Partial Upgrading Heavy Hydrocarbons Using Hydrogen Donator
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Solution Overview
Problem
The conventional methods for upgrading heavy hydrocarbons to make them pipelineable are costly due to the need for diluents, catalysts, and on-site hydrogen production, and they can result in waste and disposal issues.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for partially upgrading heavy hydrocarbons using a hydrogen donator, such as aromatic-naphthenic materials, to reduce viscosity and increase API gravity, eliminating the need for diluents and catalysts, by blending the hydrocarbon with the hydrogen donator and heating it to liberate hydrogen molecules for bonding, followed by quick cooling to prevent further cracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional diluent blending is used to make heavy hydrocarbon pipelineable, then viscosity is reduced and API gravity is increased, but freight costs increase and pipeline volume requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
A hydrogen donator compound is introduced as an intermediary substance that donates hydrogen to the heavy hydrocarbon during heating, thereby upgrading the hydrocarbon's molecular structure and reducing viscosity without requiring large volumes of diluent. The hydrogen donator acts as a mediator that enables chemical transformation rather than simple physical blending.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameters of the heavy hydrocarbon by introducing a hydrogen donator compound that donates hydrogen atoms during thermal processing. This chemical parameter change (adding hydrogen) fundamentally alters the hydrocarbon's properties, reducing viscosity and increasing API gravity more efficiently than physical dilution.
2Productivity
If on-site full upgrading with catalysts and hydrogen production is implemented, then heavy hydrocarbon is converted to saleable products, but capital costs and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for complex on-site hydrogen production facilities (such as steam methane reformers) and catalyst supply systems by using a hydrogen donator compound that brings its own hydrogen supply in a stable, transportable form. This removes the most complex and expensive components from the upgrading system.
Solution Approach 2:
The hydrogen donator compound serves as a disposable, single-use reagent that is blended with the heavy hydrocarbon, performs its hydrogen donation function during heating, and is then discarded in the spent blend. This eliminates the need for expensive, long-lived catalyst systems that require regeneration and replacement.
3Loss of substance
If traditional hydrocracking is used to upgrade heavy hydrocarbon, then hydrogen is added to the molecular structure, but coke and asphaltenes are rejected creating waste and disposal issues
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the potentially harmful coke and asphaltene byproducts of traditional hydrocracking into a beneficial spent blend that can be directly utilized as fuel or feedstock. By using the hydrogen donator compound approach and subsequent quick cooling, the process prevents excessive cracking that would generate problematic coke, and the spent blend becomes a useful product rather than waste.
4Ease of operation
If diluent is shipped to production site for blending, then heavy hydrocarbon becomes pipelineable, but continuous fluid flow loop increases freight costs
Solution Approach 1:
The hydrogen donator compound serves as an intermediary that enables the heavy hydrocarbon to become pipelineable through chemical modification rather than physical dilution. This intermediary approach achieves the same operational goal (pipelineability) without requiring the continuous shipping of large volumes of diluent back and forth.
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 approach reduces costs by eliminating the need for diluents and catalysts, minimizes hydrocarbon waste, and allows for efficient transportation of heavy hydrocarbons to refineries for further processing, while also reducing pipeline volume and potential corrosion.
Implementation Method 1
heating the mixture to a temperature necessary to liberate hydrogen molecules from the hydrogen donator and allow the hydrogen molecules to bond with the heavy hydrocarbon
Implementation Method 2
heating the mixture to a temperature necessary to liberate hydrogen molecules from the hydrogen donator
Implementation Method 3
means for quickly cooling the upgraded product to avoid further cracking with undesirable coke, gas and olefins/di-olefins formation
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for partially upgrading a produced heavy hydrocarbon resource at the production site (at the pad or a central processing facility) using indirect hydrogen addition, comprising a blender for blending the hydrocarbon with a hydrogen donator and a reactor for elevating the mixture to a temperature sufficient to hydrogenate the hydrocarbon to an API level required for pipeline specifications. The partially upgraded hydrocarbon can then be transported by pipeline to a refinery for further processing. The presence of catalysts and on-site hydrogen production equipment conventionally required for upgrading is eliminated. Further, the need for diluent which is conventionally used to enable pipeline ability of produced heavy hydrocarbon is reduced or eliminated, thus reducing the diluent freight cost and the required pipeline volume.