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Upgrading residues, heavy oils and plastics

Inactive Publication Date: 2018-08-30
IGNITE ENERGY RESOURCES LTD
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a method for upgrading heavy oil by using a slurry made of heavy oil, polymer and water. The slurry is heated and pressurised while continuously moving along a surface. The method has several advantages, including faster heating and cooling, better mass and heat transfer, and tight control of retention time. This continuous flow also helps prevent unwanted side reactions and enhances reactions that improve the heavy oil quality.

Problems solved by technology

Plastic waste material is poorly biodegradable and represents an increasing environmental problem.
The majority of plastic waste is still used in landfill meaning that a significant amount of processed raw material and energy is lost / not utilised.
While some technologies have been moderately successful in this endeavour, in many cases heavier oil components and residues remain as waste and in general current processes and refineries are inefficient in re-refining heavy and extra heavy crude oils.
However, after a certain amount of usage, lube oil becomes unfit for further use due to the accumulation of contaminants and chemical changes in the oil.
Many heavy residue equivalents of LOR exist in other used oil products, and these are generally of limited value and usefulness.

Method used

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  • Upgrading residues, heavy oils and plastics
  • Upgrading residues, heavy oils and plastics
  • Upgrading residues, heavy oils and plastics

Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

example 1

ue Upgrading

Summary

[0275]A technology was developed to upgrade low-value feed stocks to high-value products. One such feed stock is the lube oil residue (LOR) gathered from the bottoms fraction of a vacuum distillation plant for recycling used lube oil. This residue is made up of the non-distillable fraction of the oil and contains contaminating components retained in the oil through use and additive residues.

[0276]Lube oil residue was successfully processed. About 70% of the resulting upgraded LOR could be distilled to a strongly upgraded oil product after treatment. By contrast only about 20% of the as received LOR could be distilled under comparable conditions.

[0277]The results confirm that supercritical water upgrading of LOR using the disclosed methods provides substantial benefits:

(i) A large fraction of the LOR is cracked to lighter products, leading to hydrocarbon oils boiling in the diesel and heavy gas oil ranges;

(ii) The residue remaining after upgrading followed by disti...

example 2

ue Upgrading in Combination with Polymers

Introduction

[0311]Example 2 is a prophetic Example.

[0312]Plastic and / or rubber and / or other polymeric material (polymers) may be used in combination with heavy oil components of the feedstock mixture for cracking in the reactor. Accordingly, plastic and / or rubber and / or other polymeric material (polymers) may be added to the feedstock mixture for cracking in the reactor according to the methods described below.

[0313]The polymers may be characterised in part by their glass transition temperatures Tg and / or their melting temperatures Tm in the case of semi-crystalline or crystalline polymers. Above Tg polymers generally exhibit rubbery characteristics. Non-limiting examples of glass transition temperatures and melting temperatures are given below in Table 7.

TABLE 7Tg and Tm temperatures of exemplary polymersPolymerTm ° C.Tg ° C.Polyethylene (PE)135−68Polypropylene (PP)176−8Polystyrene (PS)240100Poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA200105Poly(vinyl chl...

example 2.1

[0317]PE is ground to a powder and suspended in LOR at a temperature of 70° C. or greater such that the viscosity of the continuous phase is sufficiently low to form a pumpable suspension. At elevated temperatures the PE may begin to dissolve into the oil. For example polyethylene solubility in mineral oil increased from about 20 g / 100 g at 50° C. to about 100 g / 100 g at 65° C. according to Litkovets et al. [Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils, December 1988, Volume 24, Issue 12, pp 556-559, Solubility of polyethylene in a mineral oil, E. A. Litkovets, I. M. Bolyuk, A. M. Zeliznyi]. The melting temperature of LDPE is approximately 110° C. The mixture is pressurized using a high-pressure pump and is subsequently contacted with supercritical steam and raised to the reaction temperature. The contact with the supercritical steam provides water as an aqueous solvent and reactant for the cracking reactions. The mixture is continuously pumped through a reaction vessel to give a resi...

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Abstract

The present invention relates to upgrading heavy petroleum oils, their residues, and / or polymeric materials. More specifically the present invention relates to a method for upgrading heavy petroleum oils, their residues, and / or polymeric materials by hydrothermal treatment with an aqueous solvent.

Description

INCORPORATION BY CROSS-REFERENCE[0001]The present application claims priority from Australian provisional patent application number 2015902210 filed on 11 Jun. 2015 and Australian provisional patent application number 2015904339 filed on 22 Oct. 2015. The entire content of each provisional application from which the present application claims priority is incorporated herein by cross-reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to upgrading heavy petroleum oils, their residues, and / or polymeric materials. More specifically the present invention relates to a method for upgrading heavy petroleum oils, their residues, and / or polymeric materials by hydrothermal treatment with an aqueous solvent.BACKGROUND[0003]As light crude reservoirs become scarce and long term oil prices continue to rise, much effort has focussed on alternative sources such as the generation of bio-oils from natural feedstocks (e.g. plant material) and waste materials (e.g. sewerage, municipal waste et...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): C10G1/10C10G1/06C10G31/06C10G31/08C10G53/02C10G9/00C10G55/04
CPCC10G1/10C10G1/065C10G31/06C10G31/08C10G53/02C10G9/00C10G55/04C10G2300/302C10G2300/308C10G31/10Y02P30/20
Inventor HUMPHREYS, LEONARD JAMESROWLANDS, WILLIAM NEIL
Owner IGNITE ENERGY RESOURCES LTD
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