| US 7,459,011 B2 | ||
| Method for processing a natural gas with extraction of the solvent contained in the acid gases | ||
| Renaud Cadours, Francheville (France); Fabrice Lecomte, Paris (France); Lionel Magna, Lyons (France); and Cécile Barrere-Tricca, Soucieu en Jarrest (France) | ||
| Assigned to Institut Francais du Petrole, Rueil Malmaison Cedex (France) | ||
| Filed on Feb. 14, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/57,011. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 04 01503 (FR), filed on Feb. 13, 2004. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0183337 A1, Aug. 25, 2005 | ||
| Int. Cl. B01D 53/14 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 95—178 [95/179; 95/181; 95/183; 95/235; 95/236] | 10 Claims |
| 1. Method for processing a natural gas containing at least one of the following acid compounds: hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide,
mercaptans, and carbonyl sulfide, where the following steps are taken:
a) the natural gas is brought into contact with a solvent that takes up the acid compounds so as to obtain a purified gas
and a solvent charged with acid compounds,
b) the solvent charged with acid compounds is regenerated so as to obtain a regenerated solvent and release a gaseous effluent
containing acid compounds and a fraction of solvent,
characterized in that the following steps are carried out:
c) the gaseous effluent is brought into contact with a non-aqueous ionic liquid so as to obtain a gas phase containing acid
compounds and an ionic liquid charged with solvent, the general formula of the ionic liquid being Q+ A−, where Q+ designates an ammonium, phosphonium, and/or sulfonium cation, and A− designates an anion able to form a liquid salt, wherein the Q+ cation has one of the following general formulas: R1R2N+═CR3—R5—R3C═N+R1R2 and R1R2P+═CR3—R5—R3C═P+R1R2 where R1, R2, and R3 represent hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl with 1 to 30 carbon atoms and where R5 represents an alkylene or phenylene residue, and
d) the ionic liquid charged with solvent is regenerated to separate the solvent and recover a solvent-impoverished ionic liquid.
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