Hydrocarbon resid processing

• US 20070090018A1
• Filed: 10/17/2006
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Original Assignee: ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Inventors: Brown, Stephen, Buchanan, John, Wolfenbarger, Julian, Keusenkothen, Paul, Renstrom, Megan
• Granted Patent: US 8,696,888 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 208/106
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 3/009 in combination with chemical reactions
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 2300/107 Atmospheric residues having a boiling point of at least about 538 °C
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 2400/20 C2-C4 olefins
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 2400/30 Aromatics
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 45/00 Refining of hydrocarbon oils using hydrogen or hydrogen-generating compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 45/44 Hydrogenation of the aromatic hydrocarbons
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 69/00 Treatment of hydrocarbon oils by at least one hydrotreatment process and at least one other conversion process C10G67/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 69/06 including at least one step of thermal cracking in the absence of hydrogen
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 9/007 Visbreaking
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 9/14 in pipes or coils with or without auxiliary means, e.g. digesters, soaking drums, expansion means
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 9/36 with heated gases or vapours

Abstract

The invention concerns integration of hydroprocessing and steam cracking. A feed comprising crude or resid-containing fraction thereof is severely hydrotreated and passed to a steam cracker to obtain an olefins product.

Claims

1. A process comprising:

(i) obtaining a hydroprocessed effluent from a resid hydroprocessing unit, wherein the effluent comprises 650°

F.+ (343°

C.+) resid;

(ii) steam cracking substantially all of the effluent to obtain a product comprising olefins.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the effluent is hydrogenated and has been subjected to thermal cracking of at least a portion of the resid in the hydroprocessing unit.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein a hydrogen concentration of the effluent from the resid hydroprocessing unit comprises at least about 1 wt % more hydrogen than a hydrogen concentration of a hydrocarbon feed coming into the resid hydroprocessing unit.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of steam cracking comprises adding steam to the effluent from the resid hydroprocessing unit prior to cracking the effluent in a radiant section of a steam cracker.

5. The process of claim 1, comprising no removal or separation of a resid fraction from the effluent prior to feeding the effluent into a radiant section of a steam cracker.

6. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of feeding the effluent from the hydroprocessing unit into a steam cracking unit to produce a steam cracker product comprising olefins.

7. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of reducing the pressure of the effluent before steam cracking the effluent in a radiant section of steam cracker.

8. The process of claim 7, wherein the step of reducing the pressure comprises the step of flashing the effluent using at least one of a flash drum, a high pressure separator, an in-line choke, and an orifice plate.

9. The process of claim 6, further comprising the step of separating the steam cracker product comprising olefins to obtain an olefin product.

10. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of processing crude or a crude fraction containing resid in the hydroprocessing unit to produce the effluent from the hydroprocessing unit.

11. The process of claim 10, wherein the step of processing comprises combining the crude or crude fraction containing resid with hydrogen or a source for hydrogen, at a pressure of at least about 800 psig and a temperature of at least 600°

F. (315°

C.).

12. The process of claim 10, wherein the step of processing comprises combining the crude or crude fraction containing resid with hydrogen or a source for hydrogen, at a temperature of at least about 650°

F. (343°

C.).

13. The process of claim 10, wherein the step of processing comprises combining the crude or crude fraction containing resid with hydrogen or a source for hydrogen, at a temperature of at least about 750°

F. (399°

C.).

14. The process of claim 10, wherein the step of processing comprises combining the crude or crude fraction containing resid with hydrogen or a source for hydrogen, at a temperature of from about 750°

F. (399°

C.) to about 900°

F. (482°

C.).

15. The process of claim 11, wherein a source for hydrogen for hydroprocessing comprises at least one of hydrogen gas, methane gas, and steam.

16. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of adding steam to at least one of the hydroprocessing unit and the effluent from the hydroprocessing unit.

17. The process of claim 2, further comprising the step of flashing the hydroprocessed effluent through a pressure drop prior to steam cracking the effluent.

18. The process of claim 11, further comprising the step of utilizing remote methane as a source for hydrogen for hydroprocessing.

19. A process comprising:

(i) hydroprocessing a feed comprising crude or crude fraction to obtain a hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction, wherein the hydroprocessed crude fraction comprises resid; and

(ii) steam cracking a hydroprocessed feedstock, including a resid portion of the feedstock, to obtain a product comprising olefins.

20. The process of claim 19, including a step of separating the hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction to obtain a resid containing bottoms fraction and a vapor fraction, then steam cracking at least the vapor fraction to obtain a product comprising olefins, wherein a majority by weight of the bottoms fraction comprises resid having a boiling point of at least 900°

F. (482°

C.).

21. The process of claim 20, further comprising the step of feeding the bottoms fraction to the hydroprocessor for further hydroprocessing.

22. The process of claim 20, wherein the step of separating comprises using at least one of a vapor-liquid separator.

23. The process of claim 22, wherein the separator reduces the pressure of the hydroprocessor effluent to a pressure that is less than half of the pressure of the effluent immediately from the hydroprocessor.

24. The process of claim 19, including a step of separating the hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction to obtain a resid containing bottoms fraction and a vapor fraction, then steam cracking the resid containing bottoms fraction and separately steam cracking the vapor fraction.

25. The process of claim 20, wherein the step of separating comprises the process of flash separating the hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction.

26. The process of claim 22, wherein the step of separating further comprises flash separating the resid containing bottoms fraction from the high pressure separator into a flash separated vapor stream and a flash separated liquid stream, and steam cracking the flash separated vapor stream.

27. The process of claim 20, including a step of flash separating the hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction to obtain a flash separated resid-containing bottoms fraction and a flash separated vapor fraction.

28. The process of claim 27, further comprising the step of steam cracking at least one of the flash separated resid-containing bottoms fraction and the flash separated vapor fraction.

29. The process of claim 22, wherein the high pressure separator is a first high pressure separator and the step of separating using a high pressure separator further comprises reducing the temperature of the vapor fraction from the from the first high pressure separator and sending the reduced temperature vapor fraction from the first high pressure separator to a second high pressure separator and separating a second vapor fraction from a second bottoms fraction and steam cracking at least the second vapor fraction.

30. The process of claim 23, further comprising the steps of sending the bottoms fraction from the high pressure separator to a flash separation process where the bottoms fraction from the high pressure separation is further separated by the flash separation to a flash separated vapor fraction and a flash separated bottoms fraction.

31. The process of claim 23, further comprising the step of adding at least one of hydrogen and steam to the bottoms fraction from the high pressure separator either prior to flash separation or during flash separation.

32. The process of claim 29, further comprising the step of processing the second bottoms fraction in a hydroprocessing unit.

33. The process of claim 25, further comprising the step of steam cracking the flash separated bottoms fraction from the flash separation process.

34. The process of claim 20, wherein the step of separating is heat integrated with the step of steam cracking.

35. The process of claim 20, wherein the step of separating comprises at least one step of:

(i) distillation;

(ii) flashing;

(iii) membrane separation;

(iv) solvent deasphalting;

(v) gravitational settling; and

(vi) a combination thereof.

36. The process of claim 19, wherein the step of hydroprocessing comprises hydrogenating the feed using at least one of:

(i) a fixed bed catalyst system;

(ii) an ebullating bed system;

(iii) a fluidized bed system; and

(iv) a combination thereof.

37. The process of claim 19, including a step of separating the hydroprocessed crude or hydroprocessed crude fraction to obtain a product fraction and then steam cracking the product fraction to obtain a final product comprising olefins.

38. The process of claim 37, wherein the step of separating comprises at least one step of:

(i) separating by distillation;

(ii) separating by flashing; and

(iii) separating by gravitational settling.

39. The process of claim 19, wherein the crude or crude fraction contains at least one impurity selected from:

(i) sulfur in the amount of greater than 1 wt %, more preferably greater than 3 wt %, based on the weight of the feed;

(ii) resid in the amount of greater than 5 wt %, preferably greater than 10 wt %, more preferably greater than 20 wt %, still more preferably greater than 30 wt %, based on the weight of the feed; and

(iii) naphthenic acids as measured by a TAN of ≧

1.0, preferably ≧

1.5, more preferably ≧

2.0, still more preferably ≧

2.5 mg KOH/g oil, yet still more preferably ≧

3.0 mg KOH/g oil (ASTM D-664).

40. The process of claim 19, wherein step (i) saturates at least 20 wt % of the aromatic species in the feed.

41. The process of claim 19, wherein the product of step (ii) further comprises tar and wherein the tar is recycled to the feed in step (i).

42. The process of claim 19, wherein the feed comprises steam cracker tar.

43. An integrated hydroprocessing and steam cracker system for making olefins from at least one of crude and crude fractions comprising 650°

F.+ (343°

C.+) resid, the system comprising in series and in the following order;

i) at least one hydroprocessing apparatus,

ii) at least one pressure reducer,

iii) at least one steam cracker, and

iv) at least one steam cracker product recovery apparatus;

wherein the steam cracker receives at least a portion of the 650°

F+ (343°

C.+) resid from the feed.

44. The system of claim 43, further comprising a flash drum that is heat integrated with the steam cracker.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the hydroprocessing apparatus is substantially heat integrated with the pressure reducer.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the flash drum is heat integrated with the steam cracker.

47. The system of claim 43, further comprising a stream reformer in series with and prior to at least one of the at least one hydroprocessing apparatus, wherein the steam reformer is configured so as to provide hydrogen to the hydroprocessing apparatus.

48. A process for making olefins from a hydrocarbon feed comprising feeding the feed through a hydroprocessing system and steam cracker system, the improvement comprising feeding a resid-containing material into a hydroprocessing apparatus and hydroprocessing and cracking at least a portion of the resid-containing material in the hydroprocessing apparatus, and thereafter feeding at least a portion of the hydroprocessed and cracked resid-containing material to a steam cracker apparatus in the steam cracker system.

49. A process for producing olefins comprising:

(i) hydrogenating a hydrocarbon feedstock comprising at least five wt % of resid to form a hydrogenated resid-containing feed;

(ii) cracking at least a portion of the hydrocarbon feedstock during or subsequent to the step of hydrogenating the hydrocarbon feedstock;

(iii) thereafter feeding the hydrogenated resid-containing feed to a steam cracker; and

(iv) steam cracking the hydrogenated resid-containing feed to obtain a steam cracked product comprising olefins.

50. The process of claim 49, wherein the hydrocarbon feedstock comprises at least one of (i) atmospheric distillation bottoms;

(ii) vacuum distillation bottoms;

(iii) undistilled crude; and

(iv) mixtures thereof.

51. A process for hydrogenating a resid-containing hydrocarbon feedstock to produce a hydrogenated resid-containing feedstock for a hydrocracker, the process comprising the steps of:

(i) feeding a resid-containing hydrocarbon feed-stock to a hydroprocessing unit;

(ii) combining the resid-containing hydrocarbon feed-stock with a hydrogen-containing component to produce a combined feed material for the hydroprocessing unit; and

(iii) processing the combined feed material in the hydroprocessing unit at a temperature of from 700°

F. (371°

C.) to 900°

F. (482°

C.) to produce a hydrogenated resid-containing hydrocracker feedstock material.

52. The process of claim 51, further comprising the step of:

iv) feeding the hydrogenated resid-containing material of step iii to a steam cracker.

53. The process of claim 52, further comprising the step of:

v) processing the hydrogenated resid-containing material in the steam cracker to produce an olefin product.

54. The process of claim 51, wherein the step of processing the combined feed material in the hydroprocessing unit comprises pressurizing the hydroprocessing unit to a pressure of at least 1500 psig.

55. The process of claim 51, wherein the step of processing the combined feed material in the hydroprocessing unit comprises heating the hydroprocessing unit to a temperature of from about 700°

F. (371°

C.) to about 800°

F. (427°

C.).

56. The process of claim 51, wherein the step of processing the combined feed material in the hydroprocessing unit comprises heating the hydroprocessing unit to a temperature of from about 600°

F. (315°

C.) to about 900°

F. (482°

C.).