Liquid carbon dioxide separated from sour gas is expanded by throttling decompression and is gas-liquid separated at a low temperature so as to be supplied for shipping or the improvement of petroleum recovery. Methane generated from a stranded gas well is allowed to pass as a coolant through liquid carbon dioxide separated and discharged from sour gas generated from the stranded gas well so as to cool liquid carbon dioxide. Disclosed is a module for treating carbon dioxide, and a treatment method thereof for supplying liquid carbon dioxide at a proper temperature and state conditions when there is a need for liquid carbon dioxide of very low temperature for the storage or collection of carbon dioxide, the improvement of petroleum recovery, or the like by cooling carbon dioxide using a material separated from sour gas of a stranded gas well as a coolant.

The present invention relates to a process for separating a hydrocarbon gas into a fraction containing a predominant portion of the methane or ethane and lighter components and a fraction containing a predominant portion of the C.sub.2 or C.sub.3 and heavier components in which process the feed gas is treated in one or more heat exchange, and expansion steps; partly condensed feed gas is directed into a separator wherein a first residue vapor is separated from a C.sub.2 or C.sub.3-containing liquid; and C.sub.2 or C.sub.3-containing liquids, at substantially the pressure of separation, are directed into a distillation column wherein said liquid is separated into a second residue is separated to recover a C.sub.2 or C.sub.3-containing product. The foregoing process is improved by cooling said second residue to partially condense it.

A method for recovering natural gas liquids without using cryogenic conditions, membranes, and carbon dioxide recovery solvents is provided. In one embodiment, a carbon dioxide recycle stream that comprises carbon dioxide and natural gas liquids is received. The carbon dioxide recycle stream is separated into a purified carbon dioxide recycle stream and a natural gas liquids stream. The purified carbon dioxide recycle stream comprises the carbon dioxide, and the natural gas liquids stream comprises the natural gas liquids. The carbon dioxide recycle stream, the purified carbon dioxide recycle stream, and the natural gas liquids are not subjected to cryogenic conditions, membranes, and carbon dioxide recovery solvents between being received and being separated into the purified carbon dioxide recycle stream and the natural gas liquids stream.

A system and method for separating air in an air separation plant is provided. The disclosed systems and methods divert a portion of the compressed, purified air stream to a bypass system configured to selectively produce a higher pressure compressed output stream or a lower pressure compressed output stream. The higher pressure and/or lower pressure compressed output streams are cooled in a main heat exchanger by indirect heat transfer with a plurality of product streams from the air separation plant and then rectified in the distillation column system. A second portion of the compressed, purified air stream is partially cooled in the main heat exchanger and expanding in a turbo-expander to produce power and an exhaust stream which is directed to the distillation column system of the air separation plant where it imparts additional refrigeration generated by the expansion of the compressed air stream in the turbo-expander.

Contemplated methods and configurations use a cooled ethane and CO2-containing feed gas that is expanded in a first turbo-expander and subsequently heat-exchanged to allow for relatively high expander inlet temperatures to a second turbo expander. Consequently, the relatively warm demethanizer feed from the second expander effectively removes CO2 from the ethane product and prevents carbon dioxide freezing in the demethanizer, while another portion of the heat-exchanged and expanded feed gas is further chilled and reduced in pressure to form a lean reflux for high ethane recovery.

A method of using the natural gas storage facility to reduce the effect of diurnal demand on a natural gas source includes introducing natural gas into the natural gas storage facility, separating the natural gas into a heavy natural gas component and a light natural gas component, and retaining the components during a non-peak period of demand. The natural gas storage facility includes a guard bed system and an adsorption bed system. The method also includes releasing the heavy and light natural gas components, mixing them into a released natural gas component product and introducing it to the natural gas source during a peak period of demand.

An apparatus for separating air by cryogenic distillation comprises N air compressors (C1, C2, C3) connected so as to receive air at ambient pressure and designed to produce air at a first pressure above 12 bar absolute, N being at least 3, each of the compressors being driven by a single asynchronous motor (M1, M2, M3), the total power of the compressors being at least 10 MW.

The present disclosure provides a method of separating a feed stream in a distillation tower. The method includes maintaining a controlled freeze zone section in a distillation tower; maintaining a melt tray assembly within the controlled freeze zone section that operates at a temperature and pressure at which solid melts; forming solids in a controlled freeze zone section; raising a liquid level of a liquid in the melt tray assembly when the solids accumulate on a mechanical component in the controlled freeze zone section; raising a liquid temperature of the liquid while raising the liquid level; and lowering the liquid level after at least one of (a) a predetermined time period has passed and (b) an alternative temperature of the mechanical component is within an expected temperature range of a baseline temperature of the mechanical component.

Contemplated plants for flexible ethane recovery and rejection by allowing to switch the top reflux to the demethanizer from residue gas to the deethanizer overhead product and by controlling the flow ratio of feed gas to two different feed gas exchangers. Moreover, the pressure of the demethanizer is adjusted relative to the deethanizer pressure for control of the ethane recovery and rejection.

A self contained, trailer mounted condensation collection system for an oil and gas well. The system has a condenser for cooling and condensing those oil well gases that can be condensed and a separator for separating the condensed portion from the non-condensable portion of the gas stream so that the condensed gases can be recovered as liquid hydrocarbons. The system is powered by the gas pressure from the well and operates without any outside utilities so that it can be used at new well sites where infrastructure has not been built to support the well.