SEPARATION OF COMPONENTS FROM A MULTI-COMPONENT HYDROCARBON STREAM WHICH INCLUDES ETHYLENE

摘要

A process (8, 108) to separate a multi-component hydrocarbon stream (10.1 ) which includes ethylene and other components with at least some of the components being present in a plurality of phases, is provided. The process (8,108) includes in a first flash stage (16), flashing the multi-component hydrocarbon stream (10.1 ), from an elevated pressure and temperature to a pressure in the range of 10 -18 bar(a), producing a first ethylene-containing vapour stream (16.1 ) at a pressure in the range of 10 - 18 bar(a) and a multi-phase stream (16.2) which includes some ethylene. In a second flash stage (20), the multi-phase stream (16.2) is flashed to a pressure of less than 6 bar(a), producing a second vapour stream (20.1 ) at a pressure of less than 6 bar(a) and a bottoms stream (20.2). The first ethylene-containing vapour stream (16.1 ) is removed from the first flash stage (16), the second vapour stream (20.1 ) is removed from the second flash stage (20) and the bottoms stream (20.2) is removed from the second flash stage (20).