This invention relates to the conversion of a light sweet refinery to a heavy bitter refinery via the up entrance addition of a resid hydrocracker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following are two ways wherein a refiner can produce low-sulphur transport gasoline. The first is to course of a predominantly light sweet crude by means of distillation and reaction processes to supply primarily light transportation products. A second option is to course of a heavy bitter crude oil that requires significantly extra gear to upgrade the heavier fraction referred to as resid to light products. This heavy sour upgrading has additional tools requirements to scale back the boiling vary of the resid and reduce different crude contaminants such as corrosive acids, nitrogen and sulfur. The heavy sour crude costs are discounted attributable to their processing issues which can make them economically engaging to refine.

Extensive reserves within the type of eavy crudesexist in quite a lot of nations, including Western Canada, Venezuela, Russia, the United States, and elsewhere. These deposits of heavy crudes often exist in areas which are inaccessible by normal means. Typically, the time period eavy crudesrefers to a hydrocarbon materials having an API gravity of lower than 25.

Most of the Western Canadian heavy crudes are produced by mixing a good heavier bitumen with an API gravity of roughly 6 to 12 with a diluent to have a blended API gravity of approximately 19 to 25. On this case, the bitumen is the troublesome to course of component

It can value billions of dollars to retrofit a gentle candy refinery to process heavy bitter crude. Nearly each course of unit might require retrofitting on account of its completely different boiling vary and contaminants. There are considerations that the costs of converting refineries to course of heavy sour crude will be laborious to recoup. Long term, the power to make use of heavy bitter crude is an issue that’s anticipated to confront the refining trade for an extended time frame.

Summary OF THE INVENTION

Slightly than incur the cost of extensively retrofitting an existing light sweet refinery, now we have invented a novel means of conditioning the heavy sour crude at the refinery location to make it acceptable for processing in the existing light sweet refinery gear. Our system does not considerably modify an current candy refinery. Fairly, we use a resid hydrocracker to condition bitumens or heavy sour crudes previous to processing in an present sweet refinery.

Refineries and Resid Hydrocrackers are both identified processes. This invention makes use of the Resid Hydrocracker in a new and progressive method to extra efficiently convert a Light Sweet (or moderately heavy/bitter) Refinery into a Heavy Sour Refinery. This course of feeds a complete or topped crude (atmospheric or vacuum) right into a resid hydrocracker (e.g. LC-Fining or H-Oil) on the refinery to improve the Heavy Sour crude right into a gentle candy crude prior to feeding it into the existing refinery. This course of is carried out at the refinery site, however upstream of the existing refinery. The first benefit of this invention is that it creates a crude feedstock that an present gentle sweet refinery can process without vital modifications. This benefit contains sulfur discount, nitrogen reduction, removal or corrosive acids and the upgrading of the resid. Extra specific benefits of this processing scheme include that it significantly reduces the existing refinery’s hydrotreater revamp work, it eliminates the fractionation equipment within the resid Hydrocracker and it efficiently utilizes any present bottoms upgrading gear (e.g. coker, gasification, SDA, and so forth.)

Different objects and advantages of the present invention will develop into obvious to these expert within the art upon a overview of the next detailed description of the popular embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

Temporary DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Determine is a block diagram example of this invention with a resid hydrocracker upstream of a typical current gentle candy refinery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a hydrotreating process and apparatus for upgrading an current refinery to course of a heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock of heavy oil or heavy bitumen. The method includes the steps of offering a heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock, and feeding the heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock to a Resid Hydrocracker. The recovered hydrocarbonaceous feedstock has a boiling level which is decrease than the boiling level of the heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock and accommodates decreased levels of sulfur, nitrogen and corrosive organic acids. The recovered lowered boiling level hydrocarbonaceous feedstock then is fed from the Resid Hydrocracking unit to an current refinery. The heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock usually is a heavy bitter crude or bitumen.

The Determine is a block diagram of a resid hydrocracker in accordance with this invention together with a typical current sweet refinery. Heavy bitter crude is fed to a resid hydrocracker unit.

A recovered lowered boiling level hydrocarbonaceous feedstock with much less sulfur, nitrogen and corrosive organic acids from the Resid Hydrocracker unit is fed to a main fractionation tower in an existing refinery.

During resid hydrotreating, resid oil is upgraded with hydrogen and a hydrotreating catalyst to produce more invaluable lower-boiling liquid products.

Typical resid hydroprocessing sometimes include one or more reactors that comprise a response chamber, a port at the underside of the reaction chamber by which a heavy oil feedstock and pressurized hydrogen gasoline are introduced, a port at the highest of the reaction chamber by which contemporary catalyst is launched, a recycle cup and conduit in the center of the reaction chamber, an expanded catalyst zone, an ebullating pump that circulates the reactor liquid down by the recycle cup and conduit and up via the expanded catalyst zone, a first catalyst free zone on the reactor bottom (or plenum), a second catalyst free zone above the expanded catalyst zone, a port at the top of the response chamber through which an upgraded feedstock is withdrawn from the second catalyst free zone, and a port at the underside of the response chamber via which spent catalyst is withdrawn. Circulation of the heavy oil feedstock upwards by way of the expanded catalyst zone maintains the stable supported catalyst in an expanded, or fluidized state. It also helps equalize the temperature of the feedstock all through the reaction chamber.

The resid hydrocracker reactor typically operates with a hydrogen partial pressure between one thousand and 3000 psig and a temperature between 370 and 470 C. A hard and fast-mattress, down-circulation resid hydrotreater reactor could also be employed at the lower vary of these temperatures (about 370 to 425 C.). The heavy oil residence time within the resid hydrocracker reactor is adjusted such that the amount of hydrogen added to the oil meets or exceeds the necessities of the subsequent hydrogen donor cracking process step. The residence time is usually about 5 to 60 minutes.

The above detailed description of the present invention is given for explanatory functions. It will be obvious to these expert within the artwork that numerous adjustments and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the whole of the foregoing description is to be construed in an illustrative and never a limitative sense, the scope of the invention being outlined solely by the appended claims.