Phillips Petroleum Company

William A McClintock

Cecil C Gentry

Michael L Gray

Timothy C Liebert

Oliver P Proctor

A shell and tube heat exchanger is disclosed in which the distribution of the fluid on the shell is substantially improved by the positioning of flow-restrictive disks on the tubes near the inlet and outlet regions of the exchanger. Positioning of the disks in other regions of the exchanger is also disclosed in order to create turbulence and increased beat transfer.

Heat exchanger with flow distribution means

In a tube-shell heat exchanger containing finned tubes, the support rod baffle contains rods having longitudinal fins and a serrated cross-section, which provide more positive contact with the finned tubes than conventional smooth rods.

Finned or serrated rod baffles for finned tube-shell heat exchanger

A novel supported tube bundle, useful for improving the shell fluid flow distribution in a shell and tube heat exchanger is improved by varying the number and position of rods that comprise the rod baffles in the heat exchanger. The number and position of rods are varied to provide fewer rods adjacent the inlet and outlet of the shell than at other portions of the shell so that flow of shell fluid through areas where the flow normally tends to channel is diverted to areas where flow normally tends to by-pass.

Rod baffle heat exchange apparatus and method

In accordance with the present invention a natural gas stream predominating in methane and containing significant amounts of C.sub.2, C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5 and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons is cooled in a plurality of cooling stages to a temperature sufficient to produce at least one liquid phase portion predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5 and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, the at least one liquid phase portion predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5 and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons is separated from the main gas stream during the course of the cooling, the thus separated liquid phase portion or portions predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5 and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons is further separated into a vapor phase portion predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3, and C.sub.4 hydrocarbons and at least one liquid phase portion predominating in C.sub.5 and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, at least one second separation step, at least one portion of the at least one vapor phase portion predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3 and C.sub.4, hydrocarbons is recovered as at least one product of the process and at least one portion of the remaining portion of the at least one phase portion predominating in C.sub.2, C.sub.3 and C.sub.4 hydrocarbons is recycled to and recombined with the main gas stream as a liquid phase.

Cryogenic recovery of LPG from natural gas

A process for the separation of a diolefin from a mixture thereof with other hydrocarbons having boiling points close to that of the diolefin, comprising subjecting the mixture of hydrocarbons to reaction conditions which will dimerize the diolefin, separating effluent of the dimerization into a first heavy fraction comprising the diolefin dimer and materials of higher boiling point than the diolefin dimer and a first light fraction comprising hydrocarbons having lower boiling points than the diolefin dimer, separating the first heavy fraction into a second heavy fraction comprising materials having higher boiling points than the diolefin dimer and a second light fraction comprising diolefin dimer, passing at least a portion of the second light fraction along with steam through a cracking zone under conditions sufficient to cause the diolefin dimer to be converted to the starting diolefin monomer, using at least a portion of the second heavy fraction as fuel burned to supply heat to the cracking zone, cooling the effluent from the cracking zone to recover a water phase, converting at least a portion of the recovered water to steam and recycling at least a portion of the steam through the cracking zone, and subjecting at least a portion of the dewatered cracking effluent to distillation to recover a hydrocarbon composition which has a greater concentration of the diolefin than did the original mixture of hydrocarbons.

Process for purifying diolefin

Feedstock at a first temperature is mixed with a heating fluid at a second temperature and the mixture resulting therefrom is immediately contacted with a catalyst in a catalytic conversion zone as the mixture reaches a third temperature, thus producing an effluent which is cooled to a fourth temperature as it is removed from the catalytic zone. Apparatus is provided useful for carrying out the above process.

Growing community of inventors

Bartlesville, OK, United States of America

William A McClintock