Petroleum upgrading process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9957450-B2
Application number	US-201615172292-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 3, 2016
Priority date	Sep 14, 2010
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A method and apparatus for upgrading a petroleum feedstock with supercritical water are provided. The method includes the steps of: (1) heating and pressurizing a petroleum feedstock; (2) heating and pressurizing a water feed to above the supercritical point of water; (3) combining the heated and pressurized petroleum feedstock and the heated and pressurized water feed to produce a combined feed; (4) supplying the combined feed to a hydrothermal reactor to produce a first product stream; (5) supplying the first product stream to a post-treatment process unit to produce a second product stream; and (6) separating the second product stream into a treated and upgraded petroleum stream and a water stream.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A system for upgrading a petroleum feedstock, the system comprising:
a petroleum feedstock;
a water feed;
means for heating and pressurizing said petroleum feedstock and water feed, wherein said means for heating and pressurizing the water feed are operable to produce a supercritical water;
a first hydrothermal reactor, said first hydrothermal reactor in fluid communication with the petroleum feedstock and water feed, and being operable to maintain a reactor temperature and pressure sufficient to maintain water in its supercritical state;
a second hydrothermal reactor, said second hydrothermal reactor in fluid communication with an outlet of the first hydrothermal reactor, wherein the second hydrothermal reactor is maintained at a temperature between 100° C. and 300° C., wherein water present in the second hydrothermal reactor is maintained in a liquid phase; and
a separator in fluid communication with an outlet of the second hydrothermal reactor, said separator configured to separate water and hydrocarbon containing liquids.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first hydrothermal reactor is maintained at a temperature greater than about 400° C.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising the step of maintaining the second hydrothermal reactor at a temperature and pressure such that water is in a sub-critical state.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising the step of maintaining the second hydrothermal reactor at a temperature of between about 120 and 200° C.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein hydrogen is not supplied to the second hydrothermal reactor.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the second hydrothermal reactor further comprises a post-treatment catalyst.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the post-treatment catalyst includes an active species selected from the group consisting of the Group VIB, and Group VIIIB elements.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the post-treatment catalyst is a desulfurization catalyst.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the first hydrothermal reactor is in the absence of an external source of hydrogen gas.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the first hydrothermal reactor is in the absence of an externally supplied catalyst.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the ratio of petroleum feedstock to water feed is between about 2:1 to 1:2.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the residence time of the petroleum feedstock and water feed in the first hydrothermal reactor is between 1 second and 120 minutes.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the residence time of the petroleum feedstock and water feed in the second hydrothermal reactor is between 2 minutes and 30 minutes.

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Choi Ki-Hyouk
• Punetha Ashok K
• Al-Dossary Mohammed R
• Ghamdi Sameer Ali

Classifications

• C10G2300/1074

  Vacuum distillates · CPC title

• C10G65/12 Primary

  including cracking steps and other hydrotreatment steps · CPC title

• C10G2300/1077

  Vacuum residues · CPC title

• C10G2300/805

  Water · CPC title

• C10G2300/4012

  Pressure · CPC title