Fiber-film contactor

The sweetening process utilizes a caustic solution, catalyst, and aii. Mercaptans are converted to disulfides in a mixing vessel or fiber film contactor. The reactions take place according to the following equations... 

The mixture of caustic and disulfides is transferred to a settler. From the settler, the treated gasoline flows to a coalescer, sand filter, or wash water tower, before going to storage. The caustic solution is recirculated to the mixing vessel/fiber film contactor. 

FIBER-FILM contactor. Developed by Merichem Company, Houston, TX, and used in 11 installations in 1991. 

AQUAFTNING A process for extracting water and other nonsulfur-containing contaminants from petroleum fractions by the use of a proprietary bundle of hollow fibers called a FIBER-FILM contactor. Developed by Merichem Company, Houston, TX, and used in 11 installations in 1991. 

Suspended-Fiber Contactor The Merichem Fiber-Film contactor is used in petroleum refining operations to wash hydrocarbon streams with caustic or other treating solutions [Suarez, U.S. Patent... 

FIG. 15-58 Merichem Fiber-Film contactor. [Courtesy ofMerichem Chemieals and Refinery Services, LLC.)... 

In addition to this process, which is aimed primarily at the removal of mercaptans from a gas stream, Merichem offers a number of other processes using the FIBER-FILM contactor to remove various impurities from gas and liquid hydrocarbon streams. As of 1992, it was reported that 204 units had been installed treating 2.0 MMbpsd (million barrels per stream day) liquid and 39-5 MMscfd gas (Merichem, 1992). 

In the extraction process, the LPG from the prewash tower enters the bottom of an extractor column. The extractor is a liquid/liquid contactor in which the LPG is counter-currently contacted by a caustic solution. Another option is the use of a fiber film contacting device. The mercaptans dissolve in the caustic (Equation 1-14). The treated LPG leaves the top of the extractor and goes on to a settler, where entrained caustic is separated. 

The original expanded film membranes were sold ia roUs as flat sheets. These membranes had relatively poor tear strength along the original direction of orientation and were not widely used as microfiltration membranes. They did, however, find use as porous inert separating barriers ia batteries and some medical devices. More recentiy, the technology has been developed to produce these membranes as hoUow fibers, which are used as membrane contactors (12,13). 

Selected papers for the last 15 years, presenting results of separation of dmgs, antibiotics, enantiomers by layered BLM, HELM, rotating film techniques are listed in Table 13.8. HoUow-fiber contactors, developed modular elements with optimum-configured stacks for individual applications may be an interesting direction in research. 

Hydrophilic (or ion-exchange) membranes were used for designing rotating disk, creeping film, hybrid liquid membrane, and multimembrane hybrid membrane systems, hoUow-fiber LM modules. Hydrophobic membranes were used for designing hybrid liquid membrane, multimembrane hybrid system, flowing LM, hoUow-fiber contained LM, capiUary liquid membrane modules (or contactors). Below, some of these systems are referenced and described shortly. 

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