METHOD OF DRYING AND CLEANING OF NATURAL GAS WITH FURTHER LIQUEFACTION AND DEVICE FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC F25J3/06 B01D53/26 B01D45/12 

FIELD: machine building.

SUBSTANCE: according to the method of drying and cleaning of natural gas with further liquefaction in three-flow vortex tube with cold, hot gaseous and liquid flows obtained, generated liquefied gas is separated and collected in storage tank-separator. Natural gas is cooled and heated to temperature of maximum condensation of hydrocarbon fraction C₄ and above by supplying cold or hot gas flows of vortex tube to recuperative heat exchangers. Then performed is multistage centrifugal separation of gas flow from formed hydrocarbon condensate - C₄ fraction, water condensate, hydrates and mechanical impurities - slurry, which is removed to tank-separator for further processing. After separated gas has been cooled by cold flow in recuperative heat exchanger it is directed to inlet of vortex tube, and output cold flow from it after throttling is directed together with separated liquid phase from hot flow of vortex tube to feed separator. From upper part of feed separator extracted is gaseous market product, and from lower part - market liquefied fraction of natural gas. Device for drying and cleaning of natural gas with its further liquefaction contains a line for supply of initial flow of natural gas, recuperative heat exchangers with lines of supply of cold and hot flows of vortex tube, separator, vortex tube with lines of supply and extraction of separated gaseous and liquefied gas flows, tank-separator for collection and separation of gas cleaning components. Additionally the device contains the following: recuperative heat exchanger of gas cooling flowing from main gas pipeline, recuperative heat exchanger of the same gas heating, multistage centrifugal separator, recuperative heat exchanger of gas cooling flowing to vortex tube, feed separator. Vortex tube contains separation device. Mechanisms are interconnected by pipelines with lockshield valves. Multistage centrifugal separator has a housing with tangential inlet branch pipe, separation element arranged in alignment with the housing forming annular channel. Inside separation element there arranged is inner branch pipe with tangential slots, provided with lower and upper conical bafflers. In the middle part of branch pipe there arranged on perimeter are tangential square splits. In the upper part of branch pipe there installed is a diffuser with conical baffler and there are apertures opposite to which there are apertures of separation element. Above separation element there installed is mesh baffle, above which in housing installed is a branch pipe with conical baffler. The bottom of separator housing is provided with a branch pipe connected with reservoir-separator through lockshield valve heavy in section.

EFFECT: increasing efficiency of separation of heavy liquid phase from gas, preventing formation of crystalline hydrates and increasing efficiency of liquefaction.

4 cl, 3 dwg