WO2013061027A1 - Process for the removal of contaminants - Google Patents
Process for the removal of contaminants Download PDFInfo
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- WO2013061027A1 WO2013061027A1 PCT/GB2012/052450 GB2012052450W WO2013061027A1 WO 2013061027 A1 WO2013061027 A1 WO 2013061027A1 GB 2012052450 W GB2012052450 W GB 2012052450W WO 2013061027 A1 WO2013061027 A1 WO 2013061027A1
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- sorbent
- carbon dioxide
- contaminated
- contaminant
- process according
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- 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
- B01D53/02—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 adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
- B01D53/04—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 adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography with stationary adsorbents
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- B01J20/30—Processes for preparing, regenerating, or reactivating
- B01J20/34—Regenerating or reactivating
- B01J20/3433—Regenerating or reactivating of sorbents or filter aids other than those covered by B01J20/3408 - B01J20/3425
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- B01D15/40—Selective adsorption, e.g. chromatography characterised by the separation mechanism using supercritical fluid as mobile phase or eluent
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- B01D53/02—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 adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
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- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10L—FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE OR UNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; FIRELIGHTERS
- C10L3/00—Gaseous fuels; Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclass C10G, C10K; Liquefied petroleum gas
- C10L3/06—Natural gas; Synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by C10G, C10K3/02 or C10K3/04
- C10L3/10—Working-up natural gas or synthetic natural gas
- C10L3/101—Removal of contaminants
- C10L3/102—Removal of contaminants of acid contaminants
- C10L3/104—Carbon dioxide
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- Y02C20/00—Capture or disposal of greenhouse gases
- Y02C20/40—Capture or disposal of greenhouse gases of CO2
Definitions
- This invention relates to a process for the removal of contaminants using carbon dioxide at high pressure in the liquid or supercritical phase.
- Sorbents used in industry become contaminated with various compounds that can reduce their effectiveness to capture the target materials. Liquid contaminants can be particularly problematic.
- Liquid natural gas (LNG) plants have a problem with triethyleneglycol (TEG) or other similar compounds that are introduced into gas pipelines to remove moisture, to inhibit formation of gas hydrates and to a lesser extent, to inhibit corrosion in pipelines.
- TEG triethyleneglycol
- US20080197079 discloses a method for desorbing 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propanol off a carbon sorbent using supercritical carbon dioxide.
- carbon dioxide may be used to desorb hydrophilic drying agent or corrosion inhibitor compounds from molecular sieves, porous metal oxides or chemical sorbents.
- the invention provides a process for the removal of a contaminant selected from a drying agent and a corrosion inhibitor from a sorbent selected from a filtration medium, a molecular sieve material, a porous oxide or a chemical sorbent, comprising the step of applying a carbon dioxide in which the carbon dioxide is present in the liquid phase or supercritical phase, to the contaminated sorbent in a sorbent vessel to remove the contaminant from the sorbent and form a contaminant-laden carbon dioxide stream and a decontaminated sorbent.
- sorbent we include "adsorbent" and "absorbent”.
- the sorbent may be a filtration medium, such as a particulate solid or semi-permeable membrane, a molecular sieve material such as a zeolite sorbent, a porous oxide such as an alumina, silica or silica-alumina, which acts to physically trap a target substance, or a chemical sorbent in which the sorbent reacts with a target substance.
- a filtration medium such as a particulate solid or semi-permeable membrane, a molecular sieve material such as a zeolite sorbent, a porous oxide such as an alumina, silica or silica-alumina, which acts to physically trap a target substance, or a chemical sorbent in which the sorbent reacts with a target substance.
- Such chemical sorbents include, but are not limited to, sulphur- guard sorbents comprising copper, manganese or iron compounds, for example sorbents comprising basic copper carbonate and/or zinc oxide, chloride-guard sorbents such as alkalized oxide materials, or sulphided transition metal sorbents, such as sulphided copper sorbents that may be used to capture heavy metals such as mercury or arsenic.
- the sorbents may also be catalytically active, for example for oxidation or for the hydrogenation of sulphur or nitrogen compounds.
- Contaminants that are removed using the process include drying agents and corrosion inhibitors present in the process fluid.
- the contaminant comprises one or more glycols, such as diethyleneglycol (DEG) and triethyleneglycol (TEG), polyethyleneglycols (PEG), or glycolethers.
- DEG diethyleneglycol
- TEG triethyleneglycol
- PEG polyethyleneglycol
- glycolethers such as glycols, such as diethyleneglycol (DEG) and triethyleneglycol (TEG), polyethyleneglycols (PEG), or glycolethers.
- the contaminant level on the sorbent may be in the range 1-50% wt or higher depending upon when the decontamination of the sorbent is performed.
- the carbon dioxide (C02) stream used for the de-contamination may be a liquid carbon dioxide stream or a supercritical carbon dioxide stream.
- the carbon dioxide stream may comprise one or more inert compounds or co-solvents, but preferably the carbon dioxide content is >75% vol, more preferably >90% vol.
- Liquid carbon dioxide streams are preferably used at temperatures in the range -10 to 30°C, preferably 5 to 20°C and at pressures at least about 10 bar above the dew point pressure and in the range 50 to 200 bar abs, preferably 60 to 120 bar abs.
- Supercritical carbon dioxide streams are preferably used at temperatures >31°C, preferably 35- 65°C, more preferably 40 to 60°C and at pressures in the range 85 to 250 bar abs, preferably 95 to 160 bar abs.
- the liquid phase carbon dioxide has the advantage that the contaminant solubility may be higher, particularly at temperatures in the range 0-10°C.
- the density of the carbon dioxide stream is preferably > 600kg/m 3 , more preferably > 700kg/m 3 .
- Co-solvents may be included with the carbon dioxide if desired to increase the solubility of the contaminant. It has been found that the inclusion of a co-solvent such as water or methanol may enhance the glycol solubility and so enhance glycol removal from the contaminated sorbent.
- the amount of co-solvent is preferably in the range 0.1 to 5 mol%.
- the contaminate-laden carbon dioxide stream may be subjected to separation of the contaminant by recovering the contaminant-laden carbon dioxide stream from the sorbent vessel and feeding it to a separation vessel in which the pressure is reduced to cause separation of the contaminant from a depressurised gaseous carbon dioxide.
- a depressurised gaseous carbon dioxide stream and a separate contaminant stream may then be recovered from the separation vessel.
- the contaminated carbon dioxide stream is preferably depressurized to a pressure at which the contaminant solubility in carbon dioxide is significantly reduced. Pressures below 80 bar abs may be used.
- the pressure is reduced in the separator vessel in one or more stages to between 40-70 bar abs.
- the depressurization of the contaminated carbon dioxide stream forces the contaminant out of the carbon dioxide stream to form a depressurized gaseous carbon dioxide stream.
- Liquid contaminants such as glycols may then be readily recovered from the separation vessel. Solid contaminants may collect within the separation vessel and also be recovered once the separation vessel is off-line. The recovered contaminant may be re-used, recovered for disposal, or burnt as a fuel.
- the recovered depressurised carbon dioxide may be re-pressurised and fed back to the sorbent vessel.
- the carbon dioxide may be re-circulated and not vented to atmosphere.
- the process preferably includes the steps of re-pressurising and optionally adjusting the temperature of the depressurized gaseous carbon dioxide stream to form a carbon dioxide stream in which the carbon dioxide is present in the liquid phase or supercritical phase and feeding the pressurised carbon dioxide stream back to the sorbent vessel.
- the stream In the case of liquid carbon dioxide, the stream generally does not require heating, whereas for supercritical carbon dioxide some subsequent heating of the re-pressurised carbon dioxide stream may be required.
- the contaminate-laden carbon dioxide stream may be used in an enhanced oil recovery process or may be sent to a carbon-capture & storage (CCS) process.
- CCS carbon-capture & storage
- the process may be used for the regeneration of contaminated sorbents.
- the invention includes a process for the regeneration and re-use of a contaminated sorbent comprising the steps of:
- the contaminated process fluid may be a contaminated gas stream such as natural gas, including natural gas streams comprising carbon dioxide.
- Other contaminated gas streams may also be treated including inert gases such as nitrogen, hydrocarbon gas streams, flue gas streams and even carbon dioxide gas streams.
- the contaminated process fluid may be a liquid.
- the contaminated process fluid is a glycol- contaminated natural gas, particularly a TEG-contaminated natural gas stream.
- Natural gas streams comprising higher hydrocarbons than methane are particularly susceptible to glycol contamination due to the higher solubility in such natural gases at high pressure. Natural gas streams may be passed over sorbents at pressures in the range 50-250 bar abs and at temperatures in the range -20 to +50°C.
- the contaminant level in the contaminated process fluid may be in the range 1-10,000 ppmv or higher.
- the carbon dioxide is preferably applied in-situ to the sorbent disposed in the sorbent vessel.
- the decontamination process may be applied to one or more, preferably at least two, guard beds of chemical sorbents.
- upstream of the guard bed of chemical sorbent may be one or more, preferably at least two, beds containing a sorbent designed specifically to capture the contaminant.
- a preferred method of operation of either of these is to have at least one sorbent bed on-stream at any one time, and at least one undergoing treatment with liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide.
- Such lead-lag arrangements allow continual regeneration and re-use of sorbents in heavily contaminated streams.
- a benefit of the latter process using contaminant capture upstream of the chemical sorbents is that heating can be applied to smaller vessels upon the removal of the contaminant, thus enabling a more efficient removal by running above the critical temperature and pressure of carbon dioxide, and using pressure to separate the contaminant out in a recovery vessel and recycling the carbon dioxide.
- the preferred envelope for removing TEG from the sorbents is at pressures above 85bar and to 160 bar or the maximum of the plant process; whichever is the greater, and in the temperature range of 40 to 60°C. This minimises the use of carbon dioxide and the amount of recycle. This technique could be extended to removing the TEG from the upstream TEG recovery beds and filters in situ as well, thus providing a quick and facile way for removing TEG from process equipment and materials.
- the process fluid contains carbon dioxide
- a portion of it may be recovered using conventional washing or membrane separation techniques and used as the source of the liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide used to decontaminate the sorbent.
- the pressurised carbon dioxide may be produced from a carbon dioxide stream recovered from a hydrocarbon conversion process such as gasification, partial oxidation or steam reforming of a hydrocarbon.
- the process may be applied to other systems.
- the advantages of the process include:
- the process can be operated within existing plant process conditions.
- Figure 1 depicts a flowsheet of an embodiment utilizing supercritical carbon dioxide
- Figure 2 depicts TEG recovery with time in liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide from TEG- contaminated materials.
- FIG. 1 a lead-lag arrangement is depicted with two sorbent vessels 10 and 12 containing particulate sorbent beds 14 and 16 respectively.
- the vessels 10, 12 are fed with either a TEG contaminated stream via line 18 or a supercritical C02 stream via line 20.
- Valves A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H control the flow to the vessels 10, 12 such that while one is in use, one is subject to decontamination.
- a triethyleneglycol (TEG)-contaminated natural gas at 5°C/120 bara. is fed via line 18 through valve A and then line 22 into the first vessel 10.
- TEG triethyleneglycol
- the TEG contaminated natural gas passes through a bed of a particulate copper-containing sorbent 14 which captures sulphur compounds and/or mercury present in the natural gas. TEG is also deposited in the pores of the sorbent over time.
- the natural gas passes from the first vessel 10 via line 24 through valve B and thence via line 26 for further processing.
- a supercritical C02 stream from line 20 and at 40°C/150 bara passes through valve G and line 28 into the second vessel 12 containing a TEG-contaminated sorbent material 16.
- the supercritical C02 dissolves the TEG and removes it from the contaminated sorbent.
- the TEG- contaminated C02 is recovered from the vessel 12 via line 30, passes through valve H and is fed via line 32 to a first separator 34, where it is depressurized to about 50 bara.
- the C02 is vapourised under these conditions.
- the liquid TEG which may contain C02 residues, is collected from the bottom of the first separator 34 and fed via line 36 to a second separator 38 where the pressure is further reduced to 1-10 bara.
- the liquid TEG is recovered from the second separator 38 via line 40.
- a small purge of C02 may be collected from the second separator via line 42.
- the vapourised C02 is recovered from the first separator 34 via line 44 and fed to a condenser 46 before being fed via line 48 to a pump 50 which re-pressurises the C02 to 150 bara.
- the feed to the pump 50 may be augmented by a stream of imported C02 fed via line 52.
- the imported C02 may be at 20°C and 50-60 bara.
- the re pressurized C02 is fed via line 54 to a pre-heater 56 that adjusts the pressurized C02 temperature to 40°C, to provide the supercritical C02 stream 20.
- valves A, B, G and H are initially open and valves C, D, E and F are closed.
- the vessel 10 is taken off-line and the sorbent regenerated using the supercritical C02, and at the same time, the sorbent 16 in vessel 12 is used to remove undesired substances from the TEG-contaminated natural gas.
- valves A, B, G and H are closed and valves C, D, E and F are opened.
- copper containing sorbent in vessels 10 and 12 may be replaced with a variety of sorbents including filtration media, porous oxides, molecular sieves and other chemical sorbents.
- Example 1 Deactivating effect of TEG on chemical sorbent
- test was run 3 times, firstly with no glycol (TEG) introduced to the system, secondly with TEG introduced to the system in the vapour by passing all the carrier gas through a 6" bubbler to carry TEG vapour forwards and finally by dipping the front portion of the bed into liquid TEG and loading this into the reactor to simulate a gross carry over event or the effect of continual trace carry for a sustained period of time.
- TEG no glycol
- sample materials were loaded into a 1 " stainless steel tube with settling of the solids achieved by tamping.
- Material A was 2-4 mm in diameter but irregular platelets, whilst material B was 2-3 mm in diameter and granules.
- approximately 40g of the contaminated material was loaded in each vessel with cotton wool placed at either end to hold the solids in place.
- C02 was supplied by an ISCO 260D pump at constant pressure to a cell heated in an oven to maintain a tube temperature of 40°C. The flowrate was maintained at approximately 3-5ml/min at the pump after 1 hour initial equilibration.
- the runs with methanol co-solvent were performed at constant flowrate at 150 barg with minor pressure fluctuation.
- the run with water saturated C02 was performed by passing the pressurised C02 through a vessel containing liquid water.
- the C02 after exiting the bed was depressurised through a heated valve and passed through a solution of acetone to capture the extracted TEG.
- the valve was flushed with acetone upon changing of samples.
- Samples were collected approximately every 30 ml of C02 and placed in an oven at 60°C to remove the acetone.
- Samples from the methanol run were dried at 80°C. After 1-2 hours in the oven, the samples were cooled and weighed and then returned to the oven. The process was repeated for typically two cycles to ensure the residual mass was unchanging.
- the mass of TEG recovered, together with the C02 used during the extraction period was used to provide a gravimetric analysis of the extraction process.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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EP12780522.4A EP2771106A1 (en) | 2011-10-27 | 2012-10-03 | Process for the removal of contaminants |
GB1405476.1A GB2509028A (en) | 2011-10-27 | 2012-10-03 | Process for the removal of contaminants |
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Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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GB1118552.7 | 2011-10-27 | ||
GB1118552.7A GB2495962A (en) | 2011-10-27 | 2011-10-27 | Contaminant removal from a sorbent |
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WO2013061027A1 true WO2013061027A1 (en) | 2013-05-02 |
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PCT/GB2012/052450 WO2013061027A1 (en) | 2011-10-27 | 2012-10-03 | Process for the removal of contaminants |
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EP (1) | EP2771106A1 (en) |
GB (2) | GB2495962A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2013061027A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN114761106A (en) * | 2019-12-13 | 2022-07-15 | 通用电器技术有限公司 | Use of transition metal oxides for removing fluorinated by-products from gases, apparatus and method for removing such by-products |
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US4124528A (en) * | 1974-10-04 | 1978-11-07 | Arthur D. Little, Inc. | Process for regenerating adsorbents with supercritical fluids |
GB1573647A (en) * | 1977-04-15 | 1980-08-28 | Little Inc A | Process and apparatus for regenerating adsorbents and wastewater treatment embodying the same |
JPS62151754A (en) * | 1985-12-26 | 1987-07-06 | Japan Spectroscopic Co | Treatment of carrier for chromatography |
EP0682980A2 (en) * | 1994-05-20 | 1995-11-22 | Linde Aktiengesellschaft | Reactivation of adsorption agents |
FR2736845A1 (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1997-01-24 | Renault | Purifying gaseous effluents from industrial plant - by passing through stationary adsorbent bed and regenerating bed using stream of carbon di:oxide |
US6312528B1 (en) * | 1997-03-06 | 2001-11-06 | Cri Recycling Service, Inc. | Removal of contaminants from materials |
US20080197079A1 (en) | 2007-02-15 | 2008-08-21 | Chung-Sung Tan | Method of desorbing a volatile component from a spent adsorbent with rotating packed bed and method of recovering 2,2,3,3-tetrafluro-1-propanol from a gas stream by adsorption |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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DE4002161A1 (en) * | 1990-01-25 | 1991-08-01 | Walter Rau Neusser Oel Und Fet | Extracting oils and fats - from exhausted adsorbent with supercritical carbon di:oxide |
RU2079433C1 (en) * | 1993-11-15 | 1997-05-20 | Валерий Васильевич Орлов | Method of cleaning waste water from microbiological production plant |
GB0800875D0 (en) * | 2008-01-17 | 2008-02-27 | Pharma Marine As | Process |
-
2011
- 2011-10-27 GB GB1118552.7A patent/GB2495962A/en not_active Withdrawn
-
2012
- 2012-10-03 GB GB1405476.1A patent/GB2509028A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2012-10-03 WO PCT/GB2012/052450 patent/WO2013061027A1/en active Application Filing
- 2012-10-03 EP EP12780522.4A patent/EP2771106A1/en not_active Withdrawn
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US4124528A (en) * | 1974-10-04 | 1978-11-07 | Arthur D. Little, Inc. | Process for regenerating adsorbents with supercritical fluids |
GB1573647A (en) * | 1977-04-15 | 1980-08-28 | Little Inc A | Process and apparatus for regenerating adsorbents and wastewater treatment embodying the same |
JPS62151754A (en) * | 1985-12-26 | 1987-07-06 | Japan Spectroscopic Co | Treatment of carrier for chromatography |
EP0682980A2 (en) * | 1994-05-20 | 1995-11-22 | Linde Aktiengesellschaft | Reactivation of adsorption agents |
FR2736845A1 (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1997-01-24 | Renault | Purifying gaseous effluents from industrial plant - by passing through stationary adsorbent bed and regenerating bed using stream of carbon di:oxide |
US6312528B1 (en) * | 1997-03-06 | 2001-11-06 | Cri Recycling Service, Inc. | Removal of contaminants from materials |
US20080197079A1 (en) | 2007-02-15 | 2008-08-21 | Chung-Sung Tan | Method of desorbing a volatile component from a spent adsorbent with rotating packed bed and method of recovering 2,2,3,3-tetrafluro-1-propanol from a gas stream by adsorption |
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DATABASE WPI Week 198732, Derwent World Patents Index; AN 1987-226064, XP002689621 * |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN114761106A (en) * | 2019-12-13 | 2022-07-15 | 通用电器技术有限公司 | Use of transition metal oxides for removing fluorinated by-products from gases, apparatus and method for removing such by-products |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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GB201118552D0 (en) | 2011-12-07 |
GB2495962A (en) | 2013-05-01 |
GB201405476D0 (en) | 2014-05-07 |
EP2771106A1 (en) | 2014-09-03 |
GB2509028A (en) | 2014-06-18 |
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