Abstract: A method of dehydrating natural gas and for reducing emissions of hydrocarbon aromatics including the steps of passing natural gas upwardly in an absorber against downwardly flowing liquid desiccant to provide treated gas, the desiccant absorbing water and hydrocarbon impurities from the gas and forming spent desiccant, passing a portion of the treated gas from the absorber through a desiccant stripper vessel, the balance of the treated gas being passed for distribution, heating the spent desiccant and passing it downwardly through the desiccant stripper vessel to purge the spent desiccant of hydrocarbon aromatics, conducting the spent desiccant from the stripper vessel into a reboiler to again heat the spent desiccant and conveying treated gas from the stripper vessel to a burner in the reboiler where the treated gas is combusted with air, the spent desiccant is being heated in the reboiler to boil off entrained water to provide a regenerated desiccant that is recirculated back to the absorber.

Abstract: Solute gas-rich absorbing media formed in scrubbing a solute gas from an off-gas stream prior to discharge of the same are regenerated to solute gas-lean absorbing medium for recycle to the scrubbing operation. Hot solute gas-rich absorbing media is formed into one or more spray patterns of very small liquid droplets in a flowing purge steam stream in a chamber into which the solute gas is desorbed from the droplets. The droplets are coalesced to form a regenerated absorption medium, the solute gas-containing gas stream is cooled to condense out the steam and a pure solute gas stream is recovered. The operation may be effected in multiple stripping stages, which may utilize cocurrent flow of solute gas laden absorbing medium and purge steam within a single chamber or in multiple chambers. Multiple stripping steps may be effected within a single stripping stage.

Abstract: Method and apparatus are disclosed which are improvements in the conventional method and apparatus for extracting water from a gas stream such as a natural gas stream by contacting the stream with a glycol to absorb the water, and then regenerating the glycol for further use in extraction by heating the moist glycol in a glycol regenerator to vaporize the water contained in same as steam. The improvement enables control of emissions of volatile organic compounds which have been absorbed by the glycol during contact with the gas stream, while minimizing the contaminants in the water streams produced. The vented steam and gaseous volatile organics are flowed from the glycol regenerator as input to a cooling condenser having successive air and water-cooled condensers, to produce a condenser water stream having a relatively high content of the organic compounds.

Abstract: Sulfur dioxide is removed from a fluid containing SO.sub.2 by employing as an absorbent for the SO.sub.2 an aqueous solution of a compound represented by Formula I: ##STR1## wherein each Y is independently --(CR.sup.2.sub.2)--or--(CR.sup.2).dbd.and each R.sup.1 or R.sup.2 is independently hydrogen, an alkyl group; an hydroxyalkyl group: an aldehyde group: a carboxylic acid group or salt thereof: an alkyl group containing at least one carboxylic ester, a carboxylic acid or salt thereof, ether, aldehyde, ketone, or sulfoxide group: wherein the compound has at least one carbonyl group. The absorbent solution preferably can be thermally regenerated by heating to remove SO.sub.2.