Hydrocarbon-producing apparatus and hydrocarbon-producing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9688917-B2
Application number	US-201414779917-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2014
Priority date	Mar 29, 2013
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

In the hydrocarbon-producing apparatus, a vapor-liquid separation tank of a second vapor-liquid separation unit is provided with a filling material layer. A vapor-liquid separation tank of the first vapor-liquid separation unit has a first return line. The vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit has a second return line. A light component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank is returned to a portion between a top side above a return-location from the second return line within the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit, and a line directly connected with a cooler installed on the first vapor-liquid separation unit through the first return line. A heavy component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit is returned to the filling material layer through the second return line.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A hydrocarbon-producing apparatus for producing hydrocarbons by a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction, the hydrocarbon-producing apparatus comprising:
a bubble column slurry bed reactor configured to hold a slurry including catalyst particles and liquid hydrocarbons therein;
a vapor-liquid separator having first and second vapor-liquid separation units, each vapor-liquid separation unit including a cooler and a vapor-liquid separation tank;
a filling material layer installed at a middle portion within the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit,
a first return line configured to return a portion of a light component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the first vapor-liquid separation unit to the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit; and
a second return line configured to return a portion of a heavy component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit to the middle portion of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit,
wherein the second vapor-liquid separation unit is configured to cool gaseous hydrocarbons extracted from a gaseous phase portion above the slurry within the reactor using the cooler of the second vapor-liquid separation unit and to liquefy a portion of the cooled gaseous hydrocarbons in the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit,
wherein the first vapor-liquid separation unit is configured to cool the gaseous hydrocarbons discharged from the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit using the cooler of the first vapor-liquid separation unit and to liquefy a portion of the cooled gaseous hydrocarbons in the vapor-liquid separation tank of the first vapor-liquid separation unit, and
wherein in the second vapor-liquid separation unit, the cooled gaseous hydrocarbons are introduced into the bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank, the heavy component of light oil discharged from the bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank is recycled to the filling material layer of the vapor-liquid separation tank through the second return line, and the cooled gaseous hydrocarbons are brought into contact with the heavy component of the light oil in the filling material layer within the vapor-liquid separation tank.

2. The hydrocarbon-producing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first return line is installed so as to connect the bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the first vapor-liquid separation unit, and the top side above the filling material layer within the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit, and
wherein the light component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the first vapor-liquid separation unit is fed to the top side above a return-location from the second return line within the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit through the first return line.

3. The hydrocarbon-producing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the second return line is provided with a pump configured to transfer the heavy component of the light oil, and a cooler within the second return line located on the downstream side of the pump, and
the cooler within the second return line is configured to cool the heavy component of the light oil sent from the pump to a target temperature of 80° C. or higher, wherein the target temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature caused by the cooler of the second vapor-liquid separation unit.

4. The hydrocarbon-producing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the second return line is provided with a pump configured to transfer the heavy component of the light oil, and a cooler within the second return line located on the downstream side of the pump, and
the cooler within the second return line is configured to cool the heavy component of the light oil sent from the pump to a target temperature of 80° C. or higher, wherein the target temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature caused by the cooler of the second vapor-liquid separation unit.

5. A hydrocarbon-producing method for producing hydrocarbons by a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction using the hydrocarbon-producing apparatus according to claim 1 , the hydrocarbon-producing method comprising:
a vapor-liquid separation step of cooling hydrocarbons, which are extracted from a gaseous phase portion at an upper portion of the slurry within the reactor and are gaseous under conditions within the reactor, using the cooler, and liquefying a portion of the hydrocarbons in the vapor-liquid separation tank to perform vapor-liquid separation, wherein
while the reaction is stopped in the reactor or while the reaction progresses in which a carbon monoxide reaction conversion rate is 20% or less in the reactor, in the first vapor-liquid separation unit, a light component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank is returned to a portion between a top side above a return-location from the second return line within the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit, and a line directly connected with the cooler of the first vapor-liquid separation unit, and
in the second vapor-liquid separation unit where a cooling temperature caused by the cooler is set to 80° C. to 120° C., a heavy component of light oil discharged from a bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit is returned to the filling material layer of the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit or a top side above the filling material layer.

6. The hydrocarbon-producing method according to claim 5 , wherein
in the first vapor-liquid separation unit, the light component of the light oil discharged from the bottom of the vapor-liquid separation tank is returned to the top side above the filling material layer in the vapor-liquid separation tank of the second vapor-liquid separation unit through the first return line.

7. The hydrocarbon-producing method according to claim 5 , wherein
the second return line is provided with a pump configured to transfer the heavy component of the light oil, and a cooler within the second return line located on the downstream side of the pump, and
in the cooler within the second return line, the heavy component of the light oil sent from the pump is cooled to a target temperature of 80° C. or higher, wherein the target temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature caused by the cooler of the second vapor-liquid separation unit.

8. The hydrocarbon-producing method according to claim 6 , wherein
the second return line is provided with a pump configured to transfer the heavy component of the light oil, and a cooler within the second return line located on the downstream side of the pump, and
in the cooler within the second return line, the heavy component of the light oil sent from the pump is cooled to a target temperature of 80° C. or higher, wherein the target temperature is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature caused by the cooler of the second vapor-liquid separation unit.

Assignees

• Japan Oil Gas & Metals Jogmec
• Inpex Corp
• Jx Nippon Oil & Energy Corp
• Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd
• Cosmo Oil Co Ltd
• Nippon Steel & Sumikin Eng Co

Inventors

• ISHITO Yukifumi
• Inoue Junichi
• Shingu Masaki
• Nagano Haruki
• Tasaka Kazuhiko

Classifications

• C10G2/342 Primary

  with moving solid catalysts · CPC title

• B01J8/22

  gas being introduced into the liquid · CPC title

• C10G2/32 Primary

  with the use of catalysts · CPC title