Spent Hydroprocessing Catalyst Drying and Metal Recovery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods fail to effectively separate residual heavy oil from spent catalysts in heavy oil upgrade processes, leading to inefficiencies in metal recovery and environmental concerns due to high molecular weight hydrocarbon materials causing plugging and fouling in filtration processes.
Innovation Solution
A system employing a two-stage drying process, combining a horizontal and vertical wiped-film dryer with a rotary kiln dryer, and membrane filtration technology to volatilize and remove organic matters from catalyst particles, achieving less than 0.5 wt.% residual heavy oil concentration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional filtration processes are used to separate spent catalyst from effluent streams, then catalyst recovery is attempted, but filter plugging and fouling occur due to unsupported fine catalyst and high molecular weight hydrocarbon materials
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes high molecular weight hydrocarbon materials (asphaltenes, resins, and other heavy contaminants) from the effluent stream before the filtration step. This preliminary extraction prevents these materials from reaching and plugging the filter, while still allowing catalyst recovery to proceed effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary separation and removal of heavy hydrocarbon contaminants before the main filtration operation. By addressing the plugging issue in advance through preliminary action, the subsequent filtration process operates reliably without encountering filter blockage problems.
2Reliability
If membrane technology is used to remove contaminants, then purification is achieved, but heavy oil remains bound to catalyst particles causing downstream processing issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs roasting treatment that involves oxidative conditions to decompose and remove heavy oil residues bound to catalyst particles. The oxidative environment breaks down the hydrocarbon materials, converting them to volatile products that can be removed, leaving clean catalyst for metal recovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature and atmospheric parameters during the drying and roasting stages. By progressively increasing temperature and controlling oxygen exposure, the process effectively removes heavy oil residues that bound to catalyst particles after membrane filtration.
3Quantity of substance
If catalysts with residual heavy oil are processed for metal recovery, then metal extraction is attempted, but foaming and chemical extraction efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The roasting treatment uses oxidative conditions to completely decompose residual heavy oil and organic chemicals on catalyst particles. This eliminates the foaming agents and chemicals that would otherwise interfere with metal recovery processes, ensuring clean catalyst feed for efficient metal extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful residual heavy oil and organic chemicals into beneficial volatile products through controlled roasting. The decomposition products are removed as gases, transforming the harmful contaminants into a useful separation process that purifies the catalyst for metal recovery.
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 enables efficient separation of heavy oil from catalyst particles, reducing fouling and plugging issues, and facilitates high metal recovery rates by ensuring catalysts are processed as dry powders, thereby improving the overall efficiency of heavy oil upgrading and metal recycling processes.
Implementation Method 1
the second stage is a rotary kiln dryer. In one embodiment, the rotary kiln dryer is operated at a sufficiently high temperature to volatize organic matters such as carboxylates bound to the surface of the catalyst particles.
Implementation Method 2
the first drying stage is a combined horizontal and vertical wiped-film dryer/evaporator
Data Source
AI summary
A process to upgrade heavy oil and convert the heavy oil into lower boiling hydrocarbon products is provided. The process employs a catalyst slurry comprising catalyst particles with an average particle size ranging from 1 to 20 microns. In the upgrade process, spent slurry catalyst in heavy oil is generated as an effluent stream, which is subsequently recovered/separated from the heavy oil via membrane filtration. Residual hydrocarbons, i.e., heavy oil and solvent employed in the filtration for the heavy oil extraction are removed from the catalyst particles in a drying zone which employs at least two drying apparatuses to volatize residual hydrocarbons in the catalyst. Valuable metals can be recovered from catalyst particles for subsequent re-use in a catalyst synthesis unit, generating a fresh slurry catalyst.