Integration of pressure swing adsorption and hydroprocessing for improved hydrogen utilization
The invention provides a process for providing a hydrogen stream to a process utilizing hydrogen comprising obtaining a gas stream containing hydrogen and compressing the gas stream to a pressure of at least 600 psig, Then the compressed gas stream is sent to a pressure swing adsorption unit containing a plurality of beds with at least 5 pressure equalization steps to produce a hydrogen stream. The hydrogen stream can then be compressed and sent to a process utilizing hydrogen. The compressed gas stream may be chilled before entering the pressure swing adsorption unit.
1. A process for providing a hydrogen stream to a process utilizing hydrogen comprising
(a) obtaining a gas stream containing hydrogen;
(b) compressing said gas stream to a pressure of about 500 to 1000 psig to produce a compressed gas stream;
(c) sending said compressed gas stream to a pressure swing adsorption unit containing a plurality of beds with at least 5 pressure equalization steps to produce a hydrogen stream; and
(d) sending said hydrogen stream to a hydrogen consuming process,
wherein the pressure swing adsorption unit is included within a make-up gas compression system of the hydrogen consuming process.
2. The process of claim 1 comprising cooling said compressed gas stream to a temperature from about 30° C. to about 50° C. to produce a cooled compressed gas stream before said compressed gas stream is sent to said pressure swing adsorption unit.
3. The process of claim 2 comprising chilling said cooled compressed gas stream to a chilling temperature from about 10° C. to 20° C. to produce a chilled compressed gas stream before said compressed gas stream is sent to said pressure swing adsorption unit.
4. The process of claim 3 wherein said chilling temperature is about 15° C.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein about 93% of hydrogen in said gas stream is recovered.
6. The process of claim 1 wherein said compressed gas stream is at a pressure of about 600 to 900 psig.
7. The process of claim 1 wherein said compressed gas stream is at a pressure of about 650 to 800 psig.
8. The process of claim 1 wherein said gas stream is a net gas stream from a catalytic reforming unit.
9. The process of claim 1 wherein said process utilizing hydrogen is selected from the group consisting of hydrocracking, hydrotreating, and other hydrogen consuming processes.
10. The process of claim 3 wherein said cooled compressed gas is chilled by a vapor compression unit or an absorption chiller.
11. The process of claim 1 wherein said compressed hydrogen stream is further compressed before being sent to a process utilizing hydrogen.
12. The process of claim 1 wherein said pressure swing adsorption unit is regenerated to produce a tail gas.
13. The process of claim 12 wherein said tail gas is compressed to become a fuel gas.
14. The process of claim 1 wherein said pressure swing adsorption unit uses a cycle with 5 to 9 pressure equalization steps.
15. The process of claim 1 wherein said pressure swing adsorption unit uses a cycle with 6 to 8 pressure equalization steps.
16. The process of claim 1 wherein said pressure swing adsorption unit contains 12 to 20 beds.
17. The process of claim 1 wherein said pressure swing adsorption unit contains 14 to 18 beds.
18. The process of claim 1 further comprising sending said hydrogen stream to a compressor to produce a compressed hydrogen stream; and then sending the compressed hydrogen stream to said hydrogen consuming process.