Recovery of light hydrocarbons from refinery gas

摘要

Described herein is a process for the recovery of light hydrocarbons from refinery gas by an expansion-distillation process. The refinery gas is compressed and cooled in a series of steps to liquify and remove light hydrocarbons from the refinery gas. The vapor portion remaining, comprised of methane, is expansively cooled thereby performing useful work. The expansively cooled vapor is used as a heat exchange medium for cooling the process stream. The liquified light hydrocarbons are separated by distillation.