Patent ID: 8778050

Claim:
A process for removing heavy hydrocarbons from a natural gas stream comprising: directing a natural gas stream containing water and C 5+ hydrocarbons to the adsorbent bed of a thermal swing adsorption (TSA) unit, so as to adsorb at least a portion of the water and O 5+ hydrocarbons from said natural gas feedstream to produce a first product gas stream which has a reduced level of water and C 5+ hydrocarbons than said feedstream, regenerating said adsorbent bed by heating to remove adsorbed water and C 5+ hydrocarbons and form a second gas stream having a higher concentration of water and C 5+ hydrocarbons than said feedstream; cooling said second gas stream to form liquid water and liquid C 5+ hydrocarbons and separating said liquids from said second gas stream to form a third gas stream; directing said third gas stream to an adsorbent bed of a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit so as to adsorb C 5+ hydrocarbons from said third gas stream and yield a high pressure second product gas stream having a lower concentration of C 5+ hydrocarbons than said third gas stream; regenerating said adsorbent bed in said PSA unit by lowering the pressure and forming a low pressure contaminant gas stream containing C 5+ hydrocarbons.