mass flow rate of the second stream is less than about 30% of a mass flow rate of a portion of said hydrocarbon process into which the second stream is directed.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating is with the aid of a lean oil extraction system.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating comprises:
(i) introducing said reactor effluent comprising the one or more C 2+ compounds and non-C 2+ impurities into a vessel at a first pressure, wherein the vessel comprises an adsorbent medium, wherein upon introducing said reactor effluent into said vessel, said reactor effluent is brought in contact with said adsorbent medium;
(ii) changing the pressure in the vessel to a second pressure to release (i) at least a subset of said one or more C 2+ compounds or (ii) said non-C 2+ impurities from said adsorbent medium, thereby separating said at least the subset of said one or more C 2+ compounds from said non-C 2+ impurities; and
(iii) recovering said at least the subset of said one or more C 2+ compounds in said second stream.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating is with the aid of one or more of a de-ethanizing unit, a de-propanizing unit and a de-butanizing unit.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the OCM reactor has a pressure of less than 150psig, and wherein the one or more OCM reactions has a methane conversion of at least 10% in a single process pass and a C 2 + selectivity of at least 50%.

22. The method of claim 16 , further comprising, following (b) and prior to (c), transferring the reactor effluent to an oligomerization system to produce one or more higher hydrocarbon compounds from the C 2+ compounds in the reactor effluent.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein said separating is performed using at least a portion of thermal energy generated in said one or more OCM reactions.

Assignees

• Siluria Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Iyer Rahul
• Tkachenko Alex
• Weinberger Sam
• Scher Erik
• Radaelli Guido
• Harraz Hatem

Classifications

• C10G9/00

  Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils · CPC title

• C10G50/00

  Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from lower carbon number hydrocarbons, e.g. by oligomerisation · CPC title

• B01J8/04

  the fluid passing successively through two or more beds · CPC title

• C10G57/00

  Treatment of hydrocarbon oils, in the absence of hydrogen, by at least one cracking process or refining process and at least one other conversion process · CPC title

• C07C2/06

  of alkenes, i.e. acyclic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond · CPC title