Liquid-liquid separation process via coalescers

摘要

A process for separating an ionic liquid from hydrocarbons employs a coalescer material having a stronger affinity for the ionic liquid than the hydrocarbons. The coalescer material can be a high surface area material having a large amount of contact area to which ionic liquid droplets dispersed in the hydrocarbons may adhere. The process includes feeding a mixture comprising ionic liquid droplets dispersed in hydrocarbons to a coalescer comprising the coalescer material. The process further includes a capture step involving adhering at least a portion of the ionic liquid droplets to the coalescer material to provide captured droplets and a coalescing step involving coalescing captured droplets into coalesced droplets. After the capture and coalescence steps, the coalesced droplets are allowed to fall from the coalescer material to separate the ionic liquid from the hydrocarbons and provide a hydrocarbon effluent.