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Process and apparatus for converting oil shale or oil sand (tar sand) to oil

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-11-17
CHATTANOOGA
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] In one embodiment, the present invention provides an improved process for producing oil from oil sand (tar sand) or shale by reacting the oil sand (tar sand) or shale with a stream containing hydrogen in a concentration greater than 90 vol % (90 vol %-100 vol % H2) in a fluidized bed reactor, wherein the fluidizing medium is a feed stream including hydrogen gas.
[0023] In one embodiment, the invention provides flexibility in the processing of feedstocks. It comprises a process for upgrading oil bearing material e.g. bitumen or kerogen, and an apparatus for its practice.
[0032] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for recycling the excess unreacted hydrogen from the reactor in which bitumen or kerogen is upgraded to high grade low sulfur oil (about 0.1 to 0.5 wt. % sulfur, or less). In the processing of oil sands and bitumen, this can produce an SCO having an API gravity of 280 to 34° and a sulfur content of about 0.1 to 0.5 wt. %. In the case of processing oil shale a lighter product is produced ranging from 280 API to as high as 40° API or more.

Problems solved by technology

In these systems, tailing oil recovery is necessary to clear the sand for disposal, however the sand is not completely cleared of bitumen.

Method used

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  • Process and apparatus for converting oil shale or oil sand (tar sand) to oil
  • Process and apparatus for converting oil shale or oil sand (tar sand) to oil
  • Process and apparatus for converting oil shale or oil sand (tar sand) to oil

Examples

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example 1

[0142] The overall mass balance for the process according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 6, where 1000 tons / br of oil sand (tar sand) at 50° F. are reacted with hydrogen to produce 665 bbl / r of synthetic crude oil. The following Table provides the feed and product values for processing 1000 tons / hr. of oil sand (tar sand).

RAW MATERIALS PRODUCTS1000 TONS / HR. OIL SAND (TAR SAND) 665 BBL / HR SCO1.6 MMSCF / HR HYDROGEN 5.2 MMSCF / HR STACK GAS3.3 MMSCF / HR AIR 6600 LBS / HR SULFUR0.5 MMSCF / HR NATURAL GAS 850 TONS / HR SPENT SANDREACTOR DIMENSIONS AND MASS AND ENERGY BALANCESREACTOR 104Column Diameter 20.00 ftCross Section Area 34.16 ft. sup. 2Void Fraction 0.85 (At Fluidization)Cross Section of Sand 47.12 ft. sup. 2Cross Section of Gas 267.04 ft.sup.2Reactor Volume 27394.26 ft. sup. 3Bed Diameter 20.00 ftBed Height 87.20 ftTime-Space Constant 0.25 hrPressure Drop 35.00 psiOIL SAND (TAR SAND) FEEDSand Flow Rate 1000.00 tons / hrDensity of sand 21.68 lbs. / ft. sup. 3Volumetric sand flow 1...

example 2

[0143]FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a oil sand (tar sand) feed is converted into a synthetic crude oil. Run of mine oil sand (tar sand) from trucks is dumped into receiving, screening, and sizing equipment 702 for classifying oil sand (tar sand) at ambient temperature. The oil sand (tar sand) comprises bitumen and sand. The oil sand (tar sand) is crushed into relatively large fluidizable pieces that are capable of passing through a one inch mesh, or that are about one inch or less in size. In this embodiment, crushing the oil sand (tar sand) into fines or pieces less than sand size is preferably avoided to facilitate fines removal from the product stream. Limiting the amount of crushing can also reduce heat generation that can adversely affect oil sand (tar sand) processing. Oil sand (tar sand) pieces typically comprise an agglomeration of sand particles, each sand particle surrounded by a film of water and an outer layer of bitumen. O...

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PUM

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Abstract

The disclosed invention is a process for producing synthetic crude oil and includes embodiments which convert or upgrade oil bitumen, a combination of oil sands and bitumen, a combination of sand and bitumen, oil shale and kerogen to high grade low sulfur crude oil. In one embodiment it is a continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil from oil sand bitumen. In another it produces synthetic crude oil from oil shale. The process in one embodiment includes a fluid bed reactor where the reactant and fluidizing medium is substantially hydrogen. In other embodiments, the process includes treating the oil sand (tar sand) or shale to produce a fluidizable feed, feeding the fluidizable feed to a fluidized bed reactor, and fluidizing and reacting the fluidizable feed in the fluidized bed reactor with a feed having hydrogen.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil (SCO) from oil shale or oil sand (also known as “tar sand”) and an apparatus for its practice. More specifically, the present invention provides a process for treating dry oil sand (tar sand) or shale without prior beneficiation, in a reactor operating at elevated pressure and temperature conditions, in the presence of hydrogen gas. The invention also relates to a continuous process for producing SCO from oil sand bitumen. The processed bitumen can be extracted from under ground via in situ processes, or strip mined and extracted via hot water extraction processes. The present invention, can also produce SCO from oil shale. Raw kerogen oil can be extracted in situ from shale underground. [0002] The invention can be used to convert, process or upgrade one or more of bitumen, oil sand, oil shale, kerogen oil and heavy hydrocarbon feedstocks to synthetic crude oil. BACK...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): C10G1/00C10G1/04C10G1/06C10G47/22C10G47/30
CPCC10G1/06C10G47/30C10G47/22C10G1/065
Inventor DOYLE, JAMES A.HILDEBRANDT, FRED
Owner CHATTANOOGA
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