BigPatents India

Process and plant for separating off C2 or C2- hydrocarbons from a gas stream comprising light hydrocarbons with or without components boiling lower than methane, in which the gas stream which is at elevated pressure is cooled, partially condensed and separated in a first separation stage into a liquid fraction and a gaseous fraction and the liquid fraction is fractionated by rectification in a second separation stage into a product stream essentially comprising C2 or C2+ hydrocarbons and a residual gas stream predominantly comprising lower-boiling components, the gaseous fraction from the first separation stage which is produced downstream of the partial condensation be~ng separated by rectification in a third separation stage into a liquid fraction and a gaseous fraction and the liquid fraction being fed as reflux to the second separation stage. According to the invention, the last-mentioned liquid fraction (6') is applied (7') as reflux to a first separation stage (Tl), which acts as a rectifier. The lower region of the backwash tower (T3) is connected to the upper region of the separation apparatus for separating off the partiall¥ condensed part of the gas stream and the separation apparatus is designed as a stripping tower (Tl) for separating off the partially condensed part of the gas stream.