Method to Optimize Crude Slate for Optimum Hydrodesulfurization Performance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016334382-A1
Application number	US-201514711536-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 13, 2015
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods are provided for selecting optimal operating conditions for the hydrodesulfurization of a liquid hydrocarbon feed in a reactor. According to one aspect, a desired sulfur content of the product stream is selected. The carbazoles content of a first liquid hydrocarbon feed is measured, and a reaction order for the first liquid hydrocarbon feed is calculated based on the measured carbazoles content. An operating severity index based on the calculated reaction order is then calculated. According to one aspect, the operating severity index comprises an operating temperature of the reactor to yield the product stream with the desired sulfur content from the first liquid hydrocarbon feed. According to another aspect, the carbazoles content of a plurality of liquid hydrocarbon feeds are measured to generate a database of the measured carbazoles content.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for selecting optimal operating conditions for the hydrodesulfurization of a liquid hydrocarbon feed in a reactor having a reactor volume in the presence of a catalyst to produce a product stream comprising the steps of:
selecting a first liquid hydrocarbon feed for introduction into the reactor; selecting a desired sulfur content of a first product stream produced in the reactor from the first liquid hydrocarbon feed; measuring a carbazoles content of the first liquid hydrocarbon feed; calculating a reaction order for the first liquid hydrocarbon feed based on the measured carbazoles content of the first liquid hydrocarbon; and calculating an operating severity index based on the calculated reaction order, wherein the operating severity index comprises an operating temperature of the reactor to yield the first product stream with the desired sulfur content from the first liquid hydrocarbon feed.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
measuring the carbazoles content of a plurality of liquid hydrocarbon feeds that are produced from distilling a plurality of initial liquid hydrocarbon feeds; and generating a database of the measured carbazoles content.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of calculating the reaction order for the first liquid hydrocarbon feed comprises the step of determining a maximum carbazoles content in the database.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the reaction order of the first liquid hydrocarbon feed is calculated using the following equation:

n
=

1
+

N
carbazoles

N

carbazoles


-
max

,

where n is the reaction order, N carbazoles equals the carbazoles content of the first liquid hydrocarbon feed, and N carbazoles-max equals the highest measured carbazoles content in the database.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first liquid hydrocarbon feed and the plurality of liquid hydrocarbon feeds both comprise gas oil streams produced from distillation of crude oils.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the operating severity index is calculated using the following equations:

k
=

LHSV
*

[

S
Product

(

1
-
n

)

-

S
Feed

(

1
-
n

)

n
-
1

]

.

1

k
=

A
*

exp


(

-

E
a

R
*
T

)

*

HPP
b

*

(

Catage
*
c

)

.

2

wherein LHSV is a liquid hourly space velocity, and n equals the reaction order of the first liquid hydrocarbon feed, S Feed equals sulfur content of the first liquid hydrocarbon feed; S Product comprises the desired sulfur content of the first product stream; k is the nth order reaction rate constant, HPP is the hydrogen partial pressure, Catage is the catalyst age, A is the frequency factor, [E a ] is the activation energy, b is the hydrogen partial pressure dependency factor, c is the catalyst deactivation factor, R is the universal rate constant (R) and T is the temperature of the reactor.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactor comprises a diesel hydrotreater, the first liquid hydrocarbon feed comprises a gas oil stream and the product stream comprises diesel fuel.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first liquid hydrocarbon stream is produced from at least one of crude oils, intermediate refinery distillate streams or a combination thereof.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises at least one Group 8 metal and at least one Group 6 metal.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the amount of the Group 8 metal is from about 1 to about 30 wt. % and the amount of the Group 6 metal is from about 1 to about 30 wt. % based on the total weight of the catalyst.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first liquid hydrocarbon feed has a boiling range of about 150° C. to about 400 C.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first liquid hydrocarbon feed contains sulfur from about 10 ppm to about 40,000 ppm.

13 . The method of claim 1 ,

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Koseoglu Omer Refa

Classifications

• C10G45/08

  in combination with chromium, molybdenum, or tungsten metals, or compounds thereof · CPC title

• G01N33/2835 Primary

  Specific substances contained in the oils or fuels · CPC title

• C10G45/04

  characterised by the catalyst used · CPC title

• C10G45/02

  to eliminate hetero atoms without changing the skeleton of the hydrocarbon involved and without cracking into lower boiling hydrocarbons; Hydrofinishing · CPC title

• C10G49/26

  Controlling or regulating · CPC title