Patent ID: 7901487

Claim:
An improved method for removing an acid gas from a gaseous stream containing same using aqueous absorption and stripping equipment, the improvement comprising: (a) passing the acid gas-rich solvent stream exiting the absorbing equipment through a multipressure stripper in which the acid gas-rich solvent stream passes through multiple flash stages such that the vapor obtained by flashing the acid gas-rich solvent stream in each flash stage strips the acid gas from the acid gas-rich solvent stream, resulting in an acid gas-rich gaseous stream exiting the multipressure stripper and an acid gas-lean solvent stream exiting the multipressure stripper; wherein the multipressure stripper is operated at multiple pressure levels such that the vapor obtained in each flash stage is compressed in a compressor and fed to the previous flash stage at a higher pressure; and (b) recycling the acid gas-lean solvent stream exiting the multipressure stripper in step (a) back to the absorption equipment at least once, wherein additional heat is supplied at the flash stage operated at the lowest pressure level.