Patent ID: 7525000

Claim:
A method of selectively removing acetylene from a raw cracked gas mixture, the method comprising: cracking a hydrocarbon feedstock in one or more cracking furnaces to form the raw cracked gas mixture comprising hydrogen, methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, propylene, butane, one or more butenes, carbon monoxide, and butadiene; separately monitoring the amount of carbon monoxide present in the raw cracked gas mixture emerging from each of the one or more cracking furnaces injecting a sulfur containing compound into the feed gas entering any of the one or more cracking furnaces from which the emerging raw cracked gas mixture is observed to have a carbon monoxide concentration greater than a predetermined value compressing the raw cracked gas mixture with a multi-stage compressor unit; contacting the raw cracked gas mixture with a palladium-containing catalyst at a sufficient temperature and pressure such that a portion of the acetylene in the raw cracked gas mixture is converted to ethylene, the palladium-containing catalyst being contained in one or more acetylene removal units; and regenerating the palladium-containing catalyst at a time interval equal to or greater than one year from the time at which the palladium containing catalyst is first contacted with raw cracked gas mixture.