Abstract: Ethane in natural gas is a significant raw material in chemical industry. The light hydrocarbon recovery process can efficiently recover ethane or heavier components in natural gas, ensure industrial safety production, improve the utilization efficiency of light hydrocarbons and increase the profit of oil field. This paper reviews the development of ethane recovery technology around the world. For instance, we introduces several high-efficiency ethane recovery technologies as well as the evaluation and optimization methods of natural gas ethane recovery process. In order to provide reference for actual production and operation, some effective solutions are put forward to improve ethane yield based on the current research progress.