Inventors:
Dane C. Grenoble - Nassau Bay TX
Roy T. Halle - League City TX
William D. Thomson - Southampton, GB2
Assignee:
Exxon Chemical Patents Inc. - Linden NJ
International Classification:
C07C 700
F25J 300
Abstract:
A safe, effective, and economical method is provided for recovering olefins from cat-cracked gases without accumulating dangerous amounts of nitrogen oxides. A stream of cat-cracked gas first is scrubbed to remove acid gases, including nitrogen dioxide (NO. sub. 2), and then is passed through a depropanizer fractionation tower. Hydrocarbons having four or more carbon atoms are recovered in the bottoms of the depropanizer, and the overhead from the depropanizer--which is composed of hydrocarbons having three or fewer carbon atoms--is sent to an absorber demethanizer tower. Hydrocarbons having two or more carbon atoms are recovered in the bottoms from the absorber demethanizer tower, where temperatures are no lower than about -45. 56. degree. C. (-50. degree. F. ). The overhead from the absorber demethanizer tower--which is composed of methane, hydrogen, and trace amounts of nitrogen oxide, C. sub. 2, and absorbent (C. sub.