Patent ID: 11927391
Assignee: EXXONMOBIL TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING COMPANY
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. A method, comprising:
compressing an input fluid stream comprising at least natural gas and carbon dioxide to generate a first intermediary fluid stream;
cooling the first intermediary fluid stream with a first heat exchanger to generate a second intermediary fluid stream, wherein a temperature of the second intermediary fluid stream is higher than a carbon dioxide-freezing temperature for the second intermediary fluid stream;
expanding the second intermediary fluid stream to generate a third intermediary fluid stream, wherein the third intermediary fluid stream is introduced directly to a separator and the third intermediary fluid stream comprises solid carbon dioxide and a pressure of the third intermediary fluid stream is lower than that of the second intermediary fluid stream;
separating the third intermediary fluid stream in the separator to produce a fourth intermediary fluid stream and a first output fluid stream, wherein the first output fluid stream comprises a slurry of liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquid and the solid carbon dioxide, and the fourth intermediary fluid stream is a gaseous stream;
utilizing the fourth intermediary fluid stream as a cooling fluid stream for a second heat exchanger, thereby generating a fifth intermediary fluid stream;
wherein the fourth intermediary fluid stream is introduced directly to the second heat exchanger;

compressing the fifth intermediary fluid stream to generate a sixth intermediary fluid stream;
cooling the sixth intermediary fluid stream within the first heat exchanger followed by further cooling within the second heat exchanger to generate a seventh intermediary fluid stream, wherein a temperature of the seventh intermediary fluid stream is higher than a carbon dioxide-freezing temperature for the seventh intermediary fluid stream;
expanding the seventh intermediary fluid stream to generate an eighth intermediary fluid stream, wherein the eighth intermediary fluid stream comprises solid carbon dioxide;
separating a second output fluid stream from the eighth intermediary fluid stream, wherein the second output fluid stream comprises a second portion of LNG liquid; and
combining the first output fluid stream with the second output fluid stream to form a combined output fluid stream;
wherein the combined output fluid stream is obtained in an amount that is at least about 85% of a mass input of the input fluid stream.