Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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¦ OVERLAND PETROLEUM_PROCESSOR AND PROC~.SS
Back~round of the Invention
This invention relat~s to a mobile overland petroleum
processor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a
petroleum pxocessor, or refinery, which has been constructed on a
plurality of flatbed railroad cars, and which is adapted to be
moved over a railroad network to a site which is in close
proximity to a producing well, thereby bringing the refinery to
the crude instead of transporting the crude to the refinery.
Description of the Prior Art
The prior art has revealed a number of instances wherein
facilities which are normally permanently fixed in place have
been adopted to assume a portable or mobile confi~uration through
the utilization of railxoad cars. The following United States
patents are cited:
Patent No. Patentee Issue Date
751,798 Lieb Feb. 9, 1904
1,487,854 Hansen Mar. 25, 1924
2,608,938 Hardgrove Sept. 2, 1952
3,362,700 Metz, et al Jan. 9, 1968
U. S. Patent No. 751,798 discloses a portable power plant
mounted on railroad car~. The invention was adapted ~o generate
power at a culm heap.
U. S. Pa~ent 1,487,854 directed its attention to a portable
shop useful in the erection, construction or repair of railway
cars, auto, etc.
U. S. Pa~ent 2,608,938 revealed a mobile steam genexator
mounted on a railway car.
U. S. Patent 3,362,700 disclosed a railway car for
transporting a crucible along a track system. This car defined a
de~ice for lifting and lowering the refining v~ssel.
Summary of the Invent on
Since its inception, the petroleum industxy has transported
crude to centrally located, high technology reEineries at an
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ever-increasing transportation cost to crude producers. These
protracted transportation procedures also result in lony
turnaround times in transforming the crude to ~inal product. A
going dependence on petroleum products necessitates the advent of
the better method of production which is more cost-ef~ective.
Moreover, railway systems are becoming more and more dependent on
the petroleum industry to provide fossil fuel to run diesel
operated locomotives. With the increasing price of diesel, the
railroads will, under current operating conditions, spend more
just to operate, even though they control a large portion of
current United States crude oil reserves. It would be
exceedingly advantageous if the railroads, or any crude producer,
could go from wellhead to product within a few days. Under such
circumstances, the savings realized in interest alone would
forecast a much brighter future.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to fuse
two time tested industries, the railroad network and the
petroleum industry, into one mutually beneficial operation.
It is an other object of the present invention to
facilitate the shortening of the turnaround time in trans~orming
crude to final product from weeks to merely days.
It is still a further object of the present invention to
remove the liability associated with remote wells due to
transportation charges.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide
a novel approach to crude production which will revolutionize
crude refining and product distribution.
It is still a further object o~ the present invention to
provide a novel petroleum processor which can be moved in, set
up, operated, and taken down in the time that it normally takes
current refineries to arrange transportation.
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These and other objects of the present invention will be
best understood upon a reading of the following detailed
description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings
which form part of the specification, with the understanding,
however, that ~he invention is not confined to a strict
conformity with the drawings but mlay be changed or modified so
long as such changes or modifications constitute no material
departure from the ~alient features of the invention.
It is to be understood that while a particular embodiment of
the present invention i5 herein illustrated and describedl it is
not intended to limit the invention to such disclosure, but
changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto.
It is also to be understood that the phraseology and
terminology herein employed are for purposes of description and
not of limitation, since the scope of the present invention is
denoted by the appended claims.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a top-plan view of the equipment arrangement of
the overland petroleum processor of the present invention;
Fig~ 2 is a side elevational view of ~he equipment
arrangement of the overland petroleum processor of the present
invention; and
Fig. 3 is a process flow diagram of the overland petroleum
processor of the present inventionO
Description of the Preferred Embodiments
In brief, the process herein utilizes a modular approach to
crude fractionation.` It is versatile enough to be energy
efficient and product efficient. The crude is analyzed on board
before initial set-up and the process is structured wi~h a
computer to exact the most out of the particular crude. If
tighter fractions are needed to obtain more diesel, for example,
computer commandæ are entered and the appropriate valves and
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pumps are actuated. The computer controls every aspect of
start-up and shut-down to accelerate production~
The process of taking the refinPry to the crude will soon
revolutionize crude production, and increase railroad usage will
be realized by eliminating the need for new pipeline construction
and pipeline transportation.
Referring now to the drawings, the overland petroleum
procsssor of the present invention is illustrated perspectively
in Figs. 1 and 2, showing therein top plan and side elevational
views respectively. Fig. 3 is a schematically illustrative
process flow diayram of ~he process disclosed herein. Such
illustrations are adapted to depict the present invention and are
shown for purposes of convenience in understanding the operation
and function of the invention.
The mobile overland petroleum processor 10 is adapted to be
disposed on a plurality of rail cars 11. Each rail car is a
separate module having interconnections 12 consisting of pipe and
electrical conduits arranged with swiv~l points and flexible
connections so as to expedite connection or disconnection upon
start-up or shut-down of processing operations.
It is to be understood that the interconnections between
cars or modules are disconnected during transportation, and the
interconnections are arranged so that modules or cars may be
added or deleted while remaining compatible. In other words, the
interconnections of one mod~le are interchangeable with those of
another.
In the use and operation of the invention, at least one
utility generating car 14, a control room car 15, and a plurality
of cars 16-l9, upon which is disposed the modular crude
fractionation unit 20, are coupled in a train behind a locomotive
at a departure sigh~. The numbers and types of cars may be
varied depending upon the size and kind of operation undertaken,
the effective height of the crude tower, or the number of
products desired. Thus, the inv~ntion could include tank cars
for each product refined, desalter exchanger car, potable water
tank car, equipment and maintenance car, quarters car, kitchen
and dining car, and the like.
The utility generating car 14 is adapted to supply
electrical power to each car through electrical cables which are
releasably coupled together between each of the cars. One end of
the utility generating car 14 details a battery room. The
central portion of the utility generating car encloses a turbine
generator se~, while the other end of the car houses the motor
control center and switch gear.
The control room car 15 is arranged with a central room
having a CRT out~out console at one end, office facilities in the
middle, and lab with sufficient storage space at the other end.
The computer controls every aspect of s~art-up and shut-down so
as to accelerate production~ The entire process is structured
from the console to exact the most from the particular crude. It
will be readily appreciated that the present processor may be
operated and the process undertaken and accomplished with a
minimum requirement for operating personnel.
The modular crude fractionation unit 20 comprises a
plurality of modules. Each of these modules is disposed on a
separate rail car 16-19, and are operatively interconnected.
Crude is fractionizea in a specially designed crude tower which
consists o~ six ~6) separate vessels 25a-25f so as to meet height
restriotions for transportation. Each vessel is designed for
intermediate product draw betwee~ vessels. Tha effective height
of the crude tower may be increased by adding additional module~
or ve~sels~ If fewer products are to be refined~ a module or
number of moduIes (vessels) may be deleted.
In executing the proces~ of the present invention, a sample
of the crude to be processed is analyzed in the onboard
laboratory facilities of the control room car 15. Once analyzed,
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the fractionation process is structured from the computer console
in a mannex designed to exact maximum benefits from that
particular crude. Upon tappin~ into the crude producing well, or
crude storage faciliky, the crude is pumpPd with a crude charge
pump 27 at a pressure sufficient to insure that the crude remains
in the liquid phase. The crude is then partially preheated with
a kerosene/crude heat exchanger 28, a diesel/crude heat exchanger
29 and a gas oil/crude heat exchanger 30 ~middle distillate
products)~ Preheating is completed by a reduced crude/crude heat
exchanger 31, a pumparound/crude heat exchanger 32, and a reduced
crude/crude heat exchanger 33. The prehea~ed crude is finally
heated in the crude charge heater 34 to a temperature adequate to
vaporize sufficient crude to obtain the desired product.
The vaporized crude i5 fractionized into liquid and gas
products in a specially designed crude tower 25 consisting of six
(6) separate vessels 25a-25f. Overhead gas is partially
condensed by an overhead conden~er 26. A por~ion of the
condensed light naphtha is pumped by reflux pump 53 to the tower
as reflux, and the balance is pumped to s~orage.
The bottom liquid~from each crude tower vessel 25a-25f is
pumped to the top o~ the next vessel by booster pumps 35-39.
Side stream prvducts are drawn from the respective booster pumps,
stripped in product strippers 40-42 to adjust product conditions,
and pumped by dies l pump 43, kerosene pump 44 and heavy naptha
pump 45 through a heavy naphtha cooler 46, a kerosene cooler 47,
and a diesel coolex 48.
The hot diesel product provides he~t for the heavy naphtha
reboilex 50, and hot reduced crude provides heat for the diesel
reboiler 51 and the kerosene reboiler 52.
The overland petroleum process is a highly mobile crude oil
processlng ystem capable of processing a wide range of
light-to-heavy, ana sweet-to-sour crude. It is designed to
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produce a broad slate of products: light and heavy naphtha,
kerosene/ diesel, and fuel oil products.
The crude distillation process and equipment herein
described is the same for processing sour ~con~aining sulfur) and
sweet crudes, except for equipment metallurgy and minor operating
alterations.
The equipment in a unit designed for sweet crude proce~sing
is essentially of carbon steel construction with low
chrome/nickel alloy tubes in the crude charge heater and high
temperature piping associated with the inlet and lower section of
the crude tower. A unit designed for sour crude processing would
be equally suited for processing sweet and sour crudes.
The products of the crude unit are treated to meet sales
specifications. The naphtha products are typically treated with
caustic to remove mercaptans (organic sulfide compounds) and
dissolved H2S. Sulfurous compounds in diesel and kerosene are
reacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst
IhYdrotxeating) to form H2S which is easily stripped from the
treated product. The fuel oil products are also hydrotreated but
at much higher pressure and temperature and with different
catalyst application. The treating of products can be executed
on-site with the crude fractionation, or at a centxal, remote
location.
Crude that contains brine, sediment and water ~BS~) may be
sweet or sour. A modular desalting unit can be added as a
separate, individual unit. This unit can be stored when not
required, and rapidly placed in service in the event that BSW
appear in the cxude~
The crude is heated to a temperature (100-300F) ~hat best
suits the physical properties of the individual crude. Water is
injected to dissolve the BS~. Separation of the immissible
phases is greatly enhanced electrically since the water phase
containing salt is electrolitic~
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The brine (water phase) is drawn off and disposed of by
several methods, such as injection into a disposal well.
The unit, as presented herein, has been designed for maximum
mobility. The entire facility including control room, utility
generation, and product testing facility would be built on flat
rail cars.
The instrumentation and electr:ical gear may be specified and
installed ~or compatability with transportati.on by rail.
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