Process for treating heavy oil

• US 3,957,620 A
• Filed: 08/13/1973
• Issued: 05/18/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Daikyo Oil Co. Ltd. (Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Daikyo Oil Co. Ltd. (Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Toshiro, Mukaida, Heihachiro, Fukui, Yukimasa, Hosoi, Teikichi, Makita, Hisashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Levine, Herbert
• Application Number:
  US05/387,551
• Time in Patent Office: 1,009 Days
• Field of Search: 208/46, 208/106, 208/131, 208/125, 208/126, 208/127, 201/17
• US Class Current: 208/126
• CPC Class Codes: C10B 55/02 with solid materials
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 19/073 with solid alkaline material
• CPC Class Codes: C10G 9/00 Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils

Abstract

In the treatment of petroleum heavy oil by thermally cracking a petroleum heavy oil mixed with an alkali metal carbonate or carbonates at a cracking temperature of 450° to 650°C and recovering the resulting low sulfur liquid hydrocarbon and light hydrocarbon gas, (1) gasification of residual coke produced by said cracking, in the presence of the alkali metal carbonate or carbonates and an alkali metal sulfide or sulfides by-produced during the cracking, with steam alone or steam together with an oxygen-containing gas, at 550° to 800°C and under the atmospheric pressure to 10 atm. to produce a hydrogen- and CO₂ -- rich gas, and (2) regeneration from said by-produced alkali metal sulfide or sulfides to said alkali metal carbonate or carbonates, with CO₂ gas produced by said gasification and steam, are simultaneously carried out in the same reaction zone.

Claims

1. A process comprising:

a. heating a sulfur-containing, heavy hydrocarbon oil containing at least one alkali metal carbonate, in a cracking zone at a temperature of about 450°

to 650° and

for a time sufficient to produce a gaseous hydrocarbon product and a light hydrocarbon liquid product and convert a substantial portion of the sulfur contained in said heavy hydrocarbon oil to alkali metal sulfide, while maintaining said alkali metal carbonate and said heavy hydrocarbon oil at a weight ratio sufficient to produce a residual coke by-product containing alkali metal carbonate, coke and alkali metal sulfide and having a weight ratio of alkali metal carbonate to coke of at least about 3 to 1,

b. withdrawing said gaseous hydrocarbon product, said hydrocarbon liquid product and said residual coke by-product from said cracking zone,

c. transferring said residual coke by-product to a separate gasification zone,

d. contacting said residual coke by-product with steam in said gasification zone, at a temperature of about 550°

to 800°

C and under a pressure of about 1 to 10 atmospheres, to gasify at least a portion of said coke and product a H₂ -- and CO₂ --rich gas, while maintaining said residual coke by-product in said gasification zone for a time sufficient to react said stream and said CO₂ with said alkali metal sulfide to convert a substantial portion thereof to alkali metal carbonate and produce a gaseous product and a residual alkali metal carbonate product,

e. withdrawing said gaseous product and said residual alkali metal carbonate from said gasification zone, and

f. recycling at least a part of said residual alkali metal carbonate to said cracking zone.