NITROGEN REJECTION PROCESS INCORPORATING A SERPENTINE HEAT EXCHANGER

摘要

A method is disclosed for cooling a multicomponent gas stream containing variable amounts of the components by passing the gas stream through a heat exchange relationship with a fluid coolant stream so that carryup of the condensed phase is maintained without condensed phase backmixing over the compositional range of the multicomponent gas stream. The gas stream is cooled by passing it through a cold-end up heat exchanger having a serpentine pathway for the multicomponent gas stream comprising a series of horizontal passes separated by horizontal dividers and alternatingly connected by turnaround passes at each end, the cross-sectional area of at least one horizontal pass nearer the cold-end being less than the cross-sectional area of a horizontal pass nearer the warm-end. The method is particularly applicable to cooling a natural gas feed stream having a variable nitrogen content in a nitrogen rejection process.