Ionic Liquid Extraction for Heavy Oil Metal Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Heavy oils contain metal contaminants that pose environmental pollution risks and poison catalysts during processing, making it difficult to remove them effectively using existing methods like hydrotreating, especially in upgrading processes such as slurry hydrocracking.
Innovation Solution
The process involves using hydrocarbon-immiscible ionic liquids, specifically imidazolium, ammonium, and phosphonium-based ionic liquids, to extract metal compounds from hydrocarbon streams, allowing for multiple treatment steps to achieve high extraction efficiency up to 100%.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If hydrotreating processes are used to remove metals from heavy oils, then sulfur and nitrogen content is reduced, but metal removal efficiency is insufficient and catalysts are poisoned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs ionic liquids to extract metal contaminants from heavy oil feedstocks through liquid-liquid extraction. The ionic liquids selectively solvate metal compounds (such as nickel, vanadium, and iron) from the hydrocarbon phase, separating them into an ionic liquid phase that can be removed. This extraction process occurs before the heavy oil enters catalytic units, preventing metal-induced catalyst deactivation while maintaining catalyst performance and extending catalyst life.
2Quantity of substance
If conventional distillation is used to process heavy oils, then light fractions are obtained, but heavy fractions with metals remain concentrated and difficult to further process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements metal removal using ionic liquids as a preliminary treatment step before conventional distillation and catalytic processing. By removing metals from the heavy oil feedstock beforehand, the subsequent distillation and cracking processes can proceed without metal contamination, enabling efficient processing of heavy fractions and improving overall light fraction yield from previously difficult-to-process feedstocks.
3Productivity
If coking processes are used to upgrade heavy oils, then liquid products are produced, but substantial amounts of coke are formed as by-product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes metal contaminants and other impurities through ionic liquid extraction before the heavy oil undergoes coking or other thermal conversion processes. By eliminating metal catalysts that promote coke formation and removing asphaltene-stabilizing metals, the process reduces coke yield while maintaining or improving liquid product yield from the thermal cracking of heavy oils.
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 method effectively reduces metal content in hydrocarbon streams by 5-100% wt, preventing catalyst poisoning and environmental pollution, and enables further processing of heavy oils into usable products.
Implementation Method 1
contacting the hydrocarbon stream comprising the metal compound with a hydrocarbon-immiscible ionic liquid to produce a mixture comprising the hydrocarbon stream and the hydrocarbon stream-immiscible ionic liquid
Implementation Method 2
separating the mixture to produce a hydrocarbon stream effluent and a hydrocarbon stream-immiscible ionic liquid effluent comprising the metal compounds
Data Source
AI summary
The invention involves a process for hydrocarbon conversion. The process can include providing a feed to a primary upgrading zone and then treating the product from the primary upgrading zone with a feed-immiscible ionic liquid to remove metal compounds.