PROCESS AND REACTOR FOR UPGRADING HEAVY HYDROCARBON OILS
First Claim
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1. A process for upgrading hydrocarbons comprising:
- (a) mixing hydrocarbons with a fluid comprising water that has been heated to a temperature higher than its critical temperature in a mixing zone under conditions that disfavor thermal cracking and formation of coke to form a mixture;
(b) passing the mixture to a reaction zone;
(c) reacting the mixture in the reaction zone having a substantially uniform temperature distributions and being configured to reduce the settling of solids within the reaction zone said reaction occurring under supercritical water conditions in the absence of externally added hydrogen for a residence time controlled within determined limits to allow upgrading reactions to occur;
(d) withdrawing a single-phase reaction product from the reaction zone; and
(e) separating the reaction product into gas, effluent water, and upgraded hydrocarbon phases.
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Abstract
A process using supercritical water to upgrade a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock into an upgraded hydrocarbon product or syncrude with highly desirable properties (low sulfur content, low metals content, lower density (higher API) lower viscosity, lower residuum content, etc.) is described. The process does not require external supply of hydrogen nor does it use externally supplied catalysts. A reactor design to carry out the process is also described,
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20 Claims
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1. A process for upgrading hydrocarbons comprising:
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(a) mixing hydrocarbons with a fluid comprising water that has been heated to a temperature higher than its critical temperature in a mixing zone under conditions that disfavor thermal cracking and formation of coke to form a mixture; (b) passing the mixture to a reaction zone; (c) reacting the mixture in the reaction zone having a substantially uniform temperature distributions and being configured to reduce the settling of solids within the reaction zone said reaction occurring under supercritical water conditions in the absence of externally added hydrogen for a residence time controlled within determined limits to allow upgrading reactions to occur; (d) withdrawing a single-phase reaction product from the reaction zone; and (e) separating the reaction product into gas, effluent water, and upgraded hydrocarbon phases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A process for upgrading heavy hydrocarbons comprising:
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(a) mixing heavy hydrocarbons with a fluid comprising supercritical water having a temperature higher than the critical temperature of water in a mixing zone under conditions that disfavor thermal cracking and formation of coke to form a mixture having a temperature higher than the critical temperature of water; (b) passing the mixture to a reaction zone; (c) reacting the mixture in the reaction zone having a substantially uniform temperature distribution and being configured to reduce the settling of solids within the reaction zone said reaction occurring under supercritical water conditions in the absence of externally added hydrogen and catalyst for a residence time controlled within determined limits to allow upgrading reactions to occur; (d) withdrawing a single-phase reaction product from the reaction zone; and (e) separating the reaction product into gas effluent water, and upgraded hydrocarbon phases. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification