Residual Oil Upgrading via Hydroextraction and Riser Injection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The refining industry faces challenges in upgrading residual heavy hydrocarbon oil feedstocks due to high Conradson Carbon Residue, metals, asphaltenes, sulfur impurities, and nitrogen, which lead to unstable products and significant coke formation, reducing liquid yield and increasing environmental concerns.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a vertical transport Riser with an upgrading material, injection of oil soluble organo-metallic additives, and a two-stage regeneration system using steam and oxygen, which includes partial regeneration of spent upgrading material and burning off coke to minimize impurities and enhance distillate production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If thermal cracking methods (visbreaking, coking) are used to upgrade residue feedstock, then heavy hydrocarbon oils are cracked into smaller molecules, but asphaltenes remain unaffected or precipitate, and concarbon and metals are not removed, leading to unstable products and significant coke formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes harmful impurities (concarbon, metals, asphaltenes) from the residue feedstock before catalytic cracking. The hydroextractor separates these impurities into a phenolic extract phase, leaving a purified raffinate that proceeds to catalytic cracking, thereby reducing coke formation while maintaining liquid yield.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces phenol as an intermediary solvent in the hydroextraction process. Phenol acts as a mediator that selectively dissolves and removes asphaltenes and resins from the crude oil, enabling separation of harmful components without affecting the valuable hydrocarbon fractions that will be cracked into liquids.
2Productivity
If conventional catalytic cracking is applied to high sulfur crude oil residue, then cracking reactions occur, but metals and sulfur impurities act as catalyst poisons, reducing catalytic activity and product quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary hydroextraction to remove metals, sulfur, and nitrogen impurities before the crude oil enters the catalytic cracking unit. This pre-treatment action protects the catalyst from poisoning, maintaining its activity and stability throughout operation, and improves overall cracking efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of metals and sulfur (catalyst poisons) into a benefit by using them as indicators for selective removal. The hydroextraction process specifically targets and removes these impurities, transforming what would be detrimental contaminants into a controlled separation step that protects downstream catalysts.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If hydroextraction with phenol is used to remove impurities, then metals, sulfur, and nitrogen are reduced, but the process complexity increases and additional separation equipment is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the hydroextraction process with the existing atmospheric distillation and vacuum distillation sequences. The phenolic extract unit is integrated into the flow sheet, with the raffinate proceeding to distillation and the extract being processed through a decanter and flash drum, combining multiple separation functions in a unified process train.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent discards the phenolic extract phase containing removed impurities (metals, sulfur, nitrogen) after separation in the decanter and flash drum. The raffinate phase, now depleted of harmful components, is recovered and forwarded to catalytic cracking, maximizing the value of the treated feedstock.
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 effectively reduces impurities, increases liquid yield, and decreases coke formation, resulting in higher-grade hydrocarbon products while maintaining refinery efficiency and environmental compliance.
Implementation Method 1
cracking the residual hydrocarbon oil feedstock along the length of a vertical transport Riser with an upgrading material
Implementation Method 2
burning partially rejuvenated upgrading material from the Reformer in a Combustor with air and oxygen containing gases
Implementation Method 3
partially regenerating the spent upgrading material so obtained in a Reformer with steam and oxygen containing gases
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
Present invention relates to a novel process for upgrading a residual hydrocarbon oil feedstock having a significant amount of Conradson Carbon Residue (concarbon), metals, especially vanadium and nickel, asphaltenes, sulfur impurities and nitrogen to a lighter more valuable hydrocarbon products by reducing or minimizing coke formation and by injecting fine droplets of oil soluble organo-metallic compounds at multiple elevations of the riser with varying dosing rates.