EP4179269A1

EP4179269A1 - Method and system for separating a feed flow

Info

Publication number: EP4179269A1
Application number: EP21737559.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bernd Klein; Torben HÖFEL
Original assignee: Linde GmbH
Current assignee: Linde GmbH
Priority date: 2020-07-07
Filing date: 2021-06-22
Publication date: 2023-05-17
Also published as: CA3184670A1; DE102020117937A1; US20230266060A1; AU2021306798A1; WO2022008095A1; CN115968363A; ZA202300324B

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system (100) for separating a feed flow (1) which contains at least hydrogen and a hydrocarbon with three or four carbon atoms per molecule, in particular propane, propylene, propadiene, butane, 1-butene, 2-butene, and/or 1,3-butadiene. The condensed feed flow (1) is cooled over multiple cooling steps in at least two heat exchangers (120, 130) and is then separated into a condensate (7, 8, 9) and a residual gas flow (3, 5, 11) after each cooling step. The at least two heat exchangers (120, 130) are operated at at least two different temperature levels, wherein a hot heat exchanger (120) is operated at an average temperature level, and a cold heat exchanger (130) is operated at a lower temperature level. An internal refrigerant (15), which is made of a part (13) of one of the condensate flows (7, 8, 9) and a part (14) of one of the residual gas flows (3, 5, 11), is used to dispense a part of the heat from the cold heat exchanger (130).

Description

description

Process and plant for separating a feed stream

The invention relates to a method and a plant for separating a feed stream according to the preambles of the independent patent claims.

State of the art

In the industrial production and processing of hydrocarbons and other organochemical compounds, it is often necessary to separate product streams from a process step into various components before further process steps can be carried out, for example to separate those components that interfere with the following process steps, or to produce a product with deliver a required purity.

So-called cryogenic separation methods are often used for such separations, in which a gaseous feed stream is cooled, with the feed stream being at least partially liquefied. Such partial condensations allow different components contained in the feed stream to be separated from one another according to their respective boiling points or vapor pressures at the prevailing pressures or temperatures. For this purpose, so-called C2 refrigerants are often used, which consist of hydrocarbon mixtures, which are essentially composed of compounds with two carbon atoms per molecule. The use of pure C2 refrigerants such as ethane or ethylene is also possible.

Separation processes are also known that do not require C2 refrigerants. Such a cryogenic separation process is known, for example, from US Pat. No. 6,333,445 B1. There, a gaseous feed stream, which originates from an alkane dehydrogenation process and therefore contains hydrogen and the unreacted alkane and an alkene produced therefrom, is first compressed and then cooled and partially condensed using two heat exchangers. A liquid raw material stream containing the alkane required for the dehydrogenation process is vaporized and heated as a coolant. Under an "insert stream" is hereinafter understood a gaseous stream that is fed to a separation process. This comes from an organochemical conversion process, which in turn is supplied with a "raw material flow" in the language used below. In the example explained, the raw material flow is thus fed to the alkane dehydrogenation process and converted there into the input flow of the separation process.

The condensates or liquid streams generated from the feed stream are separated from the remaining residual gas streams. The cooling capacity is mainly provided by the heat of vaporization absorbed by the liquid raw material flow. The process conditions, in particular a positive pressure difference between the gaseous feed stream and the liquid raw material flow, cause a temperature difference and thus enable heat transfer and partial condensation of the feed stream or evaporation of the raw material flow.

Depending on the design of the alkane dehydrogenation process, a situation can arise in which the amount of heat that is removed by the evaporation of the raw material stream is not sufficient to achieve the separation or partial condensation of the feed stream.

The present invention therefore sets itself the task of specifying an improved separation process which, without C2 refrigerant, ensures a corresponding separation even in unfavorable situations with regard to the amount of heat removed by the evaporation of the raw material flow.

Disclosure of Invention

This object is achieved by methods and systems according to the respective independent patent claims. Advantageous refinements and developments result from the features of the dependent patent claims and from the following description.

Before the features and advantages of the invention are presented, the principles thereof and terms used within the scope of the disclosure are explained. A "compressor" is a device configured to compress at least one gaseous stream from at least one inlet pressure (also referred to as suction pressure) at which it is fed to the compressor to at least one discharge pressure at which it is removed from the compressor. A compressor forms a structural unit which, however, can have several “compressor stages” in the form of rows of pistons, screws and/or blades (thus axial or radial compressor stages). In particular, corresponding compressor stages are driven by a common drive, for example via a common shaft. A compressor in the sense explained or a compressor stage of such a compressor carries out a "compression step" in the language of this disclosure.

A "chiller" is a device configured to cool a fluid stream (e.g., gaseous or liquid) from at least one inlet temperature at which it enters the chiller to at least one final temperature at which it leaves the chiller. A cooler forms a structural unit which, however, can have several "cooling stages" in the form of heat exchangers (e.g. plate, tube, counterflow) and/or expanders (e.g. throttle valves or turbines). In particular, corresponding cooling stages can be implemented using a single heat exchanger. A cooler in the sense explained or a cooling stage of such performs a "cooling step" in the language of this disclosure.

In the usage of this disclosure, a “thermal separation” is characterized in that a gas mixture is separated in it with at least partial liquefaction, and that a suitable refrigerant is used in the process. Known heat exchangers are used for this purpose. The separation takes place by means of known phase separation devices, for example by means of gas separators. So-called C3 and/or C2 refrigerants are used in particular in a thermal separation. These are guided between different pressure levels, with the compressors mentioned and, for example, known expansion turbines or expansion or throttle valves being used.

Does this disclosure mention that a stream or a mixture is "enriched" in relation to another stream or mixture at a or more components, this is to be understood in such a way that the concentration of these component(s) in the stream or mixture enriched in this way is at least by a factor of 1, 1, 1, 2, 1 .5, 2, 3, 5, 10, 30, 100, 300 or 1000 higher. A "depleted" material flow is accordingly less concentrated than the reference flow and in particular has a component concentration that is lower than the reference flow, i.e. at most 90%, 80%, 50%, 30%, 10%, 3% , 1%, 0.3% or 0.1% of the concentration of the component in the reference current.

The present disclosure uses the terms "pressure level" and "temperature level" to characterize pressures and temperatures, which is intended to express the fact that corresponding pressures and temperatures in a corresponding system do not have to be used in the form of exact pressure or temperature values in order to to realize the inventive concept. However, such pressures and temperatures typically vary within certain ranges, for example 1%, 5%, 10%, 20% or even 50% around an average value. Corresponding pressure levels and temperature levels can be in disjoint areas or in areas that overlap one another. In particular, for example, pressure levels include unavoidable or expected pressure losses. The same applies to temperature levels.

Where this description states that a mixture contains at least one liquid phase, this is to be understood as meaning that the mixture can contain one or more liquid phases which are completely, partially or immiscibly miscible with one another.

Advantages of the Invention

In the following, features and advantages of the invention are mainly explained in relation to the mentioned method. The corresponding statements also apply analogously to systems according to the invention and their advantageous configurations, which benefit accordingly from the advantages. For example, it can be said that a stream is subjected to a process step. In relation to a corresponding system, this is to be understood in such a way that components that are set up for carrying out a corresponding method step are provided and means, for example pipelines, valves and the like, are provided for feeding the respective current into the component. Explanations relating to an installation also apply in reverse to a corresponding method.

According to the invention, a process for separating a feed stream containing at least hydrogen and one hydrocarbon having three carbon atoms per molecule is proposed. The feed stream is partially liquefied in the compressed state using at least two coolers, which are operated at different temperature levels, via at least two cooling steps to obtain at least a first and a second condensate stream and at least a first and a second residual gas stream. The residual gas flow from a cooling step is fed into the subsequent cooling step. During the partial liquefaction, each condensate stream is enriched in the hydrocarbon and depleted in hydrogen compared to the feed stream, and each residual gas stream is enriched in hydrogen and depleted in the hydrocarbon compared to the feed stream. A liquid C3 product stream consisting predominantly of the hydrocarbon is formed from the condensate streams and a gaseous gas product stream consisting predominantly of the hydrogen is formed using at least one of the residue gas streams. A portion of at least one of the condensate streams is combined with a portion of at least one of the residual gas streams and used with expansion as an internal refrigerant for at least one of the cooling steps (or cooler). The relaxation can take place before and/or after the combination.

Analogously to the process described at the outset, in the process according to the invention a raw material stream is also supercooled in at least one of the coolers, combined with part of the gas product stream, expanded and used as a refrigerant for the cooler. The advantage of the invention over the conventional method is that the feed stream can be separated regardless of the quantity, pressure and composition of the raw material stream, since the energy balance is achieved by compressing the feed stream upstream of the cooler and cooling it to a natural ambient temperature level can be closed. The expanded internal refrigerant can advantageously—if necessary with further gaseous extraction streams—be returned to the feed stream before it is compressed. As a result, the process can be controlled much more flexibly than conventional processes for example, be adapted to fluctuating amounts in terms of gaseous feed stream and / or liquid raw material stream and other fluctuating process conditions such as unfavorable pressure and / or temperature levels that complicate the heat exchange between condensing feed stream and evaporating raw material stream.

At least one first cooling step preferably takes place from a high initial temperature level (e.g. temperature of the natural atmosphere or environment, e.g. 10 °C to 50 °C) to a medium temperature level which is in a range from -40 °C to +10 °C, preferably from - 40 Ό to -10 O, and at least a second cooling step to a low temperature level, which is in a range from -130 Ό to -80 O, preferably from -1 10 Ό to -90 O, is. This enables the hydrocarbon to be largely separated from the hydrogen even at the middle temperature level, for example in the first condensate stream.

In some configurations of the invention, only substance streams formed from the liquid raw material stream are used to achieve the low temperature level. To achieve the average temperature level, an externally generated or externally supplied refrigerant can also be used. As a result, any existing process cooling can be advantageously integrated and the energy balance can be closed in a simple manner without requiring refrigerant at the low temperature level.

Advantageously, the first and the second cooling step take place by countercurrent heat exchange, in particular of the condensing feed stream and the evaporating raw material stream. As a result, the energy balance can largely be closed within the process.

The second residual gas stream of the second cooling step is preferably subjected to at least one expansion while retaining further condensate and residual gas streams. As a result, energy can be extracted from the process and used in the form of mechanical energy, for example to drive pumps or compressors. The internal refrigerant is preferably formed from a portion of the second condensate stream and a portion of the tail gas stream that has been expanded. As a result, the internal refrigerant formed has particularly advantageous process conditions in terms of temperature and composition and can be optimally used for supporting cooling of the second condensate stream.

Advantageously, several or all of the condensate streams are combined to form a collective stream, and the collective stream is subjected to gas separation to form a flash gas and the C3 product stream. This results in synergy effects and potential savings with regard to the required pipelines, insulation and the like.

In particular, the C3 product stream, the gas product stream and the flash gas are heated to a temperature level which corresponds to the temperature level of the feed stream. As a result, no cold is lost, which is particularly favorable in terms of energy.

Since it is desirable for both the flash gas and the internal refrigerant to recycle the fluid back to the feed stream to increase the yield of the process, these two streams can be combined at the appropriate point and returned together to the feed stream before this is compressed.

The gas product stream is preferably used at least partially to provide the input stream, in particular by the gas product stream being at least partially mixed into the raw material stream. This is particularly advantageous if hydrogen is required as the dilution medium for generating the input stream from the raw material stream in the course of the dehydrogenation process. This hydrogen does not have to be supplied from a separate source, but can be provided from the gas product that is produced anyway. Incidentally, by mixing part of the gas product stream into the feedstock stream at the lowest temperature level (after supercooling the feedstock stream), the feedstock stream can be used more efficiently for cooling the feedstock stream.

A plant according to the invention for separating a feed stream containing at least hydrogen and one hydrocarbon having three carbon atoms per molecule has at least two heat exchangers, of which at least one can be operated at a medium and at least one at a low temperature level, and which are set up to cool the feed stream according to the countercurrent principle. In addition, it comprises at least two phase separation devices, each of which is set up to split a partially liquefied stream into a condensate stream and a residual gas stream, as well as means that are set up to combine a portion of at least one of the condensate streams with a portion of at least one of the residual gas streams to form an internal refrigerant to unite and supply the internal refrigerant after expansion at least one of the heat exchangers. The relaxation takes place before or after the merging or combination of the respective condensate and residual gas stream. The system is thus essentially set up to carry out a method according to the invention.

In the following, preferred configurations and further aspects of the invention and their advantages are explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawing.

Brief description of the figures

FIG. 1 shows an advantageous embodiment of a system according to the invention. Embodiments of the invention

1 shows a schematic representation of a plant 100 set up for carrying out a method according to the invention. The system 100 has, inter alia, a warm heat exchanger 120, a cold heat exchanger 130 and a plurality of gas separators 142, 144, 146, 148.

Furthermore, the plant 100 in the example shown comprises a supply unit 110 which is set up to generate a feed stream 1 which contains at least hydrogen and a hydrocarbon with three or four carbon atoms per molecule (here and below this is used as an example with reference to three carbon atoms per Molecule also referred to as C3) contains. In particular, the carbon is propene. The supply unit 110 can be designed, for example, as a reactor that is set up to carry out a propane dehydrogenation reaction. For this purpose, the reactor 110 is equipped with a catalyst equipped and is charged with one or more raw material streams 18, 19, which supply at least propane to the reactor.

The dehydrogenation reaction typically occurs in the supply unit 110 at low pressure, such as 50 kPa to -500 kPa. The input stream 1 is compressed upstream of the heat exchanger 120 to a final pressure of 1 MPa to 1.8 MPa using a compressor which can be part of the supply system 110 . If necessary, some fine cleaning steps of the gas, such as the removal of H2S, water and chlorine, are also carried out.

Irrespective of its origin, the feed stream 1 containing at least hydrogen and C3 is fed to the warm heat exchanger 120 and cooled in it against other streams of material. For example, the feed stream 1 is fed into the warm heat exchanger 120 at a high temperature level, which essentially corresponds to a natural ambient temperature of, for example, between 10 O and 40 O, in particular between 15 °C and 25 Ό, and this at a medium temperature level in a range of -10 0 to -40 O, for example at an average temperature level of -15 O, -25 O or -35 O, as cooled feed stream 2 removed. Due to the cooling in the heat exchanger 120, part of the components of the feed stream 1 condenses, so that the cooled feed stream is a mixture of at least one liquid and one gas. The cooled insert 2 is fed to a gas separator 142 and separated there into a first residual gas stream 3 and a first condensate stream 7 . Due to the different vapor pressures of hydrogen and C3, the first residual gas stream 3 is enriched in hydrogen compared to the feed stream 1 and depleted in C3, while the first condensate stream 7 behaves exactly the other way round. The first residual gas stream 3 is fed to the cold heat exchanger 130 and cooled there from the medium temperature level to a low temperature level (also referred to as low temperature level within the scope of the disclosure), which is in a range from −80° C. to −140° C., for example. In the process, part of the components of the first residual gas stream 3 is condensed, and a supercooled residual gas stream 4, which contains at least one liquid phase and one gas phase, is thus removed from the cold heat exchanger 130. The supercooled residual gas stream 4 is separated in a second gas separator 144 into a second residual gas stream 5 and a second condensate stream 8 . The second residual gas stream 5 is enriched in hydrogen and depleted in C3 compared to the first residual gas stream 3, while the second condensate stream 8 is depleted in hydrogen and enriched in C3 compared to the first residual gas stream 3.

In the example shown, the second residual gas stream 5 is fed to an expander or a turbine, designed here as a turbine 150, for example. An expanded residual gas stream 6 is removed from the turbine 150 and is in turn partially liquefied due to the energy released in the turbine 150 . The expanded residual gas stream 6 is in turn separated in a third gas separator 146 into a third residual gas stream 11 and a third condensate stream 9 . The third condensate stream 9 is in turn depleted in hydrogen and enriched in C3 compared to the second residual gas stream 5, the third residual gas stream 11 is correspondingly enriched in hydrogen and depleted in C3 compared to the second residual gas stream 5. In terms of the invention, however, the use of the expander is optional. Alternatively, turbine 150, gas separator 146 and condensate stream 9 are omitted. Correspondingly, residual gas streams 5 and 11 would be identical. As a further alternative, the expander 150 could only be designed as a throttle valve.

The three different condensate streams 7, 8 and 9, if necessary with heating in the cold heat exchanger 130 to the average temperature level, are fed together into a fourth gas separator 148, in which a fourth residual gas stream evaporating under the set conditions, here known as flash gas stream 12 is referred to, is separated. On the liquid phase side, a liquid product stream 10 consisting essentially of C3 is removed and conveyed at least through the warm heat exchanger 120 via a pump 149 .

A part of the third residual gas stream 11, which mainly consists of hydrogen, is heated by the cold and warm heat exchanger 130, 120 and removed as gas product 20. In some configurations, a portion of the product gas 20 may be recycled to the delivery unit, particularly for purge purposes, such as during catalyst regeneration. Another part 14 of the third residual gas stream 11 is combined with a part 13 of the second condensate stream 8 Relaxation of both streams back-mixed, heated as internal refrigerant 15 via the cold heat exchanger 130 / evaporated and upstream of the warm heat exchanger 120 back-mixed with the flash gas 12 and as a mixed stream 17 in the warm heat exchanger 120 further heated. Mixed stream 17 is preferably recycled to feed stream 1 to increase the overall yield of C3 in liquid product stream 10.

As already mentioned, the reactor 110 requires a raw material stream 19 which contains propane. In the example shown, this raw material flow is initially provided as a liquid raw material flow 18 . The liquid raw material flow 18 is supercooled in the warm heat exchanger 120 and optionally also in the cold heat exchanger 130 and mixed with a third part 16 of the third residual gas flow 11 before it is heated again as a mixed raw material flow 19 via the warm 120 or both heat exchangers 130 and 120 and fed to the reactor 110. In particular, the liquid raw material stream 18 is expanded after supercooling in the warm heat exchanger 120 and/or the cold heat exchanger 130, for example via one or more throttle valves. By expanding the supercooled liquid raw material flow 18 and adding residual gas flow (16) at a low temperature, thermal energy from the liquid raw material flow 18 is converted into volumetric work, so that the mixed raw material flow 19 is at a temperature level before it is heated in the respective heat exchanger 120, 130 is substantially lower than that of the corresponding supercooled liquid raw material stream 18. Thus, the heat of vaporization of the liquid raw material stream 18 is used as the main cold source for the partial condensation of the feed stream 1 and the first residual gas stream 3. The additional coldness of the internal refrigerant 15 is decisive for the cold heat exchanger 130 , but heat of vaporization can also be extracted here by the supercooled liquid raw material flow 18 .

The liquid stream of raw materials can be provided, for example, at a pressure level in a range from 1.5 MPa to 2.5 MPa. Downstream of the heat exchanger(s), the gaseous raw material flow 19 has, for example, a pressure level in the range from 200 kPa to 500 kPa. Downstream of the reactor and upstream of the compressor of the supply unit 110, the feed stream 1 is, for example, at a pressure level in the range of approx.

100 kPa to 200 kPa, downstream of the compressor and upstream of the warm heat exchanger 120 at a pressure level in the range of, for example, 1 MPa to 1.8 MPa.

All flows basically have a correspondingly higher pressure upstream of valves due to pressure losses across the respective valve than the respective flows downstream of the respective valve. In particular, an explicitly described drop in pressure or a drop in pressure resulting from the different pressure levels of streams that are transferred into one another is realized by the respective valve.

Overall, at least the cold heat exchanger 130 manages without externally cooled refrigerant. The cooling capacity required here is thus provided via the pressure difference between the input stream 1 (or the residual gas stream 3 remaining therefrom) on the one hand and the mixed raw material stream 19 and the internal refrigerant 15 on the other side. To increase the pressure of feed stream 1, one or more compressors can be provided upstream of the warm heat exchanger 120 ().

If required, an external refrigerant 21 can be used at the medium temperature level. As a result, variable quantities and/or temperatures of the input stream 1 or of the liquid raw material stream 18 can be compensated.

As already mentioned, the plant 100 can also be used to separate a feed stream which contains at least hydrogen and a hydrocarbon (C4) containing four carbon atoms per molecule, in particular 1-butene, 2-butene, 1,3-butadiene and/or butane, be used. The previously described features and advantages of the plant 100 for the separation of a feed stream 1 comprising C3 apply accordingly to C4. However, the temperature levels set for this can differ.

It should be mentioned that for each cooling step, depending on the energy balance and needs, several exchangers can be used, ie that the respective Streams to be cooled and heated can also be distributed over 2, 3, 4 or more exchangers.

It should also be noted that the method is not limited to the two cooling steps explained here. i.e. one, two or more intermediate temperature levels (for example at approx. -50 Ό to -90 O) and one, two or more further heat exchangers and corresponding separating devices can also be used.

Claims

patent claims

1. A process for separating a feed stream (1) containing at least hydrogen and one hydrocarbon having three to four carbon atoms per molecule and formed from a raw material stream (18), the feed stream (1) being compressed in the compressed state using at least two coolers (120 , 130), which are operated at different temperature levels, is partially liquefied in at least two cooling steps to obtain at least two condensate streams (7, 8, 9) and at least two residual gas streams (3, 5, 11), the residual gas stream (3, 5 ) of a cooling step is fed into the subsequent cooling step, and each condensate stream (7, 8, 9) is depleted in hydrogen and enriched in the hydrocarbon compared to the feed stream (1) and each residual gas stream (3, 5, 11) is compared to the feed stream (1) is enriched in hydrogen and depleted in the hydrocarbon, characterized in that a part (13) zumi At least one of the condensate streams (7, 8, 9) is combined with part (14) of at least one of the residual gas streams (11) with expansion and used as an internal refrigerant (15) for at least one of the cooling steps or coolers (120, 130) and at least is partially recycled to the feed stream (1).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a first cooling step to an average temperature level in a range from -40 ° C to +10 0, preferably from -40 Ό to -10 0, and at least a second cooling step to a low temperature level, which ranges from -130 Ό to -

80 Ό, preferably from -110 Ό to -90 Ό, takes place.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein material flows (11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18) formed only from the raw material flow (18) are used to achieve at least the low temperature level.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a refrigerant (21) that is not provided internally in the process is used to achieve the average temperature level.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the first and second cooling steps are carried out by countercurrent heat exchange.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the residual gas stream (5) of the second cooling step is subjected to at least one expansion while obtaining further condensate (9) and residual gas streams (11).

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the internal refrigerant (15) is formed from a part (13) of at least one of the condensate streams (8) and a part (14) of at least one of the residual gas streams (11), the condensate stream (8 ) is formed in a process step which takes place upstream of the process step in which the residual gas stream (11) is formed.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein several or all condensate streams (7, 8, 9) are each at least partially combined to form a collective stream, and the collective stream forming a flash gas (12) and a liquid product stream (10) of a gas separation is subjected.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the liquid product stream (10), a gas product stream (20) containing predominantly hydrogen, which is formed from part of at least one of the residual gas streams, and the flash gas (12) are heated to a temperature level which corresponds to the temperature level of the feed stream (1).

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the flash gas (12) is at least partially recycled into the feed stream (1). 11. Plant (100) for separating a feed stream (1) containing at least hydrogen and one hydrocarbon with three to four carbon atoms per molecule, having at least two heat exchangers (120, 130), of which at least one (120) is located on a central and at least one ( 130) can be operated at a low temperature level, and which are set up to cool the feed stream (1) according to the countercurrent principle, and with at least two phase separators (142, 144, 146, 148), which are each set up to separate a partially liquefied split stream (2, 4, 6) into a condensate stream (7, 8, 9) and a residual gas stream (3, 5, 11), characterized by

Means that are set up to combine a part (13) of at least one of the condensate streams (7, 8, 9) with a part (14) of at least one of the residual gas streams (5,

11 to combine to form an internal refrigerant (15) with expansion and to supply the internal refrigerant (15) to at least one of the heat exchangers (120, 130).

12. Plant (100) according to claim 11, which further comprises means which upgrade the plant (100) for carrying out a method according to one of claims 1 to 10.