Patent ID: 11535803

Abstract:
A process for purifying a gaseous feed stream of natural gas including methane, CO2 and heavy hydrocarbons including step a): cooling the gaseous feed stream in a heat exchanger; step b): introducing the cooled stream into a phase-separating chamber to produce a liquid stream depleted in methane and enriched in heavy hydrocarbons and a gaseous stream; step c): separating the gaseous stream obtained from step b) in a first membrane producing at least one CO2-enriched permeate stream and a residual stream enriched in methane; step d): introducing the residual stream obtained from step c) into a phase-separator to produce a liquid stream and a gaseous stream; step e): heating the gaseous stream obtained from step d) by introducing it into the heat exchanger used in step a) counter-currentwise with the feed stream thereby producing a gaseous stream depleted in CO2 and enriched in methane.