Integrated thermal processing for mesophase pitch production, asphaltene removal, and crude oil and residue upgrading

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10508240-B2
Application number	US-201715626726-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 19, 2017
Priority date	Jun 19, 2017
Publication date	Dec 17, 2019
Grant date	Dec 17, 2019

Abstract

A method for producing mesophase pitch includes the steps of flushing a vessel with an at least substantially inert gas to remove air and oxygen from the vessel; charging the vessel with a hydrocarbon feed; pressurizing the vessel to an initial increased pressure; heating the vessel to a pre-determined temperature; and maintaining the vessel at the pre-determined temperature for an amount of time operable to upgrade the hydrocarbon feed to a product comprising mesophase pitch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for producing mesophase pitch, the method comprising the steps of:
flushing a vessel with nitrogen in addition to or alternative to an inert gas to remove air and oxygen from the vessel;
charging the vessel with a hydrocarbon feed;
pressurizing the vessel to an initial pressure between about 290 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) to about 725 psig;
heating the vessel to a pre-determined temperature; and
maintaining the vessel within about 100° C. of the pre-determined temperature for an amount of time operable to upgrade the hydrocarbon feed to a product comprising mesophase pitch.

2. The method according to claim 1 , where the hydrocarbon feed comprises at least one hydrocarbon selected from the group consisting of: heavy crude oil, light crude oil, and crude oil residue with a boiling point greater than about 500° C.

3. The method according to claim 1 , where the step of pressurizing the vessel to the initial pressure includes pressurizing the vessel with nitrogen or an inert gas.

4. The method according to claim 3 , where the step of pressurizing the vessel to the initial pressure includes the use of nitrogen.

5. The method according to claim 1 , where the pre-determined temperature is between about 350° C. and about 450° C.

6. The method according to claim 1 , where the pre-determined temperature is between about 400° C. and about 425° C.

7. The method according to claim 1 , where the initial increased pressure is between about 550 psig and about 600 psig.

8. The method according to claim 1 , where the amount of time is between about 6 hours and about 17 hours.

9. The method according to claim 1 , where the pre-determined temperature is about 425° C., the initial pressure is about 600 pounds per square inch gauge (psig), and the amount of time is about 6 hours.

10. The method according to claim 1 , where an asphaltene compound content of a liquid phase of the product is reduced by at least about 50% by mass relative to an asphaltene compound content of the hydrocarbon feed.

11. The method according to claim 1 , where an asphaltene compound content of a liquid phased of the product is reduced by at least about 90% by mass relative to an asphaltene compound content of the hydrocarbon feed.

12. The method according to claim 1 , where the steps of the method are carried out without applying any additional additives or solvents.

13. The method according to claim 12 , where a metal content in a liquid phase of the product is less than a metal content in the hydrocarbon feed.

14. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch is homogeneous throughout a liquid phase and is suitable for direct crude-to-chemical applications.

15. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch includes a distinct solid phase that is at least about 90% pure mesophase pitch.

16. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch includes a distinct solid phase that is at least about 99% pure mesophase pitch.

17. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch includes a distinct liquid phase where about 80% by mass of the liquid phase exhibits a boiling point less than about 250° C.

18. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch includes a distinct liquid phase where about 90% by mass of the liquid phase exhibits a boiling point less than about 400° C.

19. The method according to claim 1 , where the product comprising mesophase pitch includes a distinct liquid phase where about 90% by mass of the liquid phase exhibits a boiling point less than about 500° C.

20. The method according to claim 1 , where the step of maintaining the vessel within about 100° C. of the pre-determined temperature proceeds for between about 6 hours and about 17 hours and pressure in the vessel increases to a final pressure between about 1,700 psig and about 2,500 psig.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Mahfouz Remi
• Melibari Faisal
• Al-Daous Mohammed A
• Xu Wei

Classifications

• C10C3/00

  Working-up pitch, asphalt, bitumen {(compositions of asphalts and other bitumenous materials C08L95/00)} · CPC title

• C10G21/003

  Solvent de-asphalting · CPC title

• C01B21/00

  Nitrogen; Compounds thereof · CPC title

• G01N23/20075

  by measuring interferences of X-rays, e.g. Borrmann effect · CPC title

• C10C3/002 Primary

  by thermal means · CPC title