Patent ID: 7563360
Filing Date: 2009-07-21
Classification: C10G

Abstract:
1. A mercury-removal process, comprising: holding a distillation tower in a gas/liquid equilibrium state where an inner temperature gradually decreases along an upward direction, from a bottom temperature T feeding a mercury-containing liquid as a downflow and a stripping gas as an upflow into the distillation tower, whereby mercury is transferred from the mercury-containing liquid to the stripping gas by countercurrent contact inside the distillation tower; discharging the stripping gas with the transferred mercury as an exhaust gas from a top of the distillation tower through an exhaust gas line to an adsorption tower; and recovering the liquid from which mercury is stripped as a liquid product from a bottom of the distillation tower, wherein a part of the exhaust gas is cooled and returned to an upper zone of the distillation tower so as to keep the top temperature T 1 below the liquefying temperature of the light fraction.