Separation process and apparatus for removal of particulate material from flash zone gas oil

• US 20050194290A1
• Filed: 03/21/2005
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions, Inc. (Bechtel Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Conocophillips Company (ConocoPhillips)
• Inventors: Hughes, Gary C., Annesley, Sharon A., Sandarusi, Jamal Allyen
• Granted Patent: US 7,476,295 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 208/131
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00006 Large-scale industrial plants
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/0055 using cyclones
• CPC Class Codes: C10B 55/00 Coking mineral oils, bitumen, tar, and the like or mixtures thereof with solid carbonaceous material cracking oils C10G
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 55/04 including at least one thermal cracking step
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 55/06 including at least one catalytic cracking step
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 69/04 including at least one step of catalytic cracking in the absence of hydrogen
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 69/06 including at least one step of thermal cracking in the absence of hydrogen
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 9/005 Coking (in order to produce liquid products mainly)

Abstract

A process and an apparatus for removing particulate material from a flash zone gas oil stream produced in a delayed coking unit. The process and apparatus of the invention employ cyclonic separation to remove particulate material from the flash zone gas oil stream. The stream can then be further processed, for example by passing the stream to a fixed bed catalytic hydroprocessing unit and then to a fluidized bed catalytic cracking unit, or to other processing units, thereby enhancing the value of the flash zone gas oil stream.

Claims

1-33. -33. (canceled)

34. In a delayed coking apparatus comprising a coking drum that generates overhead vapors, a coker fractionator that receives the overhead vapors from the coking drum and separates them into an overhead vapor stream, intermediate liquid streams, and a flash zone gas oil stream containing a substantial amount of particulate material of varying diameter, and a hydroprocessor located downstream from said fractionator, the improvement comprising:

a first separator located downstream of said fractionator and configured to receive the flash zone gas oil stream from the fractionator and remove the particulate material having a diameter greater than about 500 micrometers from the flash zone gas oil stream to form a first reduced particulate stream; and

a second separator comprising a cyclonic separator located downstream of said first separator and configured to remove particulate material having a diameter greater than about 25 micrometers from the first reduced particulate stream to form a second reduced particulate stream.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said first separator comprises a strainer.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said strainer comprises a basket strainer.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said strainer has a mesh size of about 75 to about 500 micrometers.

38. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said first separator comprises a cyclonic separator.

39. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said second separator comprises a plurality of cyclones contacting a manifold through a seal.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein said second separator comprises at least 7 cyclones, each having a diameter between about 0.5 inch and 4 inches.

41. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein each cyclone of said plurality of cyclones has a diameter between about 1 inch and about 2 inches.

42. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein each cyclone of said plurality of cyclones has a diameter of about 1 inch.

43. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein said seal is maintained at temperatures ranging between about ambient and about 800°

F. (426.7°

C.).

44. The apparatus of claim 34 further comprising a third separator located downstream from said first separator and upstream from said second separator.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein said third separator comprises a strainer.

46. The apparatus of claims 45 wherein said strainer has a mesh size of about 75 to about 500 micrometers

47. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein said third separator comprises a cyclonic separator.