TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING - Preferred Process: The absorber produces a semi-rich solvent (13) and a rich solvent (21). The semi-rich solvent is cooled by partially expanded rich solvent. The rich solvent is expanded in two steps or three steps. Expansion step (I) of two-step process produces work, and the expansion step (II) provides refrigeration for the semi-rich solvent produced by the absorber and carbon dioxide product. Expansion in three step process produces three recycle streams, and the recycle streams are fed into the absorber. The three-recycle streams are compressed to form a compressed recycle stream, and refrigeration of compressed recycle stream is provided by Joule-Thomson cooling. Feed gas is cooled by partially expanded rich solvent, and further cooled by absorber overhead product. The feed gas is partially dehydrated at a pressure of 400-3000 psig. At least a portion of acid gas in the feed gas is removed from the gas using a membrane separator at a pressure of 1000 psig. The cooling of the natural gas and semi-rich solvent provides isothermal or decreasing top-to-bottom thermal gradient in the absorber. Expansion of rich solvent provides at least one hydrocarbon containing recycle stream, and at least one hydrocarbon containing recycle stream is fed back to the absorber. Further, expansion of rich solvent liberates a portion of acid gas from the solvent and further vacuum stripping at a pressure of 1-10 psia produces a lean solvent. The hydrocarbon liquid stream is formed on a discharge of a recycle gas cooler and recovered as liquid product while reducing recycle gas.Preferred Conditions: At least one portion of the acid gas is removed from the physical solvent at a pressure of 1-10 psia. The absorber is operated at bottom temperature of -25 to -45 degrees F.Preferred Composition: The feed gas comprises natural gas. The feed gas has acid gas content of 10-75 mol%.Preferred Components: The plant comprises an absorber that receives natural gas containing at least 5 mol% of acid gas and having pressure of at least 400 psig, a physical solvent that absorbs at least a portion of acid gas in the absorber to form a semi-rich solvent, and a cooler fluidly coupled to the absorber, that receives and cools the semi-rich solvent and provides cooled semi-rich solvent back to the absorber. The cooled semi-rich solvent further absorbs another portion of acid gas from rich solvent. Natural gas and semi-rich solvent are cooled by expansion of rich solvent.