Heavy Hydrocarbon Extraction from Solid Substrates
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Solution Overview
Problem
The economic viability of processing heavy hydrocarbons is hindered by their difficulty in purification, leading to untapped profit potential and environmental issues due to their presence in waste products, as existing methods fail to efficiently extract crude oil from solid substrates like oil sands and asphalt shingles.
Innovation Solution
A process involving breaking up solid substrates with an auger, mixing with light hydrocarbons, separating fluids from solids through shaking and filtering, distilling to separate heavy from light hydrocarbons, and recycling light hydrocarbons for repeated use, while heating solids to vaporize and remove remaining light hydrocarbons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If heavy hydrocarbons are purified using conventional methods, then some crude oil can be extracted, but the process is economically unviable and inefficient due to the difficulty of purification from solid substrates
Solution Approach 1:
A solvent is introduced as an intermediary substance to facilitate the extraction of heavy hydrocarbons from solid substrates. The solvent mixes with the substrate to form a slurry, enabling the hydrocarbons to be separated more easily through filtration and distillation processes, thereby improving extraction efficiency while maintaining economic viability
Solution Approach 2:
The process utilizes temperature changes as a key parameter to alter the physical state and separability of hydrocarbons. By heating the slurry to specific temperatures, heavy hydrocarbons are vaporized and separated from the solvent and solid residues through distillation, enabling efficient purification that overcomes the conventional difficulty of extracting hydrocarbons from solid matrices
2Ease of manufacture
If heavy hydrocarbons are left unprocessed, then processing costs are avoided, but profit potential is lost and environmental harm increases
Solution Approach 1:
The process converts what would otherwise be harmful waste products (oil-saturated soils, asphalt shingles, bitumen) into valuable crude oil products. By treating these materials through solvent extraction and distillation, the method transforms environmental pollutants into economically viable hydrocarbon resources, simultaneously addressing environmental concerns and creating profit opportunities
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple filtering processes are applied to remove waste sediment, then purification quality improves, but process complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The purification process is divided into distinct sequential stages: initial filtration to remove large solid particles, followed by centrifugal separation to remove finer sediments, and finally distillation to separate hydrocarbons from the solvent. This segmentation allows each stage to target specific impurity types, achieving high purification quality while keeping individual process steps relatively simple and manageable
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This process enables economical and efficient extraction of purified heavy hydrocarbons, addressing the challenge of processing heavy hydrocarbons and reducing environmental impact by utilizing recycled light hydrocarbons and effectively separating and purifying crude oil from solid substrates.
Implementation Method 1
broken up into an auger
Implementation Method 2
mixed with light hydrocarbons
Implementation Method 3
mixed with light hydrocarbons
Implementation Method 4
shaken to separate fluids from solids
Implementation Method 5
one or more of centrifuges
Implementation Method 6
distilled to separate heavy hydrocarbons from light hydrocarbons
Implementation Method 7
solids are heated to remove the remaining light hydrocarbons as vapors
Implementation Method 8
solids are heated to remove the remaining light hydrocarbons as vapors
Implementation Method 9
Light hydrocarbons are cooled in a condenser
Data Source
AI summary
A process allows the extraction of heavy hydrocarbon compounds from solid substrates in an economical and efficient fashion. Materials containing heavy hydrocarbons (i.e. oil sands or roofing shingles) are broken up into an auger and then mixed with light hydrocarbons. Subsequently, the resulting slurry is shaken to separate fluids from solids, and the fluids are subjected to one or more filtering processes to remove waste sediment. These filtering processes may include a series of one or more of centrifuges and nozzle purifier machines. Filtered fluids are distilled to separate heavy hydrocarbons from light hydrocarbons. Simultaneously, the solids are heated to remove the remaining light hydrocarbons as vapors. Light hydrocarbons are cooled in a condenser and coalesced in a holding tank, wherefrom they may be recirculated into the process and used repeatedly. The now-isolated heavy hydrocarbons resulting from the distillation process may be removed as a purified product.