US20100077796A1 - Hybrid Membrane/Distillation Method and System for Removing Nitrogen from Methane - Google Patents
Hybrid Membrane/Distillation Method and System for Removing Nitrogen from Methane Download PDFInfo
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- US20100077796A1 US20100077796A1 US12/241,694 US24169408A US2010077796A1 US 20100077796 A1 US20100077796 A1 US 20100077796A1 US 24169408 A US24169408 A US 24169408A US 2010077796 A1 US2010077796 A1 US 2010077796A1
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- F25J—LIQUEFACTION, SOLIDIFICATION OR SEPARATION OF GASES OR GASEOUS OR LIQUEFIED GASEOUS MIXTURES BY PRESSURE AND COLD TREATMENT OR BY BRINGING THEM INTO THE SUPERCRITICAL STATE
- F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
- F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
- F25J3/0204—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream characterised by the feed stream
- F25J3/0209—Natural gas or substitute natural gas
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- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01D—SEPARATION
- B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
- B01D53/22—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by diffusion
- B01D53/229—Integrated processes (Diffusion and at least one other process, e.g. adsorption, absorption)
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- F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
- F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
- F25J3/0228—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream characterised by the separated product stream
- F25J3/0233—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream characterised by the separated product stream separation of CnHm with 1 carbon atom or more
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- F25J3/00—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification
- F25J3/02—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream
- F25J3/0228—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream characterised by the separated product stream
- F25J3/0257—Processes or apparatus for separating the constituents of gaseous or liquefied gaseous mixtures involving the use of liquefaction or solidification by rectification, i.e. by continuous interchange of heat and material between a vapour stream and a liquid stream characterised by the separated product stream separation of nitrogen
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01D—SEPARATION
- B01D2256/00—Main component in the product gas stream after treatment
- B01D2256/24—Hydrocarbons
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- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01D—SEPARATION
- B01D2257/00—Components to be removed
- B01D2257/10—Single element gases other than halogens
- B01D2257/102—Nitrogen
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
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- B01D2257/00—Components to be removed
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- B01D2257/304—Hydrogen sulfide
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- F25J2200/00—Processes or apparatus using separation by rectification
- F25J2200/02—Processes or apparatus using separation by rectification in a single pressure main column system
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- F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
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- F25J2200/00—Processes or apparatus using separation by rectification
- F25J2200/70—Refluxing the column with a condensed part of the feed stream, i.e. fractionator top is stripped or self-rectified
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
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- F25J2205/00—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means
- F25J2205/02—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means using simple phase separation in a vessel or drum
- F25J2205/04—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means using simple phase separation in a vessel or drum in the feed line, i.e. upstream of the fractionation step
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- F25J2205/00—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means
- F25J2205/40—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means using hybrid system, i.e. combining cryogenic and non-cryogenic separation techniques
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- F25J2205/00—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means
- F25J2205/80—Processes or apparatus using other separation and/or other processing means using membrane, i.e. including a permeation step
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- F25J2210/00—Processes characterised by the type or other details of the feed stream
- F25J2210/66—Landfill or fermentation off-gas, e.g. "Bio-gas"
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- F25J2245/00—Processes or apparatus involving steps for recycling of process streams
- F25J2245/02—Recycle of a stream in general, e.g. a by-pass stream
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- Y02C—CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG]
- Y02C20/00—Capture or disposal of greenhouse gases
- Y02C20/40—Capture or disposal of greenhouse gases of CO2
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- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
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Abstract
A hybrid gas separation membrane/cryogenic distillation method and system produces high purity gaseous methane from a gas mixture containing a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen.
Description
- None.
- Prior art in nitrogen removal from natural gas includes several references to cryogenic separation. With adequate feed pressure, the single column process can perform the separation using no external energy other than power for a liquid pump which is used to pump liquid methane to the desired product pressure. Single and dual pressure columns are common practice in cryogenic applications such as nitrogen rejection from a natural gas stream.
- U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,932 describes a single column process wherein the cooled feed is pre-separated in a phase separator into vapor and liquid portions, the vapor is condensed and at least partly employed as reflux for the column. This single column process scheme tends to have good recovery when the N2 content in the feed stream is high, typically more than 20%. However, when the N2 content decreases, the methane recovery tends to fall sharply.
- For natural gas streams having a relatively low N2 content, dual distillation columns operated at different pressures typically are used to maintain high recovery. U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,345 describes one example of a double column system. Generally speaking, in dual distillation columns the high pressure column provides a methane enriched stream which is sent to the low pressure column for further enrichment. Liquid methane product is then pumped to the desired product pressure. More particularly, the double column system is operated such that condenser duty to the first column provides the reboiler duty of the second column whereas in the single column process, heat integration is carried out by using reboiler duty to condense the feed to the distillation column. In either of the single or double column schemes, the only significant external energy that is required is in the form of a liquid pump. For feed gas pressures of 80 bar or higher and methane product pressures of up to 35 bar, no additional cooling or compression is typically required. The Joule-Thomson effect between the feed gas and product streams is sufficient to satisfy plant refrigeration requirement.
- A typical example of a dual column system is shown in
FIG. 1 . According to this scheme, a high pressure N2-containing natural gas feed 1 (typically at a pressure of about 80 bar) is cooled atheat exchanger 5 by heat-exchange withmethane stream 13, high pressure N2 stream 17 and low pressure N2 stream 21 The cooledfeed 9 is then expanded at Joule-Thomsonvalve 25 yielding loweredpressure feed 29 which is sent to the highpressure distillation column 33.Distillation column 33fractionates feed 29 into a methane-rich liquid component carried instream 41 and a high pressure N2-rich vapor component 37. Condenser-reboiler 82 condenses aportion 38 of thevapor component 37 to provide a liquid stream rich inN 2 53. Aportion 17 of 37 can be recovered as high pressuregaseous N2 stream 17. Aportion 55 of 53 is sent back tocolumn 33 as reflux. Theremaining portion 57 is then directed tocolumn 81.Streams heat exchanger 61 through heat exchange withliquid methane stream 65 and low pressure gaseous N2 stream 69 before being directed to the lowpressure distillation column 81. Thelow pressure column 81 fractionates the methane/N2 mixture contained therein into low pressuregaseous N2 stream 69, and high purityliquid methane stream 78. Stream 76 is directed to the condenser-reboiler 82 which receives heat fromstream 37 and returns a stream of vaporized or partially vaporizedmethane 84 tocolumn 81. Aliquid pump 93 receiving high purityliquid methane 90 from the bottom ofcolumn 81 pumps high purityliquid methane stream 65 throughheat exchanger 61 whereat it and the high pressure gaseous N2 stream 69 are warmed.Liquid methane stream 13 is then vaporized inexchanger 5 to provide a stream ofhigh purity methane 95. Low pressure N2 stream 21 and high pressure N2 stream 17 are warmed atheat exchanger 5 to provide streams oflow pressure N 2 99 andhigh pressure N 2 97, respectively. -
FIG. 2 shows a typical example of a single column separation scheme. Here thefeed 101 is cooled in theheat exchanger 105 through heat exchange withstreams stream 109 is expanded in an expansion valve (or also called Joule-Thomson valve) 120 to lower pressure. This reduction of pressure results in a two-phase stream which is then phase separated into vapor and liquid streams atphase separator 124. Thevapor stream 128 is condensed at condenser-reboiler 182. Theconsensed vapor stream 149 is cooled atheat exchanger 161 through heat exchange withliquid methane stream 165 and high pressure gaseous N2 stream 169 and sent to thedistillation column 181 as reflux. Theliquid stream 142 from theseparator 124 is subcooled at heat exchanger 161 (also through heat exchange withliquid methane stream 165 and high pressure gaseous N2 stream 169) and directed to thecolumn 181. A stream of high purityliquid methane 176 is directed to the condenser-reboiler 182 which receives heat fromstream 128 and returns a stream of vaporized or partially vaporizedmethane 184 tocolumn 181. Aliquid pump 193 receiving high purityliquid methane 190 from the bottom ofcolumn 181 pumps high purityliquid methane stream 165 throughheat exchanger 161 whereat it and the high pressure gaseous N2 stream 169 are warmed.Liquid methane stream 112 is then vaporized inexchanger 105 to provide a stream ofhigh purity methane 194. High pressure N2 stream 116 is warmed atheat exchanger 105 to provide stream ofhigh pressure N 2 196. - Membranes have been used in hybrid application such that the feed is first sent to the membrane, the product of which is then sent to a distillation column for separation. There is also prior art available on use of membrane-distillation hybrid system for natural gas applications, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,227.
- While the above approaches provide sufficient solutions for purifying many types of N2-containing natural gas, they often suffer from one or more disadvantages. For cryogenic separation units, variation in the feed N2 content can pose problem to the operation of a cryogenic separation unit. This is because while single column distillation systems work well for high N2 content natural gas, recoveries can fall sharply as the N2 content is decreased. In such cases, a second column may be necessary. This adds to the capital cost.
- Thus, it is the object of the current invention to provide a scheme which can provide sufficient methane recovery for feeds having variable N2 contents and requires minimal energy input.
- There is provided a method of purifying a gas mixture having a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen. It includes the following steps. The gas mixture is cooled. The cooled gas mixture is fed to a gas separation membrane to provide a permeate stream further enriched in methane and a residue stream further enriched in nitrogen. The residue stream is cooled to form a cooled residue stream. The pressure of the cooled residue stream is reduced to provide a nitrogen-enriched vapor and a methane-rich liquid. The nitrogen-enriched vapor is condensed. The condensed nitrogen-enriched vapor and the methane-rich liquid are fed to a distillation column. The gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from a top of the distillation column is warmed to provide a gaseous nitrogen product stream. The liquid methane withdrawn from a bottom of the distillation column is pressurized. The pressurized liquid methane is vaporized to provide a stream of vaporized methane. The stream of vaporized methane is warmed. The permeate stream and the stream of warmed vaporized methane are combined to provide a gaseous methane product stream.
- The method may include one or more of the following aspects.
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- said step of cooling the gas mixture, said step of warming gaseous nitrogen and said step of warming the vaporized liquid methane are performed at a first heat exchanger.
- the gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from the top of the distillation column is further warmed at a second heat exchanger disposed in fluid communication between the distillation column and the first heat exchanger and said step of vaporizing liquid methane is performed at the second heat exchanger.
- the method further comprises the step of warming the liquid methane withdrawn from a bottom of the distillation column at a third heat exchanger before vaporization thereof, wherein:
- the gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from the top of the distillation column is further warmed at the third heat exchanger before being warmed at the second heat exchanger; and
- the condensed nitrogen-enriched vapor and the methane-rich liquid are cooled at the third heat exchanger before being fed to the distillation column.
- said step of condensing the nitrogen-enriched vapor is conducted in a condenser-reboiler operatively associated with the distillation column.
- the gas mixture is natural gas obtained from a subterranean formation.
- the natural gas comprises from about 60 to about 90 mol % methane, up to about 25 mol % nitrogen, and from about 0 to about 10 mol % carbon dioxide.
- amounts of CO2 and H2S are removed from the natural gas prior to feeding it to the gas separation membrane.
- the liquid methane from the distillation column is pressurized with a pump.
- the gas separation membrane is maintained at a temperature lower than −20° C.
- the gas separation membrane is maintained at a temperature of −50 to −90° C.
- the gas separation membrane is made of a material selected from the group consisting of poly(propylene oxide allyl glycidyl ether) and silicone rubber [poly(dimethyl siloxane).
- the gas separation membrane is made of a material that has a methane to nitrogen selectivity of at least 5.
- the gaseous methane product stream contains less than 6 mol % N2 and greater than 94 mol % methane.
- the method further comprises the step of expanding the gaseous nitrogen product stream and compressing the methane product stream with a turbo expander.
- There is also provided a system for purifying a gas mixture having a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen, comprising, a source of a gas mixture; a first heat exchanger; a gas separation membrane; a distillation column; and a second heat exchanger. The source of a gas mixture comprises a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen. The first heat exchanger is adapted to cool a stream of said gas mixture. The gas separation membrane has a feed inlet, a permeate gas outlet, and a residue gas outlet, said feed inlet being in fluid communication with said source via said first heat exchanger. The distillation column has a top and a bottom, a plurality of inlets, a gaseous nitrogen outlet disposed at said column top, and a liquid methane outlet disposed at said column bottom, said plurality of column inlets being in fluid communication with said residue gas outlet. The second heat exchanger is adapted to cool a stream of residue gas from said residue gas outlet, warm a stream of gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from said column top, and vaporize a stream of liquid methane withdrawn from said column bottom. Said first heat exchanger is further adapted to: further warm the stream of gaseous nitrogen warmed at said second heat exchanger; warm a stream of gaseous methane produced by vaporization at said second heat exchanger; and warm a stream of permeate gas from said permeate gas outlet.
- The system may include one or more of the following aspects:
-
- the system further comprises
- a Joule-Thomson valve in fluid communication between said residue gas outlet and said plurality of column inlets; and
- a phase separator comprising an inlet in fluid communication with said Joule-Thomson valve, a vapor outlet, and a liquid outlet, said vapor and liquid outlets being in fluid communication with said plurality of column inlets, said phase separator being adapted to separate a stream of residue gas expanded at said valve into a stream of nitrogen-enriched vapor and a stream of methane-rich liquid.
- the system further comprises:
- a Joule-Thomson valve in fluid communication between said residue gas outlet and said plurality of column inlets;
- a phase separator comprising an inlet in fluid communication with said Joule-Thomson valve, a vapor outlet, and a liquid outlet, said vapor and liquid outlets being in fluid communication with said plurality of column inlets, said phase separator being adapted to separate a stream of residue gas expanded at said valve into a stream of nitrogen-enriched vapor and a stream of methane-rich liquid and
- a condenser-reboiler adapted to condense the stream of nitrogen-enriched vapor from said phase separator vapor outlet and vaporize a stream of liquid methane from said column bottom.
- the system further comprises a third heat exchanger adapted to warm the stream of gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from said column top before warming at said second heat exchanger and warm the stream of liquid methane withdrawn from said column bottom before warming at said second heat exchanger.
- the system further comprises a gaseous methane product conduit receiving a stream of the permeate gas warmed at said first heat exchanger and a stream of gaseous methane warmed at said first exchanger to provide a stream of gaseous methane product.
- the system further comprises
- a gaseous methane product conduit receiving a stream of the permeate gas warmed at said first heat exchanger and a stream of gaseous methane warmed at said first exchanger to provide a stream of gaseous methane product; and
- a turbo expander adapted to expand the stream of gaseous nitrogen warmed at said first heat exchanger and compress the stream of gaseous methane product.
- said gas mixture is natural gas and said source is disposed within a subterranean formation.
- the system further comprises a purification unit in fluid communication between said source and said gas separation membrane, said purification unit being adapted to remove at least a portion of CO2 and H2S from a stream of said natural gas from said source by adsorption and/or membrane purification techniques.
- the system further comprises a pump adapted to pump a stream of liquid methane from said column bottom.
- said gas separation membrane is made of a material selected from the group consisting of poly(propylene oxide allyl glycidyl ether) and silicone rubber [poly(dimethyl siloxane).
- said gas separation membrane is made of a material that has a methane to nitrogen selectivity of at least 5.
- the system further comprises
- For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are given the same or analogous reference numbers and wherein:
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a prior art double column system for nitrogen removal from methane. -
FIG. 2 is a schematic of a prior art single column system for nitrogen removal from methane. -
FIG. 3 is a schematic of the hybrid membrane/cryogenic distillation system according to the invention for nitrogen removal from methane. - As best illustrated in
FIG. 3 , the method and system according to the invention starts with afeed gas 201 containing a majority amount of methane and a minority amount of N2. Thefeed gas 201 may be natural gas obtained from a subterranean formation or a methane-containing landfill gas from a landfill. In either case, such a methane-basedfeed gas 201 typically comprises from about 60 to about 90 mol % methane, from about 0 to about 25 mol % nitrogen, from about 0 to about 10 mol % carbon dioxide (up to about 50 mol % carbon dioxide in the case of a methane-containing gas derived from a landfill), and moisture and other minor substituents. If thefeed gas 201 contains undesirable amounts of impurities such as CO2 and H2S, it may be pre-treated using a conventional purification unit to remove those impurities and moisture prior to sending it to membrane separation unit 208 (before or after heat exchanger 205). The purification unit may employ any number of well-known adsorption and/or membrane-based purification techniques. A knock-out drum may be utilized to remove heavier hydrocarbons from the gas mixture.Feed gas 201, typically at ambient temperature and a pressure in the range of from about 35 to 80 bar, is cooled to a temperature of less than −20° C. preferably to a temperature of about −50 to about −90° C. inheat exchanger 205. - The cooled
feed gas stream 206 is directed tomembrane separation unit 208 that includes one or more membrane selectively permeable to methane over N2. Methane, being the fast gas, permeates through the one or more membranes and theresult permeate stream 210 is directed back acrossheat exchanger 205 thereby warming it to yield warmedpermeate stream 298. Depending upon the N2 content instream 206, a significant portion of the methane may be separated out in the permeate. For example, at 15% N2 content, as much as 65% of the feed is permeated through the membrane. The operating temperature of the gas separation unit is maintained at or below −20° C. Preferably, it is maintained at a temperature of about −60 to about −90° C. Typically, thepermeate stream 210 contains from about 90 to about 95 mol % methane. A back pressure control valve on the permeate side of themembrane separation unit 208 may be used to control the pressure of the permeate stream 210 (which should be slightly higher than the product pressure). This valve is throttled to adjust the permeate flux and its composition. - In the cooled
feed gas stream 206, the N2, being the slow gas, tends to not permeate through the one or more membranes and thus accumulates in theresidue stream 211.Residue stream 211 is cooled to a temperature of about −110° C. atheat exchanger 214. The cooledresidue stream 209 is then flashed atvalve 220 and directed to phaseseparator 224 where it is separated into a N2-enrichedvapor stream 228 and a methane-enrichedliquid stream 242. Thevapor stream 228 is condensed at condenser-reboiler 282 andcondensed vapor 249 is optionally cooled atoptional heat exchanger 261 and directed instream 275 as reflux todistillation column 281. Theliquid stream 242 is optionally subcooled atoptional heat exchanger 261 and also directed instream 272 tocolumn 281. -
Column 281 produces a gaseous N2-rich stream 269 and a liquid methane-rich stream 278. Typically,stream 269 includes about 5 mol % methane. Typically,stream 278 includes at least about 95 mol % methane and preferably more than 97 mol % methane.Stream 269 is warmed at heat exchangers 261 (optionally), 214, 205 to yield gaseous N2 product stream 296, typically at a pressure of about 3 to 5 bar. - Liquid methane-
rich stream 276 is directed to condenser-reboiler 282 utilizing heat fromstream 228 to provide a stream of vaporized or partially vaporizedmethane 284 tocolumn 281. A liquid methane-rich stream 290 is sent toliquid pump 293. - The stream of liquid methane pumped by
pump 293 is optionally directed viastream 265 tooptional heat exchanger 261 where it is warmed, but is in any case directed viastream 215 toheat exchanger 214 where it is vaporized and then directed viastream 212 where it is warmed to providegaseous methane stream 294.Gaseous methane stream 294 is combined with warmedpermeate stream 296 at a methane product conduit to providemethane product stream 295. Typically,stream 295 contains less than 6 mol % N2 and greater than 94 mol % methane. If desired, a turbo expander may be utiized to transfer power from expansion of the N2 product stream 296 to compression of themethane product stream 295. Whether or not the turbo expander is utilized, themethane product stream 295 typically has a pressure of about 36 bar with afeed gas 201 pressure of about 77 bar. - The patent and non-patent literature in the field of gas separation is replete with details on how to construct or where to procure the
membrane separation unit 208, so their details need not be duplicated herein. The membrane or membranes inmembrane separation unit 208 may be configured in any way known in the field of gas separation, including a sheet, tube, hollow fiber, etc. Preferably, the membrane is a spiral flat sheet membrane or hollow fiber membrane. Generally speaking, the requisite methane/nitrogen membrane selectivity will depend upon the N2 content of the cooledfeed gas stream 206. At a temperature of −67° C., a selectivity of 7 was sufficient forfeed gas stream 206 contents of 15-25% N2. The selectivity may be modified by changing the temperature of the cooledfeed gas stream 206. If a higher selectivity is desired, the temperature should be lowered. The membrane is made of a polymeric material such that, when operated at a temperature of no greater than −20° C., the membrane has a selectivity to methane over N2 of at least 5, preferably of at least 7. Because thefeed gas stream 201 is cooled via heat exchange withstreams heat exchanger 205, when it enters thegas separation unit 208 viastream 206, it is already at a temperature where the desired selectivity is realized. In other words, greater selectivity is achieved than that realized at relatively warmer temperatures. Suitable polymeric materials include Parel [poly(propylene oxide allyl glycidyl ether)] and silicone rubber [poly(dimethyl siloxane)]. Preferably, it is silicone rubber. - The configurations of the
heat exchangers - The patent and non-patent literature in the field of gas separation is replete with details on how to construct or where to procure the Joule-
Thomson valve 220,phase separator 224,column 281, condenser-reboiler 282, and pump 293, and as such, they need not be duplicated herein. - Practice of the process yields several advantages.
- The hybrid scheme of the invention can treat varying N2 contents in the feed gas stream with relatively high methane recovery (>97%). The membrane acts as a regulator to optimize the nitrogen content of the feed for distillation by performing a partial separation of the N2 and methane upstream of distillation. This represents a significant advantage over either a cryogenic-only solution which operates efficiently over a narrow range of feed nitrogen or a membrane-only solution which might not achieve the separation with acceptable recovery.
- The hybrid scheme of the invention also lowers capital costs of a system separating N2 from methane. In comparison to the single or double column systems of
FIGS. 2 and 1 , the size of thedistillation column 281 may be reduced because the membrane reduces the feed sent tocolumn 281. Also, the gas mixture is separated into methane and nitrogen utilizing only a single distillation column. - The hybrid scheme of the invention also results in lower operating costs because the energy requirements, in comparison to the conventional systems, are relatively low. Expansion of compressed gas provides cryogenic temperatures for the distillation column. Thus, external energy for cooling is unnecessary. Cross-exchange of heat of the N2 product and methane product components with the membrane feed provides the desirable low operating temperature in the membrane, again removing the need for external energy for cooling. Indeed, this process can achieve the separation with no external energy other than the small amount needed for pumping the liquid methane. On the other hand, those skilled in the art will recognize that operating costs are relatively greater for systems utilizing a compressor for compression of gaseous methane, because under most conditions compressing a gas is much more energy-intensive than pumping a liquid.
- Preferred processes and apparatus for practicing the present invention have been described. It will be understood and readily apparent to the skilled artisan that many changes and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. The foregoing is illustrative only and that other embodiments of the integrated processes and apparatus may be employed without departing from the true scope of the invention defined in the following claims.
Claims (28)
1. A method of purifying a gas mixture having a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen, comprising the steps of:
cooling the gas mixture;
feeding the cooled gas mixture to a gas separation membrane to provide a permeate stream further enriched in methane and a residue stream further enriched in nitrogen;
cooling the residue stream to form a cooled residue stream;
reducing the pressure of the cooled residue stream to provide a nitrogen-enriched vapor and a methane-rich liquid;
condensing the nitrogen-enriched vapor;
feeding the condensed nitrogen-enriched vapor and the methane-rich liquid to a distillation column;
warming gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from a top of the distillation column to provide a gaseous nitrogen product stream;
pressurizing liquid methane withdrawn from a bottom of the distillation column;
vaporizing the pressurized liquid methane to provide a stream of vaporized methane;
warming the stream of vaporized methane;
combining the permeate stream and the stream of warmed vaporized methane to provide a gaseous methane product stream.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of cooling the gas mixture, said step of warming gaseous nitrogen and said step of warming the vaporized liquid methane are performed at a first heat exchanger.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from the top of the distillation column is further warmed at a second heat exchanger disposed in fluid communication between the distillation column and the first heat exchanger and said step of vaporizing liquid methane is performed at the second heat exchanger.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the step of warming the liquid methane withdrawn from a bottom of the distillation column at a third heat exchanger before vaporization thereof, wherein:
the gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from the top of the distillation column is further warmed at the third heat exchanger before being warmed at the second heat exchanger; and
the condensed nitrogen-enriched vapor and the methane-rich liquid are cooled at the third heat exchanger before being fed to the distillation column.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of condensing the nitrogen-enriched vapor is conducted in a condenser-reboiler operatively associated with the distillation column.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas mixture is natural gas obtained from a subterranean formation.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the natural gas comprises from about 60 to about 90 mol % methane, up to about 25 mol % nitrogen, and from about 0 to about 10 mol % carbon dioxide.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein amounts of CO2 and H2S are removed from the natural gas prior to feeding it to the gas separation membrane.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid methane from the distillation column is pressurized with a pump.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas separation membrane is maintained at a temperature lower than −20° C.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas separation membrane is maintained at a temperature of −50 to −90° C.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas separation membrane is made of a material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene oxide allyl glycidyl ether) and silicone rubber [poly(dimethyl siloxane).
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas separation membrane is made of a material that has a methane to nitrogen selectivity of at least 5.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaseous methane product stream contains less than 6 mol % N2 and greater than 94 mol % methane.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of expanding the gaseous nitrogen product stream and compressing the methane product stream with a turbo expander.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas mixture is landfill gas from a landfill.
17. A system for purifying a gas mixture having a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen, comprising:
a source of a gas mixture comprising a majority of methane and a minority of nitrogen;
a first heat exchanger adapted to cool a stream of said gas mixture;
a gas separation membrane having a feed inlet, a permeate gas outlet, and a residue gas outlet, said feed inlet being in fluid communication with said source via said first heat exchanger;
a distillation column having a top and a bottom, a plurality of inlets, a gaseous nitrogen outlet disposed at said column top, and a liquid methane outlet disposed at said column bottom, said plurality of column inlets being in fluid communication with said residue gas outlet; and
a second heat exchanger adapted to cool a stream of residue gas from said residue gas outlet, warm a stream of gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from said column top, and vaporize a stream of liquid methane withdrawn from said column bottom, wherein said first heat exchanger is further adapted to:
further warm the stream of gaseous nitrogen warmed at said second heat exchanger;
warm a stream of gaseous methane produced by vaporization at said second heat exchanger; and
warm a stream of permeate gas from said permeate gas outlet.
18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
a Joule-Thomson valve in fluid communication between said residue gas outlet and said plurality of column inlets; and
a phase separator comprising an inlet in fluid communication with said Joule-Thomson valve, a vapor outlet, and a liquid outlet, said vapor and liquid outlets being in fluid communication with said plurality of column inlets, said phase separator being adapted to separate a stream of residue gas expanded at said valve into a stream of nitrogen-enriched vapor and a stream of methane-rich liquid.
19. The system of claim 18 , further comprising:
a condenser-reboiler adapted to condense the stream of nitrogen-enriched vapor from said phase separator vapor outlet and vaporize a stream of liquid methane from said column bottom.
20. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a third heat exchanger adapted to warm the stream of gaseous nitrogen withdrawn from said column top before warming at said second heat exchanger and warm the stream of liquid methane withdrawn from said column bottom before warming at said second heat exchanger.
21. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a gaseous methane product conduit receiving a stream of the permeate gas warmed at said first heat exchanger and a stream of gaseous methane warmed at said first exchanger to provide a stream of gaseous methane product.
22. The system of claim 21 , further comprising a turbo expander adapted to expand the stream of gaseous nitrogen warmed at said first heat exchanger and compress the stream of gaseous methane product.
23. The system of claim 17 , wherein said gas mixture is natural gas and said source is disposed within a subterranean formation.
24. The system of claim 23 , further comprising a purification unit in fluid communication between said source and said gas separation membrane, said purification unit being adapted to remove at least a portion of CO2 and H2S from a stream of said natural gas from said source using adsorption and/or membrane purification techniques.
25. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a pump adapted to pump a stream of liquid methane from said column bottom.
26. The system of claim 17 , wherein said gas separation membrane is made of a material selected from the group consisting of poly(propylene oxide allyl glycidyl ether) and silicone rubber [poly(dimethyl siloxane).
27. The system of claim 17 , wherein said gas separation membrane is made of a material that has a methane to nitrogen selectivity of at least 5.
28. The system of claim 17 , wherein said gas mixture is landfill gas and said source is a landfill.
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