Hydrotreated hydrocarbon tar, fuel oil composition, and process for making

Abstract

Provided is a hydrocarbon tar. The tar has 75 wt % or more of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons based on the total weight of the tar. The aromatics exhibit 40% to 80% aromaticity. The tar has a boiling point of from 300° F. to 1350° F. There is also a fuel oil composition having the tar therein. There are also processes for making the hydrocarbon tar.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION[0001]The present application claims priority based on U.S. Ser. No. 61 / 745,670, filed on Dec. 24, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD[0002]The present disclosure relates to a hydrotreated hydrocarbon tar. The present disclosure further relates to a fuel oil composition containing the hydrotreated tar. The present disclosure further relates to a process for making the fuel oil composition.BACKGROUND[0003]Conventionally, high-sulfur fuel oils, i.e., those having 1 wt % or more sulfur, have been employed in marine and shipping applications due to their relative availability and low cost. However, impending international regulatory changes mandate the use of fuel oils having lower sulfur content. Thus, there is a need for low-cost, low-sulfur fuel oils for marine and shipping applications.[0004]Low-sulfur fuel oils, i.e., fuel oils having less than 1.0 wt % sulfur, are currently produced from a wide variety of st...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]According to the present disclosure, there is provided a hydrocarbon tar. The tar has 75 wt % or more of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons based on the total weight of the tar. The hydrocarbon tar exhibits 40% to 80% aromaticity, which refers to the percent of total carbon atoms in aromatic rings as measured by carbon NMR. The tar has a boiling point of from 300° F. to 1350° F.

[0008]According to the present disclosure, there is further provided a fuel oil composition. The composition is a blend of 10 wt % to 100 wt % of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons and 90 wt % to 0 wt % of non-aromatic hydrocarbons of 10 or more carbons based on the total weight of the composition. The aromatics exhibit an aromaticity of 40% to 80%. The aromatics and the non-aromatic hydrocarbons are 95 wt % or more of the total weight of the composition.

[0009]According to the present disclosure, there is further provided a process for making a hydrogenated tar. The process has the steps of (a) refining a first stream of hydrocarbons in a vacuum or atmospheric distillation tower to produce a tower stream; (b) cracking the tower stream in a steam cracker to produce a cracker stream of 75 wt % or more of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons and 60% to 80% aromaticity based on the total weight of the tower stream; and (c) partially hydrogenating the cracker stream to form a hydrocarbon tar of an aromaticity of 40% to 80% and a boiling point of from 300° F. to 1350° F.

[0010]According to the present disclosure, there is further provided a process for making a hydrocarbon tar. The process has the steps of (a) refining a crude oil or a natural gas liquid stream to produce an aromatic stream of 75 wt % or more of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons and 60% to 80% aromaticity based on the total weight of the composition and (b) partially hydrogenating the aromatic stream to form a hydrocarbon tar of an aromaticity of 40% to 80% and a boiling point of from 300° F. to 1350° F.

[0011]According to the present disclosure, there is further provided a process for making a hydrocarbon tar. The process has the steps of (a) refining crude oil or a natural gas liquid stream to produce an aromatic stream including at 75 wt % or more of aromatics of 10 carbons to 75 carbons and 60% to 80% aromaticity based on the total weight of the composition and (b) partially hydrogenating the aromatic stream to form a hydrocarbon tar of an aromaticity of 40% to 80% and a boiling point of from 300° F. to 1350° F.

Problems solved by technology

Steam cracker tars, the residuals from steam crackers, typically contain C10 to C75 aromatics and typically cannot be blended into low-sulfur fuel oils because the resulting fuel oils would not meet many of required product specifications.

Asphaltenes in steam cracker tars are not soluble in many low-sulfur fuel oil formulations.

Another specification not typically met is combustion quality, which is poor due to high aromaticity.

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