PROCESS FOR CATALYTIC HYDROTREATING OF SOUR CRUDE OILS
First Claim
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1. A continuous process for prolonging the useful life of hydro-demetallization (HDM) catalyst and hydro-desulfurization (HDS) catalyst in an HDM/HDS unit comprising the steps of:
- feeding sour crude feed to an HDM section to remove contaminants, thereby creating an HDS feed stream, wherein the HDM section comprises a primary HDM reactor and a secondary HDM reactor, the primary HDM reactor and the secondary HDM reactor being configured in a permutable fashion to create the HDS feed stream; and
feeding the HDS feed stream to an HDS section such that at least a portion of the sulfur components within the HDS feed stream are removed, creating a product stream, wherein the HDS section comprises a primary HDS reactor and a secondary HDS reactor, the primary HDS reactor and the secondary HDS reactor being fixed bed reactors and configured in a permutable fashion, such that the product stream contains between 0.1 wt % and 1.0 wt % of total sulfur content.
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Abstract
A continuous process for upgrading sour crude oil by treating the sour crude oil in a two step process that includes a hydro-demetallization section and a hydro-desulfurization section, both of which are constructed in a permutable fashion so as to optimize the operating conditions and catalyst lifespan to produce a high value crude oil having low sulfur and low organometallic impurities.
142 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A continuous process for prolonging the useful life of hydro-demetallization (HDM) catalyst and hydro-desulfurization (HDS) catalyst in an HDM/HDS unit comprising the steps of:
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feeding sour crude feed to an HDM section to remove contaminants, thereby creating an HDS feed stream, wherein the HDM section comprises a primary HDM reactor and a secondary HDM reactor, the primary HDM reactor and the secondary HDM reactor being configured in a permutable fashion to create the HDS feed stream; and feeding the HDS feed stream to an HDS section such that at least a portion of the sulfur components within the HDS feed stream are removed, creating a product stream, wherein the HDS section comprises a primary HDS reactor and a secondary HDS reactor, the primary HDS reactor and the secondary HDS reactor being fixed bed reactors and configured in a permutable fashion, such that the product stream contains between 0.1 wt % and 1.0 wt % of total sulfur content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A continuous process for prolonging the useful life of hydro-demetallization (HDM) catalyst and hydro-desulfurization (HDS) catalyst in an HDM/HDS unit comprising the steps of:
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introducing crude oil into an HDM section to remove contaminants to create an HDM product stream, wherein the HDM section comprises a primary HDM reactor and a secondary HDM reactor, wherein the primary HDM reactor and the secondary HDM reactor are fixed catalyst bed reactors configured in a permutable fashion, the primary HDM reactor and the secondary HDM reactor are capable of operating in a sequential fashion, the HDM product stream having reduced metals content as compared to the crude oil; introducing the HDM product stream into a hydroconversion (HDC) section to upgrade the HDM product stream to create an HDC product stream, wherein the HDC section comprises a primary HDC reactor and a secondary HDC reactor, wherein the primary HDC reactor and the secondary HDC reactor are fixed catalyst bed reactors configured in a permutable fashion, the HDC product stream being characterized as having an increased API gravity as compared to the HDM product stream; introducing the HDC product stream into an HDS section such that at least a portion of the sulfur components within the HDC product stream are removed, thereby creating an HDS product stream, wherein the HDS section comprises a primary HDS reactor and a secondary HDS reactor, the primary HDS reactor and the secondary HDS reactor being fixed bed reactors configured in a permutable fashion, wherein the HDS product stream contains between 0.1 weight percent and 1.0 weight percent sulfur; measuring a process condition within the HDM section, the HDC section and the HDS section; and altering the order in which respective input streams for the HDM section, the HDC section and the HDS section enter their respective reactors of the HDM section, the HDC section and the HDS section based upon the measured process condition. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for prolonging useful life of hydro-demetallization (HDM) catalyst and hydro-desulfurization (HDS) catalyst comprising:
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a wellhead; an HDM section, the HDM section comprising a primary HDM reactor and a secondary HDM reactor, wherein the primary HDM reactor and the secondary HDM reactor are configured in a permutable fashion; an HDS section, the HDS section comprising a primary HDS reactor and a secondary HDS reactor, wherein the primary HDS reactor and the secondary HDS reactor are configured in a permutable fashion; wherein the HDM section is operable to receive crude oil produced from the wellhead, and wherein the HDS section is in liquid communication with the HDM section such that the HDS section is operable to receive a product stream from the HDM section. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification