US 11,992,804 B2
Integrated compression and membrane separation process for removal of CO2 from raw natural gas
Sandeep Karode, Boothwyn, PA (US); Paul Terrien, Syracuse, NY (US); and Cyril Defaye, Champigny-sur-Mar (FR)
Assigned to L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude, Paris (FR); and Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC, Houston, TX (US)
Filed by L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude, Paris (FR); and Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC, Houston, TX (US)
Filed on Dec. 31, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/567,033.
Prior Publication US 2023/0211281 A1, Jul. 6, 2023
Int. Cl. B01D 53/22 (2006.01); C10L 3/10 (2006.01)
CPC B01D 53/226 (2013.01) [C10L 3/104 (2013.01); C10L 2290/548 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of removing amounts of CO2 from CO2/hydrocarbon mixtures, said method comprising the steps of:
feeding a feed stream, comprising CO2 and hydrocarbons, to a first gas separation membrane-based separation unit comprising one or more banks of one or more membranes arranged in parallel or in series that are selective for CO2 over methane to produce, in comparison to a CO2 content of the feed stream, a first CO2-enriched permeate stream and a first CO2-deficient residue stream;
withdrawing the first CO2-deficient residue stream from the first gas separation membrane-based seperation unit as product natural gas;
compressing the first CO2-enriched permeate stream in one or more compressors of a multi-stage compression unit comprising a plurality of compressors arranged in series to produce a compressed stream of the first CO2-enriched permeate stream;
feeding the compressed stream of the first CO2-enriched permeate stream to a second gas separation membrane-based separation unit comprising one or more banks of one or more membranes arranged in parallel or in series that are selective for CO2 over methane to produce, in comparison to the compressed stream of the first CO2-enriched permeate stream, a second CO2-enriched permeate stream and a second CO2-deficient residue stream;
compressing the second CO2-deficient residue stream in one or more compressors of the multi-stage compression unit to produce a compressed second residue stream, the one or more compressors used to compress the first CO2-enriched permeate stream being different from the one or more compressors used to compress the second CO2-deficient residue stream;
feeding the compressed second residue stream to a third gas separation membrane-based separation unit comprising one or banks of one or more membranes that are selective for CO2 over methane to produce, in comparison to the second CO2-deficient residue stream, a third CO2-enriched permeate stream and a third CO2-deficient residue stream;
withdrawing the second and third CO2-enriched permeate streams as one or more streams of product CO2; and
combining the third CO2-deficient residue stream with a stream of a mixture of CO2 and hydrocarbons, to produce the feed stream, the mixture of CO2 and hydrocarbons including methane.