Hydrocarbons, absorption

Crow, J.H. and Baumann, J.C. "Versatile Process Uses Selective Absorption," Hydrocarbon Processing, October 1974. 

One has seen that the number of individual components in a hydrocarbon cut increases rapidly with its boiling point. It is thereby out of the question to resolve such a cut to its individual components instead of the analysis by family given by mass spectrometry, one may prefer a distribution by type of carbon. This can be done by infrared absorption spectrometry which also has other applications in the petroleum industry. Another distribution is possible which describes a cut in tei ns of a set of structural patterns using nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen (or carbon) this can thus describe the average molecule in the fraction under study. 

Burdett, R.A., L.W. Taylor and L.C. Jones Jr (1955), Determination of aromatic hydrocarbons in lubricating oil fractions by far UV absorption spectroscopy , p. 30. In Molecular Spectroscopy Report Conf. Institute of Petroleum, London. 

Dehydration can be performed by a number of methods cooling, absorption and adsorption. Water removal by cooling is simply a condensation process at lower temperatures the gas can hold less water vapour. This method of dehydration is often used when gas has to be cooled to recover heavy hydrocarbons. Inhibitors such as glycol may have to be injected upstream of the chillers to prevent hydrate formation. 

Condensable hydrocarbon components are usually removed from gas to avoid liquid drop out in pipelines, or to recover valuable natural gas liquids where there is no facility for gas export. Cooling to ambient conditions can be achieved by air or water heat exchange, or to sub zero temperatures by gas expansion or refrigeration. Many other processes such as compression and absorption also work more efficiently at low temperatures. 

Determination of the dissociation constants of acids and bases from the change of absorption spectra with pH. The spectrochemical method is particularly valuable for very weak bases, such as aromatic hydrocarbons and carbonyl compounds which require high concentrations of strong mineral acid in order to be converted into the conjugate acid to a measurable extent. 

The ultraviolet absorption spectrum of thiazole was first determined in 1955 in ethanolic solution by Leandri et al. (172), then in 1957 by Sheinker et al. (173), and in 1967 by Coltbourne et al. (174). Albert in 1957 gave the spectrum in aqueous solution at pH 5 and in acidic solution (NHCl) (175). Nonhydroxylic solvents were employed (176, 177), and the vapor-phase spectrum was also determined (123). The results summarized in Table 1-15 are homogeneous except for the first data of Leandri (172). Both bands A and B have a red shift of about 3 nm when thiazole is dissolved in hydrocarbon solvents. This red shift of band A increases when the solvent is hydroxylic and, in the case of water, especially when the solution becomes acidic and the extinction coefficient increases simultaneously. 

Wingen, L. M. Low, J. C. Pinlayson-Pitts, B. J. Chromatography, Absorption, and Pluorescence A New Instrumental Analysis Experiment on the Measurement of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Cigarette Smoke, ... 

Fig. 20. Proposed photochemical mechanisms for the generation of acid from sulfonium salt photolysis. Shown ate examples illustrating photon absorption by the onium salt (direct irradiation) as well as electron transfer sensitization, initiated by irradiation of an aromatic hydrocarbon.

The value of m, also known as equiHbrium K value, is widely employed to represent hydrocarbon vapor—Hquid equiHbria in absorption and distillation... 

Decafluorobiphenyl [434-90-2] C F C F (mol wt, 334.1 mp, 68°C bp, 206°C), can be prepared by I Jllmann coupling of bromo- [344-04-7] chloro- [344-07-0] or iodopentafluorobenzene [827-15-6] with copper. This product shows good thermal stabiHty decafluorobiphenyl was recovered unchanged after 1 h below 575°C (270). Decafluorobiphenyl-based derivatives exhibit greater oxidative stabiHty than similar hydrocarbon compounds (271). Therm ally stable poly(fluorinated aryl ether) oligomers prepared from decafluorobiphenyl and bisphenols show low dielectric constant and moisture absorption which are attractive for electronic appHcations (272). 

Another use is in various extraction and absorption processes for the purification of acetylene or butadiene and for separation of aHphatic hydrocarbons, which have limited solubiHty in DMF, from aromatic hydrocarbons. DMF has also been used to recover CO2 from flue gases. Because of the high solubiHty of SO2 iu DMF, this method can even be used for exhaust streams from processes using high sulfur fuels. The CO2 is not contaminated with sulfur-containing impurities, which are recovered from the DMF in a separate step (29). 

Natural gas Hquids (NGL) a Hquid hydrocarbon mixture which is gaseous at reservoir temperatures and pressures, but recoverable by condensation or absorption (qv). 

Natural gas Hquids are recovered from natural gas using condensation processes, absorption (qv) processes employing hydrocarbon Hquids similar to gasoline or kerosene as the absorber oil, or soHd-bed adsorption (qv) processes using adsorbants such as siHca, molecular sieves, or activated charcoal. Eor condensation processes, cooling can be provided by refrigeration units which frequently use vapor-compression cycles with propane as the refrigerant or by... 

Absorber oil units offer the advantage that Hquids can be removed at the expense of only a small (34—69 kPa (4.9—10.0 psi)) pressure loss in the absorption column. If the feed gas is available at pipeline pressure, then Httle if any recompression is required to introduce the processed natural gas into the transmission system. However, the absorption and subsequent absorber-oil regeneration process tends to be complex, favoring the simpler, more efficient expander plants. Separations using soHd desiccants are energy-intensive because of the bed regeneration requirements. This process option is generally considered only in special situations such as hydrocarbon dew point control in remote locations. 

Acetylene Absorption. The gaseous feedstock containing the hydrocarbons is introduced into the acetylene absorption tower at a pressure... 

The butane-containing streams in petroleum refineries come from a variety of different process units consequently, varying amounts of butanes in mixtures containing other light alkanes and alkenes are obtained. The most common recovery techniques for these streams are lean oil absorption and fractionation. A typical scheme involves feeding the light hydrocarbon stream to an absorber-stripper where methane is separated from the other hydrocarbons. The heavier fraction is then debutanized, depropanized, and de-ethanized by distillation to produce C, C, and C2 streams, respectively. Most often the stream contains butylenes and other unsaturates which must be removed by additional separation techniques if pure butanes are desired. 

The bottoms, consisting of absorption oil, absorbed propane, and higher boiling hydrocarbons, are fed to the lean-oil fractionator. The LPG and the natural gas Hquids are removed as the overhead product from the absorption oil which is removed as a ketde-bottom product. 

Adsorption. Adsorption processes have been used to recover hydrocarbons that are heavier than ethane from natural gas. Although the adsorption process has appHcations for the recovery of pentane and heavier hydrocarbons from lean gas, the percentage recovery of LPG components in these plants usually is low compared to the normal recovery of LPG in modem turboexpander or oil-absorption plants. 

Fig. 4. A fast-cycle absorption unit for recovery of hydrocarbon Hquids from natural gas.

Hydrochloric acid [7647-01-0], which is formed as by-product from unreacted chloroacetic acid, is fed into an absorption column. After the addition of acid and alcohol is complete, the mixture is heated at reflux for 6—8 h, whereby the intermediate malonic acid ester monoamide is hydroly2ed to a dialkyl malonate. The pure ester is obtained from the mixture of cmde esters by extraction with ben2ene [71-43-2], toluene [108-88-3], or xylene [1330-20-7]. The organic phase is washed with dilute sodium hydroxide [1310-73-2] to remove small amounts of the monoester. The diester is then separated from solvent by distillation at atmospheric pressure, and the malonic ester obtained by redistillation under vacuum as a colorless Hquid with a minimum assay of 99%. The aqueous phase contains considerable amounts of mineral acid and salts and must be treated before being fed to the waste treatment plant. The process is suitable for both the dimethyl and diethyl esters. The yield based on sodium chloroacetate is 75—85%. Various low molecular mass hydrocarbons, some of them partially chlorinated, are formed as by-products. Although a relatively simple plant is sufficient for the reaction itself, a si2eable investment is required for treatment of the wastewater and exhaust gas. 

Ozone in the gas phase can be deterrnined by direct uv spectrometry at 254 nm via its strong absorption. The accuracy of this method depends on the molar absorptivity, which is known to 1% interference by CO, hydrocarbons, NO, or H2O vapor is not significant. The method also can be employed to measure ozone in aqueous solution, but is subject to interference from turbidity as well as dissolved inorganics and organics. To eliminate interferences, ozone sometimes is sparged into the gas phase for measurement. 

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