Light Sweet Crude Steam Cracking With Selective Heavy Fraction Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refinery and petrochemical complexes are capital and energy intensive, with high-boiling compounds in crude oil causing operational issues and reducing profitability due to coke formation, and vacuum residue being deficient in hydrogen, leading to low yield of valuable chemicals.
Innovation Solution
A process and system for converting light or very light sweet crudes and condensates by separating them into light, middle, and optionally heavy fractions, with the light and middle fractions being steam cracked directly or after hydroprocessing to enhance hydrogen content, and the heavy fraction being hydroprocessed before steam cracking, optimizing the production of ethylene, propylene, and other petrochemicals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If high-boiling compounds are removed before steam cracking, then coke formation is reduced, but capital cost increases and profitability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary portion of high-boiling compounds (those above 575°C boiling point) rather than removing all heavy fractions. This selective extraction approach removes enough material to prevent excessive coke formation while retaining valuable components that can be converted to chemicals, thereby reducing capital costs compared to complete removal approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter threshold for high-boiling compound removal from conventional practices to specifically target compounds with normal boiling points above 575°C. This parameter optimization allows maximum utilization of convertible materials while preventing harmful coke formation, resolving the contradiction between removal effectiveness and economic efficiency.
2Productivity
If vacuum residue is processed without hydrogen enrichment, then processing simplicity is maintained, but chemical yield decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary hydroprocessing to enrich the vacuum residue with hydrogen before steam cracking. This preliminary action increases the hydrogen content of the feedstock, which subsequently improves chemical yield during cracking by preventing excessive coking and promoting desirable reaction pathways, while the added complexity is justified by the significant productivity improvement.
3Reliability
If conventional refinery configuration is used, then operational stability is maintained, but energy consumption and capital intensity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the refinery and petrochemical operations into an integrated configuration where vacuum residue from crude distillation is directly hydroprocessed and then steam cracked to produce chemicals. This integration eliminates the need for separate, capital-intensive refinery units and reduces overall energy consumption by utilizing process heat and materials efficiently across the integrated system, while maintaining operational stability through controlled processing parameters.
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
Enhances the yield of valuable chemicals like ethylene and propylene while reducing capital and operational costs by minimizing coke formation and maximizing on-stream availability of steam cracking furnaces.
Implementation Method 1
The hydrocarbon feedstock is heated and separated in one or more stages to recover a light fraction, a middle fraction, and optionally a heavy fraction
Implementation Method 2
The light fraction is steam cracked to produce a cracked light fraction. The middle fraction is steam cracked to produce a cracked middle fraction
Implementation Method 3
the heavy fraction is hydroprocessed to produce a converted heavy fraction having a higher hydrogen content than the heavy fraction
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and processes for converting light or very light sweet crudes and condensates to chemicals and petrochemicals. The process includes providing a hydrocarbon feedstock comprising a crude oil or condensate having an API gravity of at least 35, a sulfur content of less than 0.2 wt %, and less than 10 wt % of hydrocarbons having a normal boiling point above 575° C. The hydrocarbon feedstock is heated and separated to recover a light fraction, a middle fraction, and optionally a heavy fraction. The light fraction is steam cracked to produce a cracked light fraction and the middle fraction is separately steam cracked to produce a cracked middle fraction. The cracked light fraction and the cracked middle fraction are then separated to recover one or more product fractions including an ethylene fraction and a propylene fraction.