KR20140063685A - System and method for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream, and a hydrocarbon well stream separation tank - Google Patents

Abstract

A hydrocarbon steady stream separation tank is used to handle the hydrocarbons constant stream. The tank includes a lower compartment 102 for separating the liquid phase liquid from the hydrocarbons-rich stream vapor phase hydrocarbon stream and a lower compartment 102 for allowing the hydrocarbons-rich stream to flow from the exterior of the hydrocarbons-constant stream separation tank to the lower compartment of the hydrocar- And has an inlet 110. The tank further has an upper compartment 104 gravitationally positioned over the lower compartment and an inner passage 106 fluidly connecting the lower compartment and the upper compartment. A filter 108 capable of filtering mercury from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase is disposed in the upper compartment.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A HYDROCARBON WELL STREAM AND HYDROCARBON WELL STREAM SEPARATION TANK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention is directed to a system and method for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream. In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank. Such hydrocarbons constant-stream separation tanks may be used or form part of the systems and / or methods described herein.

The hydrocarbons-rich stream produced from subterranean earth formations often contains an aqueous phase containing natural gas and / or crude oil, and water. Natural gas is usually contaminated with non-hydrocarbon molecules, including acid molecules such as carbon dioxide CO ₂ and sulfur compounds such as H ₂ S. However, in addition, hydrocarbon hydrotreated streams produced in certain regions of the world may contain sufficient mercury to cause problems with its processing. Mercury is present not only in the water produced and / or crude oil, but also in natural gas.

US patent 4,982,050 discloses a method and system in which raw natural gas is treated prior to its liquefaction. In addition to the Hg cold trap disposed at the substantially coldest point in the system prior to the main heat exchanger, most of the mercury contamination present in nature is removed by contact with natural gas at the treatment bed, before the gas is contacted with equipment that is easily damaged by mercury Or else a separate Hg remover is provided to produce a vapor that is released into an environment that may contain mercury. The effluent gas from the mercury removal agent is carried through the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide removal unit.

Patent application publication US 2010/0032344 discloses a process for reducing the level of elemental mercury contained in crude oil at a given site. The crude oil from the crude oil is passed to a separator for separation into a hydrocarbon hydrocarbon stream containing hydrocarbons, mercury and water and a liquid hydrocarbon stream. Both the gas hydrocarbon stream and the liquid hydrocarbon stream are removed from the separator. The mercury-containing gas feed partially containing at least a portion of the gas hydrocarbon stream removed from the separator is introduced into a mercury removal unit arranged in a separate unit.

Especially in the marine environment, plot space is scarce and expensive. For this reason, the known methods are not very attractive for application, for example, in marine environments such as marine hydrocarbon fluid production platforms in the form of, for example, floating crude oil production storage and unloading structures and / or floating liquefied natural gas production structures.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbons-rich stream,

- generating a hydrocarbons-rich stream comprising at least a vapor hydrocarbon phase and a liquid phase from a ground earth stratum;

Feeding the hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream to a lower compartment of a hydrocarbon hydrotreated separation tank;

- in the lower compartment, allowing liquid from the liquid phase to separate from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase;

Discharging the liquid from the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank through a liquid discharge outlet;

Transferring the vaporized hydrocarbon phase through an internal passageway to an upper compartment inside the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank, wherein the internal passageway is gravitationally higher than the liquid discharge outlet, Transferring the vapor hydrocarbon phase overlying the lower compartment;

Passing the vaporized hydrocarbon phase through a filter disposed in the upper compartment of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank;

Accumulating mercury from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase in the filter;

- withdrawing a filtered steam hydrocarbon stream from the upper compartment, wherein the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream comprises steam containing hydrocarbon molecules from the steam hydrocarbon phase without mercury accumulated in the filter, the filtered steam hydrocarbon Discharging the stream; And

- further processing the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream to produce a hydrocarbon product stream from the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank, wherein the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank comprises:

A lower compartment for separating the liquid phase liquid from the hydrocarbon hydrocarbon phase of the hydrocarbons-rich stream;

An inlet for allowing the flow of the hydrocarbonside stream from the outside of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank to the lower compartment of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank;

A liquid discharge outlet for discharging the liquid from the hydrocarbon constant-stream separation tank;

An upper compartment located above the lower compartment gravity;

- an inner passage for fluidly connecting said lower compartment and said upper compartment, said inner passage being located gravity above said liquid discharge outlet;

A discharge outlet for discharging the steam hydrocarbon stream filtered from the upper compartment to the outside of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank; And

A filter disposed in the upper compartment for filtering mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase so that the inner channel passes through the filter before being discharged from the lower compartment through the discharge outlet, And is fluidly separated from the outlet.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbons-rich stream,

A hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank as described above, or as described herein below; And

And hydrocarbon processing means fluidly connected to the discharge outlet of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank and arranged to receive the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream and produce a hydrocarbon product stream from the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying non-limiting drawings in which:

Figure 1 schematically depicts a system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream embodying the present invention.
Figure 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank that can be used in the system of Figure 1;
Figure 3 schematically illustrates another embodiment of a hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank that can be used in the system of Figure 1;
Figure 4 schematically shows an embodiment of a hydrocarbon processing means usable in the system of Figure 1;

For purposes of this disclosure, a single reference numeral will be assigned to the line as well as the stream carried in the line. Like numbers refer to like elements, streams or lines. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that while the present invention will be described with reference to the features and instrumentalities of one or more specific combinations, it is to be understood that many of its features and teachings may be independently embraced by other features And functions are independent of functionality.

This disclosure describes a method and system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream. The method and system may further comprise a lower compartment for phase separation of the hydrocarbonside stream and an upper compartment for filtering mercury from the vapor phase hydrocarbon stream separated from the hydrocarbons-rich stream prior to discharge from the hydrocarbon- And a hydrocarbon constant-stream separation tank having a compartment. The hydrocarbon product stream may be obtained by at least a portion of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream being subjected to further processing of any type or combination of process types.

In connection with the present disclosure, the filter is intended to include any type of instrument capable of physically or chemically retaining mercury and / or mercury-containing compounds while passing other molecules. With respect to mercury removal, such a filter may suitably be a sorption filter. These filters may be implemented in various forms. In one preferred embodiment, the filter takes the form of a porous material, for example in the form of a bulk or granules, through which the vapor hydrocarbon phase can pass while the mercury and / or mercury-containing compound is retained. In another embodiment, the filter may take the form of a membrane.

By combining inlet-phase separation and mercury removal from the resulting vapor hydrocarbon phase, a relatively compact and efficient solution to prepare a vapor hydrocarbon stream having a reduced mercury content that can be used as a feed stream for any kind of additional hydrocarbon processing process / RTI >

The methods and systems disclosed herein are not only useful in a marine environment that lacks plot space and is costly, but the method and system may also be usefully applied in land environments. In the context of this specification, the term "underground strata " refers to an earth strata that may be located at sea or onshore.

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a method and system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream 90 from a hydrocarbons-rich stream 10.

The hydrocarbonate stream is provided from the hydrocarbon reservoir 520 in the subsurface strata 530 through the upstream generation conduit 10. The hydrocarbon hydrocarbons stream includes a vapor hydrocarbon phase, which may contain "raw" natural gas, and a liquid phase. The liquid phase may comprise a liquid aqueous phase containing water and a liquid hydrocarbon phase. Non-hydrocarbon solid phases, such as sand, may also be contained in the hydrocarbons constant stream. The aqueous phase may contain other ingredients dissolved therein as well as additives, as well as mercury and / or other minerals and underlying ground layers. A common additive is a hydration inhibitor.

The vapor hydrocarbon phase may contain one or more of the group consisting of methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane. In addition, the vapor hydrocarbon phase may contain acid molecules such as carbon dioxide CO ₂ and sulfur compounds such as H ₂ S, and non-hydrocarbon molecules including mercury.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the system further includes a constant-stream separation tank 100 fluidly connected to the upstream generating conduit 10 through the main inlet 110 to receive the hydrocarbons' , At least one intermediate product stream (40) comprising molecules from the vapor hydrocarbon phase, and an intermediate waste stream (50) comprising an aqueous phase. Alternatively, the constant-stream separation tank 100 may be implemented in the form of a three-phase separator and the hydrocarbons-rich stream 10 may be separated into more streams than those described above. Typically, these more streams may include liquid hydrocarbon phase 20, and / or contain a solid containing stream (not shown), in addition to the aforementioned streams. Therefore, the three-phase separator comprises an aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid aqueous phase from the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank 100, and an aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 which is separated from the hydrocarbon aqueous stream separation tank 100 And a hydrocarbon phase discharge outlet 120 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid hydrocarbon phase. Typically, the hydrocarbonaceous effluent outlet 120 is arranged gravitatively higher than the aqueous phase outlet 120 to allow separation of the two liquid phases, based on the density difference. The solid may be discharged with a liquid aqueous phase, or through a selective solid phase discharge outlet (not shown).

Depending on the particular needs and requirements, a separate unit or system may be provided to handle such liquid hydrocarbon phase 20 and liquid aqueous phase. For example, the hydrocarbon condensate stabilization unit 600 receives the liquid hydrocarbon phase 20 and removes a relatively volatile component 35 therefrom, such that the remaining stabilized liquid 30 can be safely stored under atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature Lt; / RTI >

The intermediate waste stream 50 comprising the aqueous phase may be similarly purified. For example, a hydration inhibitor regeneration unit 200 may be provided, upstream of which is connected to a hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank 100 to receive the intermediate waste stream 50. The regenerated hydration inhibitor stream 65 comprising a higher concentration of the hydration inhibitor additive than the aqueous phase of the intermediate waste stream 50 is discharged from the hydration inhibitor regeneration unit 200. At least a portion of the remaining portion of the water stream that includes a lower concentration of hydration inhibitor additive than the intermediate waste stream 50, generally the aqueous phase of the intermediate waste stream 50, is discharged as a waste stream portion 60 into the waste stream conduit .

The hydrocarbon end stream separation tank 100 is hereinafter referred to as a steam discharge outlet 140 to discharge the intermediate product stream 40 containing steam having molecules from the vapor hydrocarbon phase from the hydrocarbon end stream separation tank 100 Further comprising a steam hydrocarbon stream discharge outlet referred to herein. The vapor hydrocarbon phase contains at least hydrocarbon molecules, preferably methane molecules.

The hydrocarbon processing means 400 is arranged to receive the intermediate product stream 40 and further process the intermediate product stream 40 to produce the hydrocarbon product stream 90 from the intermediate product stream 40. In addition to the hydrocarbon product stream 90, the hydrocarbon processing means 400 may produce one or more byproduct streams 95. Additional details and illustrative embodiments will be discussed later herein with reference to FIG.

A significant amount of mercury is removed from the hydrocarbon hydrocarbons stream 10 separated from the hydrocarbon hydrocarbons stream 10 prior to reaching the hydrocarbon processing means 400 to prevent damage or contamination of the equipment or stream in the hydrocarbon processing means 400. [ Lt; / RTI >

Figures 2 and 3 schematically illustrate advantageous embodiments of a hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank and have the function of phase separating the hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream 10 into at least a liquid phase 103 and at least a vapor hydrocarbon phase 107, The function of removing mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase 107 can be combined in one tank so that both functions can be performed in a plot space that is normally allocated only for the phase separation step.

2 and 3, the hydrocarbons constant stream separation tank 100 is provided with a vapor stream of hydrocarbons that is allowed to flow into the hydrocarbons constant stream separation tank 100 through the main inlet 110, And a lower compartment 102 for separating the liquid phase 103 from the hydrocarbon phase 107. The primary inlet 110 may be associated with a common interior, including the inlet distributor 112. The lower compartment is essentially a gas / liquid phase separator, optionally in the form of a three phase separator.

At least one liquid discharge outlet is provided in the lower portion of the lower compartment to discharge a minimum portion of the liquid phase 103 from the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100. In the embodiment of Figures 2 and 3, this liquid discharge outlet is shown in the form of an aqueous phase discharge outlet 150 arranged to selectively discharge the liquid aqueous phase from the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100.

The hydrocarbons-constant-stream separation tank 100 further comprises an upper compartment 104, which is gravity above the lower compartment 102. The inner passageway 106 fluidly connects the lower compartment 102 and the upper compartment 104. The inner passageway 106 is gravitationally higher than the liquid discharge outlet. The inner passageway serves as the vapor phase outlet of the lower compartment 102 and the inner passageway is selectively associated with a more conventional interior in a gas / liquid phase separator such as a mist mat or like means to prevent crossover of liquid droplets It is possible.

The filter 108 is disposed in the upper compartment 104. Preferably, the filter is an optional filter that is capable of filtering mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase 107, for example by chemical and / or physical differences in mercury and / or mercury compounds compared to hydrocarbon molecules, especially methane. The vapor discharge outlet 140 is also provided in the upper compartment 104 for discharging the steam hydrocarbon stream 109 filtered from the upper compartment 104 to the exterior of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100. So that the inner passage 106 is fluidly separated from the steam discharge outlet 140 so that the steam hydrocarbon phase 107 passes through the steam discharge outlet 140 and the filter 108 before being discharged from the lower compartment 104. [ (108) are arranged.

The filter 108 is suitably a sorbent filter. The filter may comprise a sorbent material, preferably a solid sorbent material capable of adsorbing mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase 107. Many suitable adsorbent materials for a stand-alone mercury removal unit are known to enhance sorption selectivity for mercury sorption such as activated carbon, activated zeolite, alumina, silica, or other materials such as sulfur, iodine, chlorine, nitric acid, A chemically modified form of the material using a chemical promoter comprising a metal sulfide, such as zinc, and a mixed sulfide. For operational simplicity, a non-regenerable adsorbent may be selected for this purpose. This allows the operation of the hydrocarbon fixed fluid separator tank 100 for years when mercury accumulates in the adsorbent filter, after which the filter is replaced during the scheduled maintenance shutdown period.

In the case of FIG. 3, an internal passageway 106, which does not substantially contact the filter but allows the steam hydrocarbon phase 107 to pass through the filter 108 and then generally through the filter in contact mode in a downward direction, The embodiment of FIG. 2 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 3 in that it is extended. In this case, the vapor discharge outlet 140 may be below the filter 108, which is suitably positioned on the side wall of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100. In the case of FIG. 2, the inner passageway 106 is shorter and the inner passageway does not extend through the filter 108. Steam hydrocarbon phase 107 generally must pass through filter 108 in an upward direction. The vapor discharge outlet 140 may suitably be above the filter 108 in the overhead region of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100.

Suitably, the hydrocarbons constant stream separation tank 100 is configured in the form of an upright, e.g., vertically extending, pressurized tank having a cylindrical shaped sidewall section extending about the upright center axis. The upper compartment 104 and the lower compartment 102 may be selectively separated by a separator plate 114 disposed generally within a sidewall section transverse to the upright center axis. It need not be a flat plate: it may be frusto-conical in shape, for example, projecting upward or downward around a central axis (not shown). The inner passageway 106 may be as simple as the opening of the separator plate 114 only. Preferably, the inner passageway 106 does not impart significant pressure loss to the vaporized hydrocarbon phase 107. The passage through the filter 108 may cause a pressure drop. Any pressure drop may require recompression for more efficient hydrocarbon processing in the hydrocarbon processing means 400. Therefore, the lower the pressure drop imparted by passing the vaporized hydrocarbon phase 107 through the filter 108, the more pressure is available to allow pressure drop across the filter 108. Suitably, the pressure in the upper compartment 104 upstream of the filter is less than 1 bar, preferably less than 0.5 bar, and less than the pressure in the lower compartment 102.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the hydrocarbon processing means 400 may comprise any number of different types of units as needed to further process the intermediate product stream 40 into the desired hydrocarbon product stream having the desired specifications .

The intermediate product stream 40 formed with the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream 109 may contain varying amounts of hydrocarbons from the group consisting of methane, ethane, propane, and butane. If possible, it may additionally contain smaller amounts of pentane and aromatic hydrocarbons. The composition varies depending on the type and location of the gas. The composition is preferably substantially composed of methane. Preferably, the gas hydrocarbon stream 10 comprises at least 50 mol% methane, more preferably at least 80 mol% methane.

The intermediate product stream 40 may further contain non-hydrocarbons such as H ₂ O, N ₂ , CO ₂ , Hg, H ₂ S, and other sulfur compounds. Thus, the hydrocarbon processing means may comprise a unit or system for other steps such as reduction and / or elimination of undesirable components such as CO ₂ and H ₂ S, and / or premature cooling, pre-pressurization, Since these steps are well known to those skilled in the art, its mechanism is not further discussed herein.

4, where the hydrocarbon processing means 400 comprises a liquefaction system 440, the hydrocarbon product stream 90 may be a liquefied natural gas stream and may be a natural gas liquid stream (e.g., most propane and / Or butane) may be one of the one or more byproduct streams 95. Typically, the liquefaction system 440 extracts heat from at least a portion of the intermediate product stream 40 to produce a hydrocarbon product stream 90 in liquefied form, such as in the form of a liquefied hydrocarbon stream.

In lieu of or in addition to the liquefaction system 440, additional processing in the hydrocarbon processing means 400 may include: residual mercury removal 430; Dehydration 420; Acid component removal 410 including CO ₂ removal and / or H ₂ S removal and / or recovery of each component; Extraction and / or recovery of a natural gas liquid producing a leaner natural gas stream to be transformed into said liquefied form; Nitrogen removal; Removal of helium and / or recovery of helium.

Of all possible units in the hydrocarbon processing means 400, the acid component removal unit 410 (sometimes referred to as an acid gas removal unit (AGRU)) may be closest to the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100. It may be fluidly connected to the vapor discharge outlet 140 of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank 100, without any other composition change unit in between. Typical acid components to be removed are hydrogen sulphide (H ₂ S) and carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ). Advantageously, the acid component removal unit comprises an amine solvent unit arranged to contact at least a portion of the intermediate stream (40) with the amine solvent.

Because the intermediate product stream 40 is formed from the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream 109, the intermediate product stream contains mercury at a lower concentration than the vapor hydrocarbon phase 107 from the hydrocarbons-rich stream 10. Thus, when using the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank 100 as described herein, less mercury is adsorbed to the amine and accumulated in the amine recovery unit or spent in the atmospheric air vent (as compared to using a conventional inlet separator or a conventional three- vent. This allows handling of the gas from the hydrocarbon reservoir having an average mercury content greater than that.

Various processes and facilities for each additional processing step identified above are known and need not be described herein.

During operation, the above system works as follows.

The hydrocarbons-rich stream 10 is produced from the hydrocarbon reservoir 520 from the ground earth layer 530. The hydrocarbons-rich stream (10) comprises at least a vapor hydrocarbon phase and a liquid phase. The resulting hydrocarbon hydrocarbons stream 10 is fed to the lower compartment 102 of the constant stream separator tank 100 and is allowed to separate into liquid 103 and vapor phase liquid phase 107. The liquid 103 is discharged from the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank 100 through the liquid discharge outlet 150 at the bottom of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank 100.

The steam hydrocarbon phase 107 is delivered to the upper compartment 104 through the internal passageway 106. The steam hydrocarbon phase from the inner passageway 106 then passes through the filter 108 disposed in the upper compartment 104. Mercury from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase 107 is retained in the filter 108, which may be allowed to accumulate. The resulting filtered hydrocarbons stream 109 containing the vaporized hydrocarbon phase without the mercury accumulated in the filter is discharged from the upper compartment 104 through the vapor discharge outlet 140 to form an intermediate product stream 40. Preferably, most of the mercury in the vaporized hydrocarbon phase 107 is filtered at the filter 108. The intermediate product stream (40) is further processed to produce a hydrocarbon product stream (90) from the intermediate product stream (40).

It may be said that intermediate product stream 40 may be first derichined from one or more acid components by contacting intermediate product stream 40 with an amine solvent, for example, as described above.

A well known example of a liquefied hydrocarbon stream is typically a liquefied natural gas stream containing mostly methane, such as at least 80 mol% methane. In this case, the additional processing may include removing heat from at least the methane-containing portion of the intermediate product stream 40 to form a hydrocarbon product stream in the form of a liquefied methane-containing stream, such as a liquefied natural gas stream. Various suitable equipment and lineups can be used for the removal of unwanted contaminants and components from the feed stream, which are often performed with the production of liquefied hydrocarbon streams, as well as other treatment steps such as the steps just described, as well as steam hydrocarbon- And is available in the art for extracting heat from a gas stream. This facility and line-up need not be further described herein.

In the embodiments described above, the hydrocarbons constant flow separation tank 100, the selective hydration inhibitor regeneration unit 200, and the hydrocarbon processing means 400 are all located in and / or on the overhead structure. The maritime structure may be a floating maritime structure 500 floating in a water area 510 such as the sea. The floating marine structure 500 may be weathervanably connected to a fixed turret (not shown) such that the upstream producing conduit 10 enters the floating marine structure 500 suitably through the turret. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the hydrocarbon reservoir 520 is a subsurface layer 530 under the seabed surface 540.

Nevertheless, due to the relatively small plot space required to carry out the invention, it is particularly suitable for application to offshore structures, including applications to floating gas processing structures such as floating natural gas liquefaction plants.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be carried out in many different ways without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (15)

A method for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon well stream,
Generating a hydrocarbons-rich stream comprising at least a vapor hydrocarbon phase and a liquid phase from a subterranean earth formation;
Feeding the hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream to a lower compartment of a hydrocarbon hydrotreated separation tank;
- in the lower compartment, allowing liquid from the liquid phase to separate from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase;
Discharging the liquid from the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank through a liquid discharge outlet;
Transferring the vaporized hydrocarbon phase through an internal passageway to an upper compartment inside the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank, wherein the internal passageway is gravitationally higher than the liquid discharge outlet, Transferring the vapor hydrocarbon phase overlying the lower compartment;
Passing the vaporized hydrocarbon phase through a filter disposed in the upper compartment of the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank;
Accumulating mercury from the vaporized hydrocarbon phase in the filter;
- withdrawing a filtered steam hydrocarbon stream from the upper compartment, wherein the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream contains steam containing hydrocarbon molecules from the steam hydrocarbon phase without the accumulated mercury in the filter, the filtered steam hydrocarbon Discharging the stream; And
- further processing the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream to produce a hydrocarbon product stream from the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream
To produce a hydrocarbon product stream from the hydrocarbons < RTI ID = 0.0 > station. ≪ / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the filter is a sorption filter comprising a sorbent material capable of sorbing mercury from the vapor phase hydrocarbon stream. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the steam hydrocarbon phase is transferred from the lower compartment to the filter without significant pressure loss. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein the lower compartment functions as a three phase separator and wherein the liquid from the liquid phase is separated from the hydrocarbonside stream into hydrocarbon aqueous streams and liquid hydrocarbons separated separately from the liquid aqueous phase and liquid hydrocarbons exiting the hydrocarbons- / RTI > 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the further processing of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream comprises deriching the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream from one or more acid components. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the dripping comprises contacting at least a portion of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream with an amine solvent. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Wherein the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream comprises methane and the further processing of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream further comprises removing from the at least methane-containing portion of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream to form a liquefied methane- A process for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbon hydrotreated stream, comprising extracting heat. As the hydrocarbon constant-stream separation tank,
A lower compartment for separating the liquid phase liquid from the hydrocarbon hydrocarbon phase of the hydrocarbons-rich stream;
An inlet for allowing the flow of the hydrocarbonside stream from the outside of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank to the lower compartment of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank;
A liquid discharge outlet for discharging the liquid from the hydrocarbon constant-stream separation tank;
An upper compartment located above the lower compartment gravity;
- an inner passage for fluidly connecting said lower compartment and said upper compartment, said inner passage being located gravity above said liquid discharge outlet;
A discharge outlet for discharging the steam hydrocarbon stream filtered from the upper compartment to the outside of the hydrocarbon end-stream separation tank; And
A filter disposed in the upper compartment for filtering mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase so that the inner channel passes through the filter before being discharged from the lower compartment through the discharge outlet, The filter of claim 1,
Wherein the hydrocarbons are separated from the hydrocarbons. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the filter is a sorption filter comprising an adsorbent material capable of adsorbing mercury from the vapor hydrocarbon phase. 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9,
Wherein the internal passageway is opened such that no significant pressure loss is imparted to the steam hydrocarbon when the steam hydrocarbon phase is transferred from the lower compartment to the filter. 11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10,
Wherein the lower compartment is a three phase separator wherein the liquid from the liquid phase is separated into a liquid aqueous phase and a liquid hydrocarbon phase and the three phase separator is adapted to selectively discharge the liquid aqueous phase from the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank And a hydrocarbonaceous effluent discharge outlet arranged to selectively discharge the liquid hydrocarbon phase from the hydrocarbon constant stream separation tank separately from the liquid aqueous phase. A system for producing a hydrocarbon product stream from a hydrocarbons-rich stream,
A hydrocarbon constant-stream separation tank according to any one of claims 8 to 11; And
A hydrocarbon processing means fluidly connected to the discharge outlet of the hydrocarbon constant flow separation tank and arranged to receive the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream and produce a hydrocarbon product stream from the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream;
≪ / RTI > wherein the hydrocarbon hydrocarbons are hydrocarbons. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the hydrocarbon processing means comprises an acid component removal unit fluidly connected to the exhaust outlet of the hydrocarbons constant flow separation tank. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the acid component removal unit comprises an amine solvent unit arranged to contact at least a portion of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream with an amine solvent. 15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14,
Wherein the hydrocarbon processing means comprises a liquefaction system arranged to extract heat from at least the methane-containing portion of the filtered steam hydrocarbon stream to form a liquefied methane-containing stream as the hydrocarbon product stream, A system for generating a stream.

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