Patent ID: 8080087
Filing Date: 2011-12-20
Classification: B01D,C10G

Abstract:
1. A method for removing water from a fluid hydrocarbon, which comprises the steps of: (i) contacting a feed stream of the hydrocarbon containing water with a stream of a treating agent comprising an aqueous solution of a drying salt having an affinity for water, (ii) subjecting the mixture of hydrocarbon and treating agent to coalescence/separation to coalesce the non-hydrocarbon components of the hydrocarbon/water/treating agent mixture to form larger size coalesced liquid droplets and separate the coalesced liquid droplets comprising water and dissolved drying salt from the hydrocarbon by first coalescing the finely divided droplets of the discontinuous aqueous phase of the mixture into larger, coarser droplets by adsorption of droplets on a packing of a coalescence material having a critical wetting surface energy intermediate the surface tensions of the hydrocarbon and of the water in the mixture and then passing the coalesced water droplets and hydrocarbon to a separating element having a surface energy which permits transfer of the hydrocarbon through the pores of the separator material while precluding passage of the coalesced water droplets to form a partly dried hydrocarbon stream and a separated water stream which is an aqueous solution of the drying salt, (iii) contacting the partly dried hydrocarbon stream with a solid drying salt having an affinity for water to form a dried hydrocarbon product stream and the stream of the aqueous solution of the drying salt by dissolution of the solid drying salt in water contained in the partly dried hydrocarbon stream, (iv) recirculating the aqueous solution of the solid drying salt formed in step (iii) to contact the feed stream of the hydrocarbon in step (i).