Order your copy of the The GPSA Engineering Databook. The 14th edition is almost 1,000 pages of technical information and is the worldwide authoritative resource for technical and design information.
Presented at Aberdeen Conference 17 - 19 May 2000 by
Vivian L. Nassar, Jerry A. Bullin, and Liii G. Lyddon
Bryan Research & Engineering, Inc.
This paper compares the solubility of hydrocarbons in several physical solvents such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, methanol, and dimethyl ethers of polyethylene glycol (DEPG, a solvent marketed by Union Carbide, UOP, and Coastal). Most of these solvents are designed to extract unwanted components such as water and acid gases. However, these solvents also have a tendency to remove the hydrocarbon product. Quantifying this amount of absorption is critical in order to minimize hydrocarbon losses or to optimize hydrocarbon recovery depending on the objective of the process. The influence of several parameters on hydrocarbon solubility including temperature, pressure and solvent water content is examined. Suggested operating parameters to achieve hydrocarbon absorption objectives are included. Hydrocarbon solubility is a major factor when considering the use of a physical solvent.