LOW TEMPERATURE PROCESS FOR THE SEPARATION OF GASEOUS MIXTURES WITH REDUCED ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

摘要

A process is provided for the separation and recovery of a major portion of the C2+ hydrocarbon content of a feed gas comprising hydrogen, methane, ethylene, and ethane. The feed gas is introduced to a dephlegmator to effect its separation into a vapor stream and a condensate stream. The condensate stream which is rich in C2+ hydrocarbons is passed to a demethanizer column where it is fractionated into an overhead methane-hydrogen stream and a bottoms product ethylene-ethane+ stream.