Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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HYBRID CRUDE OIL AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME
USING PETROLEUM-BASED WASTE STREAM PRODUCTS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention is in the field of mining, reclamation and
recycling. Specifically, the present
invention provides methods for retrieving organics, including petroleum
products and byproducts, crude oil,
and the recovery and recycling of organics-containing products, such as
asphalt as well as the resulting
recycled materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to a
hybrid crude oil and methods of making
the same using petroleum-based waste stream products.
BACKGROUND
[002] The following discussion proceeds with the exemplary petroleum-based
material of asphalt,
although it is to be understood that other petroleum-based, petroleum-
containing and organic materials exist
which are either desirous of being recycled or in certain instances, desirous
of being mined and abstracted
from their native and virgin environment. Accordingly, the present invention
contemplates and includes all such
petroleum-based, petroleum-containing and other organic materials within its
scope.
[003] Asphalt is a universal raw material used for roadways, parking lots
and other surface
treatments. The asphalt material is generally a composition of minerals
including aggregate and sand or
stone dust and an asphalt binder. Additionally, novel asphalt mixtures include
various substitutes for the
aggregate (coarse and fine) including: glass that been reduced in size, used
tires, and other reclaimed
materials. The asphalt binder is basically the glue that binds the mineral or
aggregate ingredients such that
they are solid under normal operating or environmental temperatures but liquid
or semi-liquid under
elevated temperatures, such as 300-400 F. Another product related to the
commonly known term as
asphalt is roofing shingles, composed of similar components including
aggregate, asphalt binder, and
fiberglass.
[004] A typical asphalt composition contains a general ratio of materials
as follows: coarse aggregate
including minerals or stone, that have been reduced in size, having particle
sizes in the range from about
1/8 to 1 inch, or 70-85% of volume, fine aggregate including compositions of
stone dust that has been
reduced in size, glass that has been reduced in size, sand or other small
sized filler, or 10-20% of volume,
asphalt binder, a blend of petroleum refinery product (byproduct) that can be
further modified to achieve
certain asphalt mixtures or grades, about 10% of volume, and miscellaneous
ingredients including trapped
air (voids) and moisture. A typical asphalt mixture is the blending of the
coarse and fine aggregate with the
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asphalt binder. However, in the blending process, some trapped air is normally
also included. The amount
of trapped air and the coating and bonding of the asphalt binder to the
aggregate determines the quality
and grade of the final asphalt product. As these materials are mixed, the
asphalt composition is subjected
to elevated temperature (about 300-400 F) and uniformly mixed such that a
uniform blending of
components is achieved. This hot mixture is bonded by the phase change of the
asphalt binder from a semi-
liquid to a solid as the mixture cools to a lower temperature or ambient
temperature. As the semi-liquid asphalt
binder coats the coarse and fine aggregates, the final asphalt mixture is
blended to meet the requirements of
the needed final product.
[005] Certain asphalt mixtures are required to meet Department of
Transportation specifications based
upon application location, environmental and temperature ranges and other
requirements. The various
grades of asphalt are based upon the aggregate size (coarse and fine), content
and percentages of the
added components including binder. These asphalt grades created by their
respective asphalt binders,
screened aggregate particle sizes, compaction forces on the mixture and
vibratory rolling to further
orientate the final asphalt composition prior to solidification.
[006] As the asphalt is applied to a surface and rolled so that the final
flat surface is achieved, other
variables are introduced that can affect asphalt quality. These variables or
conditions include surface
temperatures, asphalt temperatures, application thicknesses and other
application variables that may affect
the final grade of the asphalt achieved. The asphalt binder applied is a form
of thermoplastic that solidifies
as the temperature is reduced from the asphalt blending temperature (300-400
F) to the final product
application temperatures (-60 to 160 F). These temperature ranges affect the
temperature change rate or
thermal gradient of the solidification process and this affects the final
product compaction ratio, density and
mechanical properties. The final asphalt product performance factors are based
upon these components,
the mixture ratios and application methods.
[007] The asphalt binder is phase changed from a solid at ambient
temperatures to a semi liquid or
liquid state at elevated temperatures (a plastic state or high viscosity
state) that coats the coarse and fine
aggregates and fills the voids of the mixture. Aggregate uniformity coating
issues occur with the semi liquid
asphalt binder because it cannot be thoroughly liquid. After a certain
elevation in temperature, the asphalt
binder burns or degrades. This aggregate coating capability is an important
aspect of achieving higher
grade asphalts. It would be desirable to coat the aggregate in an improved
manner.
[008] Once an asphalt mixture is applied and rolled onto a desired surface
(roadway, parking lot
driveway, etc.), the lower temperature of the contact surface changes the
asphalt binder back from a semi-
liquid state to a solid. This becomes the desired asphalt final product. The
coarse and fine aggregate
compositions, mixture ratios and asphalt binder blends may further improve the
asphalt mixture and final
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asphalt product properties that may provide an improved life cycle, operating
temperature exposure
characteristics, weight load bearing properties, surface coefficient of
friction characteristics and other
desired properties.
[009] The current methods for recycling asphalt typically take certain
percentages of "millings" or
scrapped/salvaged asphalt from an existing, aged or degraded asphalt surface
and blend a small
percentage of these millings into a virgin mixture of asphalt (a blend of 25%
millings to 75% virgin asphalt
is a normal practice). These recycling methods provide a means of recovering
small percentages of the
used or "salvaged" asphalt for recycling back into a new asphalt. As a general
rule, approximately 10-30%
of millings can remixed with virgin asphalt. This is because the new asphalt
mixture is degraded with the
addition of aged millings because it does not blend as uniformly as virgin
materials. This practice is not
allowed in some jurisdictions (approximately 22 States have banned this
process) because the new asphalt
mixture (with the recycled asphalt content) is inferior. This is likely the
result of the aged asphalt having
asphalt binder in a crystalline or solid state that cannot phase change or
liquefy as the virgin asphalt binder
and thus cannot completely blend into the mixture. This yields a lower grade
asphalt mixture that has limited
use such applications as parking lots and driveways.
[0010] Elseifi et al., U.S. Patent Publication 2014/0299018, generally
describe a process for
separating constituents of an asphalt-based material including at least
asphalt and one solid non-asphalt
material by shredding the asphalt-based material to form a shredded material
mass. Next, an asphalt
binder at an elevated temperature is added to absorb the recoverable asphalt
binder from the shredded
material. This produces a 30-40% increase in the binder volume, i.e., the
recovered binder from the
shredded material.
[0011] Kotefski et al., U.S. Serial No. 15/355,487, filed November 18,
2016, the disclosure of which
is herein incorporated by reference, generally teach methods to reclaim or
recycle asphalt or asphalt
components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt components by adding the
asphalt or asphalt
components to a solution at a temperature higher than the melting temperature
of the asphalt binder. The
solution may be at least 300 F, 325 F, 350 F or 400 F or so, and the solution
may be an oil or petroleum
based solution or any other suitable solution in which the asphalt binder is
soluble. In some instances, the
solution may be virgin motor oil or recycled motor oil or used motor oil. It
is desirable to provide new and
improved methods to reclaim or recycle asphalt to produce reusable asphalt and
asphalt components.
Preferably, reusable asphalt and asphalt components that have the same
physical properties of virgin
asphalt. Specifically, the aggregate or minerals of the asphalt are not
physically altered in size, shape, or
profile.
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[0012] Franzen et al., U.S. Serial No. 13/833,091, filed on March 15, 2013,
generally describe a
method of creating a processed asphalt suspension composition where the
asphalt shingle material is reduced
down to a particular size fine enough to effectively reuse the recycled
shingle material into a new mixture of
this recycled shingle material and the addition of virgin asphalt or an
asphalt suspension composition. That is,
the granules, fiberglass or other mineral components in the asphalt shingles
are reduced to a mesh fine
enough to be incorporated into newly manufactured products. Basically, Franzen
starts the process by grinding
both the asphalt with the various minerals and filler materials, to form a
recycled shingle material of
approximately 1 cm in size, which is then added to, and mixed with hot virgin
asphalt.
[0013] The mixture is then sent to a wet grinding process to both reduce
the particle size of the mineral
particles but to fully incorporate the asphalt from the recycled ground
shingle material into the virgin asphalt.
The wet grinding process further reduces the size of the mineral particles to
200 microns from the initial
reduction of 1 cm. This wet grinding process is a mechanical deformation means
of reducing, crushing or
pulverizing the mineral components of the recycled shingle material down to a
size of 200 microns and well as
a means of incorporating the asphalt from the recycled ground shingle material
into the virgin asphalt. The wet
grinding process creates a new mixture of ground shingle material and virgin
asphalt, termed a processed
asphalt suspension. The processed asphalt suspension is a mixture of the
pulverized recycled single material
and additional virgin asphalt or an asphalt paste containing pulverized
minerals. However, Franzen's process,
as representative of conventional processes, does not permit the mining, that
is the retrieval, removal, or
recovery of the original (i.e., initial or native) constituent components of
the asphalt shingle material, in terms of
size, shape, or profile.
[0014] It is also desirable to provide further improved methods to reclaim
or recycle asphalt or
asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt components,
petroleum-based, petroleum-
containing, and organic materials that are either desirous of being recycled
or in certain instances, desirous of
being mined and abstracted from their native or virgin environment, organic
materials, collectively referred to
herein as petroleum-containing materials. These petroleum-containing materials
include, for example: roofing
shingles, pavement asphalt, tar sands, oil sands, shale, contaminated soils,
and other petroleum-containing
materials.
[0015] Crude oil is a natural product provided by various reserves on
earth. This natural product can
be processed or distilled into byproducts, such as gasoline, kerosene,
plastics, asphalt for roofing shingles,
asphalt binder for asphalt pavement, and numerous other products. While
gasoline and kerosene are burned
as a fuel source, plastics, asphalt for roofing shingles, and asphalt binder
for asphalt pavement become waste
stream products after their useful life. Each of these exemplary waste stream
products creates a manmade
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pollution or waste stream on a continuous basis because crude oil or petroleum-
based byproducts are a
needed commodity and continue to be in great demand by consumers.
[0016] Oil does not dissolve in water. It lasts a long time and sticks to
everything from beach sand to bird
feathers. Oil and petroleum products are toxic to people, wildlife, and
plants. One quart of motor oil can pollute
250,000 gallons of water, and one gallon of gasoline can pollute 750,000
gallons of water. Oil that leaks from cars
onto roads and driveways is washed into storm drains, and then usually flows
directly into a lake or stream. Used
motor oil is the largest single source of oil pollution in lakes, streams, and
rivers. Americans spill 180 million
gallons of used oil each year into the nation's waters. This is about 16 times
the amount spilled by the Exxon
Valdez in Alaska. Reference is made to https://www.mass.gov/guides/education-
in-nonpoint-source-pollution-
prevention.
[0017] To date, and prior to the advent of the present invention, there
has been no complete (or
substantially complete) reclamation or recycling solution for these waste
stream products. The waste stream
products are created by the industry but after their useful life they become
an unneeded waste stream that
create significant ecological, environmental, or pollution issues.
[0018] The major sources of crude oil-based waste streams are generated
by following industries:
a) Plastics industry has a plastics waste stream comprised of various
plastics.
b) Roofing industry has a roofing waste stream composed of asphalt roofing
shingles or commonly called
roofing shingles, which is a composition of asphalt (or asphalt binder),
fiberglass, and stones or
aggregates as a solid composition.
c) Asphalt pavement industry has an asphalt pavement or millings waste stream
which is a solid
composition of asphalt binder and various sized aggregates, minerals, glass,
and sands.
[0019] Each of these industries offers partial solutions for the
reclamation of their respective used
products or waste stream products. Globally, the recycling of these waste
stream products is a serious
concern because the partial reclamation processes are not entirely adequate,
and are prone to creating an
environmental and pollution catastrophe. Specifically, in the asphalt pavement
industry approximately 25% of
used asphalt pavement or millings can re-mixed with virgin asphalt pavement
and the balance becomes a
waste stream product. A similar scenario occurs with the roofing shingles
because they too, offer low
reclamation or recycling percentages.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0020] In a first aspect, the invention provides a method to retrieve,
reclaim, or recycle various organic-
based or organic-containing materials or petroleum-based coatings which coat
the mineral portion of a
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petroleum-containing material, including naturally occurring materials such as
crude oil and other petroleum-
based and organic materials, manufactured compositions including or containing
these materials, including
materials such as asphalt or asphalt components, to retrieve such materials
from their native origins, or in the
instance of manufactured materials such as asphalt, to recycle and thereby
produce reusable asphalt or
asphalt components that offer quality as close to virgin material as possible.
With respect to the naturally
occurring or manufactured material, the method of recycling and reuse
features:
(a) providing petroleum- containing material, such as sand oil, sand tar,
shale, or asphalt, and
(b) adding the petroleum- containing material to a solvent in which the
petroleum-based coating is
soluble.
[0021] In particular, the solvent may be added to a vessel or container and
can thereby function as a
bath into which the asphalt or the petroleum-based material to be separated
and recovered may be placed.
The solvent may be provided and used at approximately ambient temperature, for
instance, of 50-100 F, or
60-90 F, or 70-80 F or so. The solvent may be, for instance, heptane, hexane,
naphtha, kerosene, gasoline or
a petroleum-based solvent or any other suitable solvent in which the petroleum-
based coating is soluble. The
recovered petroleum-based material may be added to the bath and treated to
dissolve the asphalt binder or the
petroleum-based material as part of the separation and recovery process. A
particular non limiting example of
equipment that may function as a solvent bath is an automated parts washer or
equivalent equipment that can
be operated with one or more solvents in which the asphalt binder or the
petroleum-based coating is soluble.
The petroleum-based material has the petroleum-based coating in a solid state,
and the solvent may be
provided in a liquid or gaseous state. The materials may be prepared in a
first slurry mass that could include
solid materials (minerals, aggregates, and sand coated with residual binder or
petroleum-based coating) and a
solvent. The solid materials or minerals may be separated via a screening
operation while the solution of
solvent, asphalt binder, or petroleum-based coating can be further treated.
This solution may then be further
separated to form a reclaimed solvent mass and an asphalt binder mass or
petroleum-based coating mass.
[0022] The method may further feature reducing the asphalt to be reclaimed
or recycled into chunks,
millings or particulates prior to step a) above.
[0023] The method may further feature c) screening or separating coarse
aggregate and fine
aggregate asphalt components from the solvent of b).
[0024] The method may further feature d) cleaning or removing asphalt
binder or petroleum-based
coating and/or the solution from the coarse aggregate and fine aggregate
asphalt components screened or
separated in step c). The cleaning or removing asphalt binder or petroleum-
based coating and/or the
solution from the coarse aggregate and fine aggregate asphalt components may
be performed by
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evaporation, centrifugal spinning or by adding a second solution effective to
remove the asphalt binder and/
or the first solution.
[0025] The method may further feature e) cleaning or removing asphalt
binder or petroleum-based
coating from the solution of b). This may also be performed in an automated
parts washer. The automated
parts washer may be useful for washing with, and reclaiming the solvent.
[0026] The methods may be effective to remove 10%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 40%, o r
50%, of the
asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating from the surfaces of the coarse
aggregate or fine aggregate
asphalt components or minerals. The petroleum-based coating is in a solid
state and solvent rinses provide a
partial removal of the petroleum-based coating because the removal process is
in a series of laminations. As
each lamination is removed consecutively, the solvent removal of the petroleum-
based coating approaches a
complete removal of the petroleum-based coating from the petroleum-based
material. This consecutive rinsing
with solvent is costly and cost prohibitive. A single rinse can provide an
effective removal of 10%, 20%, 25%,
30%, 40%, o r 50% of the asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating from the
surfaces of the coarse
aggregate or fine aggregate asphalt components or minerals.
[0027] In a second aspect with respect to asphalt, the invention provides
asphalt or an asphalt
component to be reclaimed or recycled according to the methods described
herein. The asphalt component
may be one or more of a coarse aggregate, a fine aggregate, both including or
comprising mineral aggregates,
and an asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating. The asphalt binder or
petroleum-based coating may be
present in, for instance, conventional asphalt, roofing shingles, roofing
paper, driveway patch mixes, crack
sealers, etc. The reclaimed or recycled asphalt or asphalt components may have
the physical properties in
terms of size, shape, and profile for the aggregate or mineral portion as the
original virgin asphalt or the
asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating may feature binding properties equal
to or better than the original
virgin asphalt binder.
[0028] The coarse aggregate may include minerals or stones that have been
reduced in size, and
having particle sizes in the range from about 1/8 to 1 inch in diameter. The
coarse aggregate may be
substantially coated with asphalt binder or substantially coated with a
suitable solution in which the asphalt
binder is soluble. The coating may be substantially uniform or non-uniform,
and the coating may be at a
thickness of, for instance, about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 or 200 pm or
more.
[0029] The fine aggregate may include compositions of that has been reduced
in size, stone dust,
glass that has been reduced in size, sand or other small sized filler material
having a diameter of about 1/4,
or 1/8 or 1/10 or 1/100 inch or less. The fine aggregate may be substantially
coated with asphalt binder or
substantially coated with a suitable solution in which the asphalt binder is
soluble. The coating may be
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substantially uniform or non-uniform, and the coating may be at a thickness
of, for instance, about 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 10, 25, 50,100 or 200 pm or more.
[0030] The asphalt binder may be a solid at room temperature. The asphalt
binder may also be
present as a liquid that is dissolved in a suitable solution in which the
asphalt binder is soluble.
[0031] In a third aspect, the invention provides a reclaimed or recycled
asphalt or asphalt
component. The asphalt component may be one or more of a coarse aggregate, a
fine aggregate and an
asphalt binder. The asphalt binder may be present in, for instance,
conventional asphalt, roofing shingles,
roofing paper, driveway patch mixes, crack sealers, etc. The reclaimed or
recycled asphalt or asphalt
component may have the physical properties of virgin asphalt or may feature
binding properties such
as binding to an asphalt binder that is superior to the binding properties of
virgin asphalt or virgin
asphalt components.
[0032] The coarse aggregate may include minerals or stones that have been
reduced in size, and
having particle sizes in the range from about 1/8 to 1 inch in diameter. The
coarse aggregate may be
substantially coated with asphalt binder or substantially coated with a
suitable solution in which the
asphalt binder is soluble. The coating may be substantially uniform or non-
uniform, and the coating
may be at a thickness of, for instance, about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100
or 200 iim or more.
[0033] The fine aggregate may include compositions of stone dust that has
been reduced in size,
glass that has been reduced in size, sand or other small sized filler having a
diameter of about 1/4, or
1/8 or 1/10, or 1/100 inch or less. The fine aggregate may be substantially
coated with asphalt binder
or substantially coated with a suitable solution in which the asphalt binder
is soluble. The coating may
be substantially uniform or nonuniform, and the coating may be at a thickness
of, for instance, about 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 or 200 iim or more.
[0034] The asphalt binder may be a solid at room temperature. The asphalt
binder may be
present as a liquid that is dissolved in a suitable solution in which the
asphalt binder is soluble.
[0035] In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a two step integrated
method to reclaim or
recycle asphalt or asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt
components using two
distinct solvents or solutions for dissolving asphalt binder or petroleum-
based coatings featuring:
(a) providing asphalt or asphalt components that have been reduced in size,
and
(b) adding the asphalt or asphalt components to a solution containing a
solvent in which the
asphalt binder is soluble.
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[0036] The solution may be at approximately ambient temperature, for
instance, 50-100 F, or
60-90 F, or 70-80 F or so. The solvent may be, for instance, heptane, hexane,
naphtha, kerosene,
gasoline or a petroleum based solvent or any other suitable solvent in which
the asphalt binder is
soluble. The solution may be prepared as a bath in an appropriate container,
such as a standard
automated parts washer or equivalent equipment, to provide exposure to one or
more solvents in which the
asphalt binder is soluble. The asphalt binder is in a solid state, and the
solvent may be provided in a liquid
or gaseous state. As stated above, the materials as initially combined will
reside in a first slurry mass, and
include solid materials (aggregate coated with residual binder) and
solvent/asphalt binder. The solid
materials (aggregate coated with residual binder) may be separated via a
screening operation while the
solvent and asphalt binder can be further treated. The solvent and the asphalt
binder or petroleum-based
coatings in the final asphalt binder-solvent solution may then be further
separated to form a reclaimed
solvent mass and an asphalt binder mass.
[0037] The solvent may be effective to remove 10%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 40%, 50%,
of the asphalt
binder from the surfaces of the coarse aggregate or fine aggregate asphalt
components.
[0038] The method may further feature crushing, grinding or breaking the
asphalt to be reclaimed
or recycled into chunks, millings or particulate prior to step a) above.
[0039] The method may further feature c) screening or separating coarse
aggregate and fine
aggregate asphalt components from the solution of step b).
[0040] The method may further feature step d) cleaning or removing asphalt
binder and/or the
solution from the coarse aggregate and fine aggregate asphalt components
screened or separated in step
c). The cleaning or removing asphalt binder and/or the solution from the
coarse aggregate and fine
aggregate asphalt components may be performed by centrifugal spinning or by
adding a second solution
effective to remove the asphalt binder and/or the first solution.
[0041] The method may further feature e) cleaning or removing asphalt
binder from the solution of
b). This may also be performed in a bath that may be an automated parts washer
suitable for using
solvents and for separating solvents and the asphalt binder.
[0042] The method may further feature f) adding the asphalt components
obtained from c) or d) to
a solution at a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the asphalt
binder.
[0043] The solution may be at least 300 F, 325 F, 350 F or 400 F or so. The
solution may be an
oil or petroleum base solution or any other suitable solution in which the
asphalt binder is soluble. In some
instances, the solution may be virgin motor oil or recycled motor oil or used
motor oil. This solution is
referenced as an oil-based solution.
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[0044] The solution may be effective to remove the 40%, 50%, 60%, 75%, goo
A or more of the
remaining asphalt binder or petroleum-based coatings from the surfaces of the
coarse aggregate or fine
aggregate asphalt components or mineral portion of petroleum-based materials.
[0045] The method may further feature g) screening or separating coarse
aggregate and fine
aggregate asphalt components from the solution of f).
[0046] The method may further feature h) cleaning or removing asphalt
binder and/or the solution
from the coarse aggregate and fine aggregate asphalt components screened or
separated in step g). The
cleaning or removing asphalt binder and/or the solution from the coarse
aggregate and fine aggregate
asphalt components may be performed by centrifugal spinning or by adding a
second solvent effective to
remove the asphalt binder and/or the first solution or oil-based solution
coating on the minerals.
[0047] The method may further feature of step i) cleaning or removing
asphalt binder from the
solution of step f).
[0048] In one embodiment, the present invention embodies a hybrid crude oil
and methods of making
the same using one or several different petroleum-based waste stream products.
The waste stream products
may be man-made, natural, or the combination thereof. Man-made waste streams
generally include roofing
shingles and asphalt pavement or Hot Mix Asphalt Mix ("HMA"), while natural
waste streams generally include
tar sands, oil sands, and shale.
[0049] The hybrid crude oil is made from the petroleum-based coating of
petroleum-containing
materials being dissolved into a heated oil-based solution. The heated oil-
based solution acts as the solvent
for the petroleum-based coatings and creates a new mixture, referred to herein
as hybrid crude oil. The heat
or temperature needed for the oil-based solution is raised to, or above the
melting or phase-change
temperature of the petroleum-based coating, referred to herein as "elevated
temperature." At or above this
elevated temperature, the petroleum-based coatings phase-change from the solid
state to the liquid state, and
dissolve into the oil-based solution, creating the hybrid crude oil.
[0050] After the hybrid crude oil is created, it can be used, as would the
initial oil-based solution, to
successively remove more petroleum-based coatings from petroleum-containing
materials until a desired
concentration or mixture ratio of oil-based solution and petroleum-based
coatings is achieved. At this stage,
the hybrid crude oil is sent to a refinery for refining. The hybrid crude oil
is created from a combined mixture of
the oil-based solution and petroleum-based coatings on the petroleum-
containing materials such as: roofing
shingles, asphalt binder from asphalt pavement, sand tars, sand oils, and/or
shale.
[0051] The petroleum-containing materials, such as roofing shingles,
asphalt pavement, sand tars,
sand oils, and/or shale, can be individually, in succession, or in combination
as a mixture, be submerged into
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the oil-based solution, so as to cause their petroleum-based coatings to
dissolve into the oil-based solution, as
the oil-based solution absorbs a solute and creates the hybrid crude oil. Upon
submerging the roofing
shingles, asphalt pavement, sand tars, sand oils, or shale into the oil-based
solution, an environmental seal is
created by the oil-based solution because the oil-based solution is in a
liquid state at both ambient and
elevated temperature, and would fully saturate or enclose the petroleum-
containing materials.
[0052] The liquid oil-based solution creates the environmental seal because
it is a liquid. As the
petroleum-containing material is submerged into the oil-based solution it
settles towards the bottom because
the petroleum-containing material is denser than the oil-based solution and
can submerge on its own. It should
be understood that mixing the oil-based solution can further aid in the
submersion process of the petroleum-
containing material into the oil-based solution. The environmental seal
prevents the petroleum-based coatings
from the roofing shingles, asphalt binder from the asphalt pavement, sand
tars, sand oils, or shale, from
burning, carburizing, or degrading, until the liquid oil-based solution is
capable of providing the necessary
thermal energy for achieving the melting or phase-change temperature of the
petroleum-based coatings.. At
which time, the petroleum-based coatings safely phase-change into a liquid and
dissolve into the oil-based
solution, creating the desired hybrid crude oil.
[0053] The oil-based solution needs to be heated to the elevated
temperature, i.e., above the melting
or phase-change temperature needed for the submerged petroleum-based coating
of the petroleum-
containing material so that petroleum-based coating phase-changes from a solid
state to a liquid state, so as
to melt and dissolve into the oil-based solution. At ambient temperatures,
submerging the petroleum
containing materials into an oil-based solution will not melt or phase- change
the petroleum-based coating and
will not dissolve into the oil-based solution. It is therefore clear that, at
ambient temperatures, the oil-based
solution is not a solvent for the petroleum-based coatings on the petroleum-
containing materials. When the
heated oil-based solution is heated to, or above the elevated temperature of,
for example, approximately 300-
400 F, submerging the petroleum-containing materials into the heated oil-based
solution will melt or phase-
change the petroleum-based coating and will allow it to dissolve into the oil-
based solution, creating the hybrid
crude oil. The heated oil-based solution at, or above the elevated temperature
becomes a solvent for the
petroleum-based coatings on the petroleum-containing materials.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0054] The various features of the present invention and the manner of
attaining them will be described in
greater detail with reference to the following description, claims, and
drawings, wherein reference numerals are
reused, where appropriate, to indicate a correspondence between the referenced
items, and wherein:
[0055] Figure 1 illustrates a typical cross section of an asphalt mixture
showing the coarse or
mineral aggregate 1, fine aggregate 2 and asphalt binder 3;
[0056] Figure 2 illustrates a typical chunk of an asphalt mixture
containing the coarse or mineral
aggregate 1, fine aggregate 2 and asphalt binder 3;
[0057] Figure 3 illustrates the coarse or mineral aggregate 1 coated with
solution;
[0058] Figure 4 illustrates the coarse or mineral aggregate 1
substantially free of any coating
with asphalt binder;
[0059] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of forming hybrid
crude oil and extracting
aggregates or minerals from one or more man-made or natural waste stream
products, according to the
present invention; and
[0060] Figure 6 is a high level illustration of a system for implementing
the process of Figure 5,
according to the present invention;
[0061] It should be understood that the sizes of the chart and the
different components in the figures
might not be in exact proportion, and are shown for visual clarity and for the
purpose of explanation.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The methods
[0062] The following definitions are presented for a better understanding
of the terms used herein.
Reasonable variations to the defined terms, derivations, and interpretations
are foreseeable:
[0063] Crude oil is a natural product as provided by various reserves on
earth. This natural product is
processed or distilled into many other byproducts such as gasoline, kerosene,
plastics, asphalt for roofing
shingles, asphalt binder for asphalt pavement, and numerous other byproducts.
[0064] Petroleum-containing material or petroleum-based product is a
natural or man-made product
that has a petroleum-based coating. These petroleum-containing materials
include, for example: roofing
shingles, asphalt pavement or millings, roofing paper, asphalt, patch mix
material, roofing tar, surface texture
material, sand tars, oil sands, shale and other petroleum-containing
materials.
[0065] Petroleum-based coating is a petroleum-based hydrocarbon, such as
tar or bitumen, and is
solid or near solid (collectively referred to herein as "solid") at around
ambient or room temperature. Examples
include the asphalt in roofing shingles, the asphalt binder in asphalt
pavement or millings, the tar portion of tar
sands, the oil portion of oil sands in solid or semi-solid states, and the
solid petroleum portion of shale.
[0066] Asphalt binder is the "glue" that bonds the aggregate in asphalt
pavement. It is a petroleum-
based coating. It is designed to be solid or strong for load bearing
characteristics.
[0067] Asphalt pavement is a macadam pavement that uses a bituminous
binder or asphalt binder
as the "glue" to bond aggregate or stones for use as a roadway or pavement.
[0068] Millings are asphalt pavements that have been recovered from a
road surface or pavement
and are broken or in a broken up form so as to be transported more easily.
[0069] Asphalt is the bituminous binder or "glue" for roofing shingles.
It is similar to asphalt binder but
its chemistry is designed so that it is malleable instead of being hard for
load bearing as in the asphalt
pavement.
[0070] Elevated temperature represents a temperature of the oil-based
solution at or above the melting
or phase-change temperature for a petroleum-based coating that causes the
petroleum-based coating to liquify
and dissolve into a liquid oil-based solution or a hybrid crude oil. For most
petroleum-based coatings, the
elevated temperature ranges between approximately 300 F to approximately 400
F.
[0071] Waste stream product is a product that has no reuse or disposal
solution after its useful life
expires. At the end of the useful life of the waste stream product there is no
industrial solution for the waste
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stream of the waste generated as in industries such as plastics, roofing, and
asphalt pavement. As the product
useful life expires there is a need to dispose of the old material and to
replace it with virgin or new material.
The continuous manufacture and usage of these products creates the waste
stream. Natural products such as
tar sands, oil sand, and shale are natural waste stream products. Nature
converts animals and vegetation into
a waste stream and creates the tar sands, oil sand, and shale over a long
period of time.
[0072] Oil-based solution is the liquid (or petroleum-based liquid) that
the petroleum-containing
material is submerged into. At ambient temperatures, this liquid oil-based
solution is inert to the petroleum-
based coating of the petroleum-containing material. As the oil-based solution
is heated at, or above the
melting or phase-change temperatures ("elevated temperature") of the petroleum-
based coatings, the oil-
based solution acts as a solvent to the petroleum-based coatings and becomes
able to dissolve the
petroleum-based coatings into the oil-based solution. Within the process
described, the oil-based solution after
the initial (or first) dissolution of the petroleum-based coating from the
petroleum-based material, creates a
hybrid crude oil. This hybrid crude oil within the process described can be
referenced as either a hybrid crude
oil or as an oil-based solution, until such time as the extracted hybrid crude
oil or oil-based solution from the
described process has reached a desired concentration or mixture ratio of oil-
based solution and petroleum-
based coating is achieved. Once the desired concentration is reached and the
oil-based solution is removed
from the process described, the oil-based solution will be referred to as
hybrid crude oil.
[0073] Hybrid crude oil is a term coined herein to represent a hybrid oil-
based solution comprised of
the oil-based solution and the dissolved petroleum-based coating therein. A
related meaning of the term
hybrid crude oil is, after the initial submersion of the petroleum-containing
material into the oil-based solution
and the petroleum-based coating has dissolved into the oil-based solution or
hybrid crude oil, as additional
petroleum-containing material is submerged into the oil-based solution and
additional petroleum-based
coating dissolve into the oil-based solution or hybrid crude oil it is still
referred to as an oil-based solution until
the oil-based solution achieves a desired percentage or concentration of
petroleum-based coating dissolving
into the oil-based solution. Upon achieving the desired concentration of
petroleum-based coating dissolved
into the oil-based solution, the entire solution is then referred to as hybrid
crude oil.
[0074] Concentration is a measurement of the amount of solute present in a
chemical solution, with
respect to the amount of solvent. Reference is made to Helmenstine, Anne
Marie, Ph.D. "Solute Definition and
Examples in Chemistry." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/definition-of-
solute-and-examples-
605922.
[0075] Solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances. A
solution may exist in any
phase. A solution consists of a solute and a solvent. The solute is the
substance that is dissolved in the
solvent. The amount of solute that can be dissolved in solvent is called its
solubility. For example, in a saline
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solution, salt is the solute dissolved in water as the solvent. Reference is
made to Helmenstine, Anne Marie,
Ph.D. "Solution Definition in Chemistry." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020,
thoughtco.com/definition-of-solution-
604650.
[0076] Solute is defined as the substance that is dissolved in a solution.
For solutions of fluids, the
solvent is present in greater amount than the solute. Concentration is a
measurement of the amount of solute
present in a chemical solution, with respect to the amount of solvent.
Reference to Helmenstine, Anne Marie,
Ph.D. "Solute Definition and Examples in Chemistry." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020,
thoughtco.com/definition-of-
solute-and-examples-605922.
[0077] Solvent is the component of a solution that is present in the
greatest amount. It is the
substance in which the solute is dissolved. Usually, a solvent is a liquid.
However, it can be a gas, solid, or
supercritical fluid. The amount of solvent required to dissolve a solute
depends on temperature and the
presence of other substances in a sample. The word "solvent comes from the
Latin solvO, which means to
loosen or untie. Reference is made to Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Solvent
Definition in Chemistry."
ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/definition-of-solvent-604651.
[0078] Approximately, about, significantly, and substantial are used herein
to indicate that a
stated number, amount, or value is an approximation, or is within a range of
about plus or minus 5 to 10%.
[0079] Petroleum-based liquid is the oil-based solution. It can, for
example, include: used, recycled
or virgin motor oil and cutting fluids, solids at ambient temperatures, such
as greases and waxes, and/or non-
petroleum-based materials such as vegetable oils, vegetable fats, animal fats
and similar compositions.
[0080] The following concepts should be emphasized for a better
understanding of the present
invention. The oil-based solution at ambient temperature is not a solvent. At
ambient temperature, the oil-
based solution does not act as a solvent for the asphalt binder or a petroleum-
based coating on a petroleum-
containing material. As an example, if road or asphalt pavement or millings
were to be submerged and
saturated with an oil-based solution, at ambient temperature, and then
withdrawn from the oil-based solution,
the result would be oil-coated road millings in which there was no solvent
reaction between the oil-based
solution and the petroleum-based coating or there was no petroleum-based
coating removal. Thus, the oil-
based solution does not act as a solvent for petroleum-based coatings at
ambient temperatures.
[0081] However, according to the present invention, if road millings were
to be submerged and
saturated with an oil-based solution at a temperature at or higher than the
melting or phase-change
temperature (also referred to herein as "elevated temperature") of the asphalt
binder (also referred to herein
as "petroleum-based coating") within the road or pavement millings, then such
process results in the following
two events:
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1. The initial event is that the bond of the petroleum-based coating,
between the asphalt binder and the road or
pavement milling aggregate would be completely removed (within a reasonably
minimal and negligible margin
of leftover) and dissolved into the oil-based solution, creating the hybrid
crude oil. At elevated temperatures
(at or above the melting or phase-change temperature of the asphalt binder or
petroleum-based coating of the
millings) the oil-based solution acts as a solvent for the asphalt binder of
the road millings.
2. The second event is that the asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating (of
the road millings) acts as a solute
that dissolves into the heated oil-based solution (heated at or above the
"elevated temperature") and the oil-
based solution acts as the solvent. Once the asphalt binder or petroleum-based
coating of the road or
pavement millings dissolves into the oil-based solution, this new mixture is
referred to as either an oil-based
solution or hybrid crude oil. This solution (oil-based solution or hybrid
crude oil) remains in a liquid state at
elevated and ambient temperatures.
[0082] In a first aspect, the methods of the invention pertain to the
retrieval and recovery of
organic based or organic-containing materials, including naturally occurring
substances such as crude oil,
and other petroleum-based or containing materials, natural gas, and the like,
from environments where they
are entrained within or otherwise admixed or complexed with other organic or
inorganic materials, such as
rock, sand, shale and the like. Included herein are sites where such petroleum
products have previously
been safely stored, and have breached their storage and have infiltrated
surrounding soil and formed
contaminated deposits or mixtures. In such instance, the methods comprise the
following steps:
(a) retrieving a quantity of the petroleum-containing material;
(b) treating the petroleum-containing material with a solvent for the
petroleum-based coating to
separate from the petroleum-containing material;
(c) recovering the petroleum-containing material separated in step (b).
[0083] In a second aspect, the methods described pertain to the
retrieval, recycling and recovery of
manufactured materials or materials already in industrial use and for which
reclamation and recycling are
desired. This aspect is discussed in the following description with respect to
the recycling of asphalt and
asphalt components. It is to be understood however, that asphalt is exemplary
of manufactured materials
for which recycling and reclamation includes the separation of the organic
(petroleum-based coating)
component of the product from other inorganic/non-organic (aggregate or
mineral) components which may
themselves, merit retrieval and recovery. Accordingly, the following
description should be considered as
having broader applicability not limited to asphalt.
[0084] The methods described with respect to this second aspect are also
useful for breaking down
the asphalt mixture into its individual aggregate composition so that the
asphalt binder is mechanically
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broken thereby exposing the aggregate surface area for a solvent cleaning
procedure. In the industry, this
may be equivalent to a mechanical "crushing" operation which breaks the
asphalt binder supporting each
aggregate particulate in the asphalt. Also, other commercial methods are
available for such a "crushing"
procedure including various agitation, compression, clamping, vibration and
oscillation equipment.
[0085] The first solvent cleaning procedure may, for example be performed
in an apparatus or
by a system designed for the cleaning and separation of organic components
from those that are
inorganic or non-organic. A non-limiting exemplary such apparatus or system
that replicates or
performs the solvent cleaning procedure is a standard automated parts washer,
such as those offered
by PRI (Progressive Recovery, Inc., Dupo, IL). Such equipment or equivalent
provides exposure to
one or more solvents in which the asphalt binder is soluble. The asphalt
binder is in a solid state, and
the solvent is provided in a liquid or gaseous state. As the solvent disperses
about the aggregate
surface area, loose, broken edges and other forms of asphalt binder are
dissolved into the solvent and
a binder/solvent mixture is created. This solvent/binder mixture includes the
asphalt binder that is small
enough or loose enough to be carried into the binder/solution mixture.
[0086] The amount of asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating able to
dissolve into the solvent
is based upon the amount of rinses and how well the asphalt millings were
reduced in size. The finer the
breakdown the more broken asphalt binder surface area is exposed. In turn, the
greater the amount of
aggregate surface area exposed, the more the solvent is able to break down the
aggregate asphalt
binder coated surfaces and loose asphalt binder particulate.
[0087] The petroleum-based coating is in a solid state and solvent rinses
provide a partial removal of
the petroleum-based coating because the removal process is in a series of
laminations. As each lamination is
removed consecutively, the solvent removal of the petroleum-based coating
approaches a complete removal of
the petroleum-based coating from the petroleum-based material. This
consecutive rinsing with solvent is costly
and cost prohibitive. A single rinse can provide an effective removal of 10%,
20%, 25%, 30%, 40%, o r 50%
of the asphalt binder or petroleum-based coating from the surfaces of the
coarse aggregate or fine
aggregate asphalt components or minerals.
[0088] As stated above, the solvent may be provided in a bath or like
treatment station, where
the retrieved asphalt material or petroleum-based material may be immersed or
otherwise exposed to
the solvent cleaning step. Likewise, the treatment station may use an
industrial automated parts
washer. Such automated parts washers are designed for commodities other than
asphalt aggregate
such as, for instance, painted parts, degreasing parts, component surface
preparations, etc. An
automated parts washer may be retrofitted for solvent cleaning of the asphalt
after the crushing
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procedure. In general, the "fluffier the asphalt aggregate that has been
reduced in size, the more
surface area is exposed for the solvent to recover into the asphalt
binder/solvent mixture.
[0089] In addition to the washing of the aggregate and creating the
binder/solvent mixture, the
treatment station recycles the solvent via standard or known condensation
methods. The residual of
the binder/solvent mixture, i.e., the asphalt binder, is recovered as a
byproduct of the solvent washing
procedure.
[0090] Thus, the methods described herein allow separating the asphalt
binder from the
binder/solvent mixture. This has not previously been performed and provides a
novel separation method
normally able to extract about 25-50% of the asphalt binder present on the
surface of the "asphalt millings."
The remainder of the asphalt binder remains as a coating or petroleum-based
coating on the asphalt
aggregate.
[0091] The solvent in the methods described herein is one that degrades or
allows the asphalt
binder to dissolve into the solvent to create the asphalt binder/solvent
mixture. Suitable solvents include, for
instance, heptane, hexane, naphtha, kerosene, gasoline and other petroleum
based solvents. These are
commercially available solvents, and based upon the solvent aggressiveness
desired, the solvent can be
suitably selected. Heptane is especially suitable as a solvent, and works
particularly well in the present
methods.
The products produced by the methods
[0092] As the asphalt aggregate is treated by the solvent washing
procedure, secondary screening
operations may separate the aggregate into sized particulates. Each sized
particulate may be remixed with
a new asphalt mixture to provide improved asphalt mixture physical properties.
[0093] Binder Coated Coarse Aggregate. Large and medium sized aggregate
with a significant
asphalt binder coating or petroleum-based coating may be obtained. Each large
and medium aggregate
is coated with the residual asphalt binder that was not removed from the
solvent cleaning operation
performed in the automated parts washer. Thus, asphalt binder coated aggregate
from the used asphalt
millings are provided.
[0094] Binder Coated Fine Aggregate. These fine aggregate particulates are
of special value in the
asphalt industry. They may be used directly in other products such as crack
fillers, asphalt repair mixtures,
surface texture treatments, etc. These fine aggregates are the sand and stone
dust of asphalt. They are the
smaller particulate of the aggregate composition and are the most difficult to
uniformly coat with asphalt
binder or a petroleum-based coating. This product was not previously available
as a stand-alone commodity.
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Thus, the methods described herein provide asphalt binder coated fine
aggregate, a new commodity,
useful in the asphalt, roofing, surface texture and other applications.
[0095] Binder/Solvent or Petroleum-Based Material Sludge from the automated
parts washer. As the
asphalt or petroleum-based material that has been reduced in size, is washed
in the automated parts washer,
the residual asphalt binder/solvent sludge or petroleum-based material/solvent
sludge is further processed by
the automated parts washer. This is a standard solvent washing process in
which the solvent is evaporated
from the binder/solvent sludge or petroleum-based material/solvent sludge, and
the solvent is reclaimed via
cooling coils and liquefied for reuse. The remaining binder/solvent mixture
component is asphalt binder. The
remainder of the petroleum-based material/solvent sludge is petroleum product.
Thus, the methods described
herein provide for recovering asphalt binder. This asphalt binder may have
small traces of the solvent. Hence,
the asphalt binder may be further processed to purify the asphalt binder into
the desired asphalt binder grade
or mixture.
Other applications for the methods described herein
[0096] The methods described herein may also be used for recycling roofing
shingles or other
products containing petroleum-based or containing compositions such as asphalt
or asphalt binder. Used
or discarded roofing shingles may be reduced in size to expose as much surface
area of the roofing shingle
asphalt binder. Then, as with the asphalt or HMA ("hot mix asphalt"), the
solvent wash treatment station
containing the solvent solution may be used to break down the asphalt binder
and recover it. The remaining
material may be sorted into aggregate and fiber glass debris for further
reclamation or reuse.
Effects of the methods described herein
[0097] The methods described herein enable the removal of all of the fine
aggregate and a large
portion of the residual asphalt binder from asphalt that has been reduced in
size. Almost 50% of the worst
processing features may be removed.
[0098] In a particular aspect, the methods described herein may be used as
a first step in a two-
step method. That is, the methods described herein may be a precursor to the
methods described by
Kotefski et al., U.S. Serial No. 15/355,487, filed November 18, 2016, commonly
owned and co pending
herewith, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Kotefski et al. teaches methods to
reclaim or recycle asphalt or asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt
or asphalt components by
adding the asphalt or asphalt components to a solution at a temperature higher
than the melting
temperature of the asphalt binder. Using the methods described herein makes
the combined process 10 to
20 times more effective in terms of energy usage, process footprint, equipment
requirements, and overall
need for oil and oil removal for reclamation.
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[0099] Thereby the methods described herein reduce all of the fine
aggregate processing needs
and allow[[s]] the second step of the reclaiming or recycling procedure, i.e.,
the boiling procedure using an
oil-based solution, to only focus on the larger and medium aggregate with a
residual petroleum-based
coating. Thus, the amount of oil needed to process the large and medium
aggregate is reduced by factors
of 500% or more. The fine aggregates would fill the hot oil bath tanks or oil
and would need fresh oil more
often. Additionally, the fine aggregates are worth more as an asphalt coated
product than an uncoated
product.
[00100] By employing the methods described herein in a two-step process
with those described in
Kotefski et al., U.S. Serial No. 15/355,487, filed November 18, 2016, the
total volume of oil required for the
aggregate processing is reduced. Storage, transport and reprocessing at a
refinery are eliminated for the
fine aggregate components of the asphalt, and this provides a significant
process improvement in terms of
product cycle time, waste processing, waste control, energy usage and other
benefits.
Two Step Integrated Methods for Reclaiming or Recycling Asphalt Using Two
Distinct Solvents or Solutions
[00101] Accordingly, and as just described above, the present methods
described herein may be
followed by a second procedure including further methods to retrieve, reclaim
or recycle materials such as
asphalt or asphalt components to produce reusable asphalt or asphalt
components described herein
including a) adding the asphalt or asphalt components obtained as described
herein to a solution at a
temperature higher than the melting temperature of the asphalt binder or
petroleum-based coating. The
solution may be at least 300 F, 325 F, 350 F or 400 F or so. The solution may
be an oil or petroleum
based solution or any other suitable solution in which the asphalt binder is
soluble.
[00102] An oil-based solution acts as an environmental seal to the asphalt
or asphalt components. As
the asphalt is submerged in the oil-based solution, the asphalt binder is
protected from degradation, burning
and contamination. Current methods merely increase the asphalt temperature
until the asphalt binder
degrades because of the elevated temperature (and not by the dissolving into
an oil based solution). This
elevated temperature tends to burn the asphalt binder to a degree that it is
unusable or it merely degrades it so
that there is no possibility of the asphalt binder performing as would a
virgin asphalt mixture.
[00103] As the millings or reclaimed asphalt is introduced or submerged
into the heated oil-
based solution, the asphalt binder phase changes from solid to liquid and
quickly dilutes, mixes or
integrates with the oil-based solution. Motor oil or an equivalent is
especially suitable because the
solution can be safely elevated to temperatures over 500 F. Motor oil also
has a low volatility potential
under elevated temperatures. Other potential oil-based solutions and/or
mixtures thereof may also
include; virgin, recycled or used motor oil, cutting fluids, greases, waxes,
and many others oil based
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products. Each oil-based solution has a "flash point or level of volatility
and could ignite or explode.
Other non-oil petroleum based solutions may also be suitable including, for
instance, waxes, low
temperature metals, etc.
[00104] As the asphalt binder is dissolved into the oil-based solution, the
coarse and fine mineral
aggregates are in a free state and are separated from the bond of the asphalt
binder and the asphalt mixture.
With a subsequent separation or screening procedures, the coarse and fine
aggregates can be separated and
used as raw material for new asphalt mixtures. The separation or screening
procedures may be performed at
an elevated temperature range because separating the asphalt binder from the
aggregates is best and most
easily accomplished in a liquid state. Thus, all residual asphalt binder and
oil-based solution (compound
solution) is able to drip off or can be spun off through a centrifugal
spinning operation.
[00105] The second procedure or further methods to reclaim or recycle
asphalt or asphalt
components may also feature b) screening or separating coarse aggregate and
fine aggregate asphalt
components from the solution of a). The further methods may also feature c)
cleaning or removing
asphalt binder and/or the solution from the coarse aggregate and fine
aggregate asphalt components
screened or separated in step b). The cleaning or removing asphalt binder
and/or the solution from the
coarse aggregate and fine aggregate asphalt components may be performed by
centrifugal spinning
or by adding a second solution effective to remove the asphalt binder and/or
the first solution.
[00106] The resultant separated asphalt composition is as follows:
(a) coarse aggregate coated with residual asphalt binder and oil based
solution. This constitutes 75%
of the asphalt mass and is a valuable commodity. Additionally, recycling this
large percentage of the asphalt
mixture provides environmental, energy, and equipment benefits.
(b) fine aggregate or sand/stone dust particulate coated with residual asphalt
binder and oil based
solution. Although this constitutes 10-20% of the total asphalt mixture, this
recovered commodity has a
higher value per pound than the coarse aggregate. Additionally, a pre coated
and screened fine aggregate
has a further added value because it may be used in many other commodities.
(c) asphalt binder dissolved in the oil based solution. Although this solution
is sludge, it has various
polymer carbon chain molecules and would easily be recycled back into asphalt
binder, mixes, roofing tar
mixes, roofing shingle base materials, asphalt crack mixtures, driveway
sealers, and the like. This solution
of the oil-based solution and asphalt binder is referred to as a hybrid crude
oil because it could be sent to a
refinery for re-processing into virgin petroleum products.
(d) As it will be explained herein in more detail, this solution is referred
as hybrid crude oil.
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[00107] The coarse aggregate coated with residual asphalt binder and oil
based solution (compound
solution) may be cleaned. An added solvent cleaning operation can be applied
to the coarse aggregate to
remove the residual oil solution and asphalt binder. This coarse aggregate can
then be reused in a virgin
asphalt mixture and used to produce asphalt that is equivalent to or superior
to a virgin asphalt mixture
because the reclaimed coarse aggregate has a pre-coated film of asphalt binder
mixture thereof and binds
better than virgin coarse aggregate. The virgin coarse aggregate is pre-coated
with asphalt binder, and is thus
a novel asphalt mixture is made that is superior to current mixtures using
virgin materials. The pre-coating of
the aggregate allows the asphalt binders to develop stronger bonds than the
uncoated aggregate.
[00108] The coarse aggregate coated with residual asphalt binder and oil
based solution may be
cleaned by merely spinning off excess residual asphalt binder and oil based
solution (at an elevated or ambient
temperature, because this solution remains in a liquid state at elevated and
ambient temperatures). The
spinning procedure removes the residual asphalt binder and oil- based solution
material as well as provides a
uniformly "oil-coated" coarse aggregate. In this case, this pre-coated coarse
aggregate may prove to bond
better to the asphalt binder because it is pre-coated but not dry (it would
contain a small amount of the oil base
solution. This simplified process may be slightly substandard to the solvent
cleaning method but it would still be
superior to the current method of using virgin coarse aggregates.
[00109] The fine aggregate or glass/sand/stone (that has been reduced in
size) dust particulate
coated with residual asphalt binder and oil based solution may also be cleaned
by the coarse aggregate
solvent and spinning methods described above for removing excess asphalt
binder and residual oil-based
solution. A solvent may be used to remove the oil based solution and asphalt
binder residual material. In this
case it is more important than the coarse aggregate because the size of the
fine aggregate may be dust or
sand sized, and the excess or residual coating may have a mass that is
equivalent or equal to the desired
recovered commodity, i.e., sand, dust, glass that has been reduced in size, or
other fine aggregate
composition. Additional size screening may be performed to further segregate
the fine aggregate into desired
sizes since certain sizes or consistencies may be more valuable than virgin
fine aggregate. A further
advantage and benefit of pre-coated fine aggregate may be realized because the
fine aggregate provides the
primary fill between the coarse aggregate. Their bond is important to the
mechanical properties of the resulting
asphalt. If the fine aggregate is pre-coated, then better grades of asphalt
may be realized. The pre-coated fine
aggregate is a by-product of the methods for reclaiming and recycling asphalt
described herein.
[00110] The fine aggregate coated with residual asphalt binder and oil
based solution may be
cleaned by merely spinning, as with the coarse aggregate. This too creates a
better asphalt mixture
because the asphalt binder bond to the fine aggregate is better and more
repeatable in terms of bond
strength from batch to batch. By having pre-coated fine aggregate, sand and
dust particulate, other
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asphalt related products may be improved as well. For example, asphalt repair
mixtures, crack fillers,
roofing shingle compositions and various asphalt related products could be
impacted. Presently, no
pre-coated fine aggregate, sand, dust or glass that has been reduced in size
is available to the industry.
The methods for reclaiming and recycling asphalt described herein may provide
an improved material
to these product lines.
[00111] The additional methods for reclaiming and recycling asphalt
described herein may also
feature d) cleaning or removing asphalt binder from the solution of step a).
The asphalt binder
dissolves in the oil based solution. The asphalt binder, normally a solid at
room temperature, is now a
liquid that is dissolved in the oil based solution. There are several options
for using this mixture of
asphalt binder and oil based solution. First, a screening process may be used
to screen the heavy
particulate from the oil based solution and reuse the oil based solution for
further asphalt reclaiming
and recycling. The sludge or residual asphalt binder may then be reclaimed and
sent to a petroleum
processing facility to break down the residual asphalt binder material and to
separate and reconstitute the
various petroleum products such as motor oils, asphalt binders, roofing tar
and roofing shingle materials.
The oil based solution may be screened and reused multiple times by separating
the thicker asphalt binder
from the oil based solution.
Benefits of the Asphalt Reclamation and Recycling using the Two Step
Integrated Methods
[00112] The methods described herein recycle each asphalt component
including the coarse
aggregate, fine aggregate and asphalt binder. Coarse aggregate constitutes 70-
80 % of asphalt volume. In
being able to recover this material, a cost and environmental savings is
realized. Coarse aggregate is
basically stone that has been reduced in size of varying sizes. Recovering the
coarse aggregate from aged
asphalt eliminates the need for new sources of coarse aggregate. The impact of
this reclamation and
recycling of coarse aggregate provides environmental and cost savings from (a)
less need for or near
elimination of need for new or virgin coarse aggregate supply, (b) less
energy, man power, equipment and
land costs required for obtaining the reclaimed versus virgin coarse
aggregate, and (c); reduced need for
federal, state and local regulation. Similarly, reclaiming or recycling fine
aggregate would provide similar
savings and improvements. Reclaiming or recycling the asphalt binder is the
most challenging but in fact
may prove to be the most needed.
[00113] The residual "sludge" produced by the methods for asphalt
reclamation and recycling
described herein is the asphalt binder in the oil based solution and is
referred to herein as hybrid crude oil. It
would likely need to be reclaimed at a petroleum reprocessing facility. On the
other hand, oil supplies are
dwindling and with potential oil shortages in the near future, the methods for
asphalt reclamation and
recycling also address potential oil shortages. In fact during recent oil
shortages, the asphalt industry
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experienced potential shortages in asphalt binders (e.g. for roadways, parking
facilities, roofing shingles,
and tars). The methods for asphalt reclamation and recycling described herein
are able to recycle current
products and inventories back into a reusable form such that new sources of
raw materials such as asphalt
binders, asphalt repair mixtures, roofing shingle binders and roofing tars are
recyclable to a large extent.
Further Description of the Asphalt Reclamation and Recycling Two Step
Integrated Methods
[00114] The methods for asphalt reclamation and recycling described herein
provide a process that
separates the main components of asphalt, i.e., coarse aggregate, fine
aggregate and asphalt binder in
such a way as to be fully recyclable to create an asphalt mixture that is
equivalent or superior to virgin
asphalt. Current asphalt recycling and reclamation efforts add aged or used
asphalt (approx. 10-20%) to
virgin asphalt. Such materials and mixtures are not comparable to virgin
asphalt because in the asphalt
blending, the aged asphalt retains some of its old asphalt binder and does not
bond to the virgin asphalt
binder in a homogeneous manner. Thus, asphalt product degradation occurs. This
degraded form of
asphalt may be adequate for driveways and parking lots, but for major uses
such as roadways it may not
meet performance requirements. Massive research and investigations have been
made into this field, and
no solutions have been provided previously.
[00115] The methods for asphalt reclamation and recycling described herein
address this need and
provide a way to meet the current best or virgin asphalt performance
requirements by reclaiming or
recycling aggregate from used asphalt. The methods for asphalt reclamation and
recycling described herein
are simple, grade the asphalt binder in such a way as not to leave asphalt
binder on the coarse and fine
aggregates that has crystallized, burned or added other impurities to the
aggregates. Hence, the aggregates
may be reused in another asphalt mixture. The methods for asphalt reclamation
and recycling described
herein simply dissolve the asphalt binder into an oil-based solution while
basically cleaning the aggregate
from the asphalt binder, thus creating a hybrid crude oil.
[00116] In terms of volume and weight, more than 90% of an asphalt
composition is the coarse and fine
aggregates. This makes methods for asphalt reclamation and recycling described
herein extremely effective in
recovering the basic raw materials needed for future asphalt production. The
second procedure or further
methods to reclaim or recycle asphalt or asphalt components described herein
may be described by the
following steps:
1. Provide any asphalt, or chunks, millings or particulate of asphalt. The
existing asphalt may be reduced
into suitable sized chunks or pieces.
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2. Add the asphalt, or chunks, millings or particulate of asphalt to an oil-
based solution at a melting
temperature or phase change temperature of the asphalt binder (approximately
350-400 F). The oil-based
solution is preferably oil or petroleum based because the asphalt binder is
oil based as well.
3. The oil based solution acts as an environmental seal such that the asphalt
or chunks, millings or
particulate of asphalt introduced or submerged into the solution does not
"burn" but rather dissolves into the oil-
based solution. A suitable solution may be, for instance, virgin, recycled or
used motor oil.
4. As the asphalt, or chunks, millings or particulate of asphalt that has been
reduced in size, are
introduced into the oil-based solution, the asphalt binder phase changes from
a solid to a liquid and quickly mixes
or integrates with the oil based solution without damage (burning) to the
asphalt binder.
5. As the binder is dissolved into the oil-based solution, the coarse and fine
mineral aggregates are in a
free state or separated from the previously bonded asphalt mixture. The
minerals remain in their size, shape and
profile as they were originally made into pavement asphalt or HMA ("hot mix
asphalt").
6. Any suitable sequence of screening may be performed so that the coarse and
fine aggregates can be
separated. This separation may be performed at elevated or ambient
temperatures since the asphalt binder in
the oil-based solution is in a liquid state at elevated and ambient
temperatures.
7. The resulting separated asphalt composition is as follows:
a. coarse aggregate coated with a residual coating of asphalt binder and oil
based solution mixture,
b. fine aggregate or sand/dust particulate coated with a residual coating of
asphalt binder and oil based
solution mixture,
c. asphalt binder dissolved in the oil based solution (hybrid crude oil).
Additional Applications.
[00117] The
present invention extends to a method for separating and recovering respective
components of soil, including minerals and "organic materials, the latter
including particular plant life,
fermented vegetation, methane and other liquid and gaseous constituents, crude
oil deposits, and the like.
By way of background pertinent hereto, soils, and in particular those that can
be characterized and
described as "raw earth" contain and/or consist of a broad spectrum of
materials of both organic and
inorganic origin. It is likewise desirable to process such raw earth and to
separate the noted components,
either for collection and use of all such components for particular purposes,
or to remove one or more of
the components so as to effect the purification of a component for which
isolation and recovery,
accumulation and purification is desired.
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[00118] A specific example of material that is desirably retrieved and
separated from such a mixture,
involves the recovery of petroleum and petroleum byproducts from contaminated
soil, and more generally,
the recovery of such petroleum and related products from virgin rock
formations, such as shale deposits,
as well as oil and tar-containing sands. In this embodiment of the method, the
raw soil, rock or sand
deposits would be subjected to a wash with a solvent such as heptane, after
which the organics would be
recovered in a solution with the solvent and could thereafter be separated
from the solvent, and both the
solvent and the solute would be individually recovered.
[00119] Correspondingly, the process involving the use of the solvent wash
would permit the
separation and recovery of the inorganic components of the soil/rock/sand
deposits/sites which if
desired, could then be further separated as to their constituents and either
discarded or collected for
specific end uses and applications.
[00120] In a further particular example, the method includes the excavation
and treatment of
sites where ground contamination has developed and is present, such as at the
site of installation of
oil storage tanks, where leakage of the tank or other contamination of the
site has resulted over time.
In such instance, the method would comprise the excavation and removal of the
storage tank, the
treatment of the adjacent ground from the site with a solvent wash, such as
that of heptane, to
dissolve and recover the organic contaminants, and the subsequent separation
of the solvent and the
organic contaminants and the purification and retrieval of each.
[00121] In a further embodiment of the invention and as set forth above,
the present method can
be used in the separation and recovery of crude oil from oil-containing
underground deposits, such as
oil-containing sands and shale oil deposits. Such deposits may be excavated
and then treated in
accordance with the method of the present invention to separate the petroleum
from the mineral
deposits in which it is entrained. Likewise, the mineral deposits may be
cleansed and isolated for use
in other industrial and corresponding applications.
[00122] In a still further embodiment of the invention, soil containing
both minerals and material
known as "organics" may be treated with the same method, to separate the
respective components of
such soils. Accordingly, the "organics" may be retrieved after the comminution
of the soil material so
that the organics may be separated and are recovered, for storage or usage in
other areas. Likewise,
the isolated and separated minerals may be freed from their intermixture and
contamination with the
other components of the soil sample and retrieved for corresponding usage for
such minerals, such as
with building construction, retrieval of elements for the formulation of
ceramics and metals, and other
applications where pure minerals are desired and used. In all such instances
of the practice of the
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present method, the solvent or solvents that are used in the method may be
individually separated,
recovered and thereby reconstituted for reuse in the practice of the same
method.
[00123] While certain of the preferred embodiments of the present invention
have been described
and specifically exemplified above, it is not intended that the invention be
limited to such embodiments.
Various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and
spirit of the present
invention, as set forth in the following claims.
[00124] From the foregoing description, various modifications and changes
in the compositions and
methods of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art. All such
modifications coming within the
scope of the appended claims are intended to be included therein.
[00125] The present invention relates to a hybrid crude oil and methods of
making the same using
petroleum-containing materials or waste stream products. In this regard, the
present invention is exemplified
by waste streams of roofing shingles and asphalt pavements (or millings).
These waste stream products
contain petroleum-based coatings and use the methods described herein to fully
(or substantially) dissolve the
petroleum-based coatings into an oil-based solution. It should be understood
that the method of making the
hybrid crude oil according to the present invention is not limited to these
exemplary waste stream products.
[00126] Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, Figure 5 illustrates a process
500 of forming hybrid crude oil
555 and extracting (or reclaiming) aggregates or minerals 506, 560 from one or
more man-made and/or
natural waste stream products 505, 510, 515, 520. Figure 6 is a high level
illustration of a system 600 for
implementing the process 500 of Figure 5.
[00127] Figure 6 illustrates a container (basin or tank) 605 containing an
oil-based solution 610 that
was heated at or above the elevated temperature. As explained herein, the oil-
based solution 610 is liquid,
and may be comprised of virgin oil, recycled oil, used motor oil, and/or any
suitable petroleum-based liquid
that can be safely elevated to temperatures up to approximately 500 F at
atmospheric pressure.
[00128] In this exemplary, non-exclusive illustration, the waste stream
products can be either man-
made 505, 510, natural 515, or a combination thereof 520. For illustration
purposes only and without any
intent to limit the scope of the present invention, the first man-made waste
stream product 505 may be
comprised of roof shingles; the second man-made waste stream product 510 may
be comprised of asphalt
pavement / millings mixture; and the natural waste stream product 515 may be
comprised of oil sands, tar
sands, and/or shale.
[00129] As further in Figure 5, at least some (or all) of the input waste
stream products 505, 510, 515,
520 can be individually, sequentially, or as a selective combination,
processed, and are collectively referred to
as petroleum-containing material 525. As illustrated in Figure 6, the
petroleum-containing material 525
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represents either one waste stream product or a selective combination thereof,
and is shown herein, for
illustration purpose only, as a solid material, such as a mineral (non-organic
material or similar other material)
506 that is encapsulated (or coated) with a solid petroleum-based coating 507.
[00130] Figure 6 illustrates a petroleum-containing material 525 as a
mineral (aggregate or another
non-organic material) with a petroleum-based coating that is representative of
any one or more of the various
illustrated waste stream products 505, 510, 515 or the combination thereof
520.
[00131] In general, the petroleum-based coating 507 is, and remains in
solid state at ambient
temperatures, while the oil-based solution 610 is, and remains in a liquid
state at ambient and elevated
temperatures. At ambient temperatures, the oil-based solution 610 would not
dissolve the petroleum-based
coating 507 from the petroleum containing material 525 because the petroleum-
based coating 507 is a solid
under ambient temperatures and it does not dissolve into the liquid oil-based
solution 610. As explained
herein, the removal and dissolving of the petroleum-based coating 507 from the
petroleum-containing material
525 (which contains for example, roofing shingles, asphalt pavement or
millings, roofing paper, asphalt, patch
mix material, roofing tar, surface texture material, sand tars, oil sands,
shale and other petroleum-containing
materials) is based upon the heating of the oil-based solution 610 to an
elevated temperature that equals or
exceeds the melting or phase-change temperature of the petroleum-based
coatings.
[00132] As an example, and as explained herein, the oil-based solution 610
may be heated to, and
maintained at an exemplary elevated temperature of approximately 350 F. Other
temperatures may
alternatively be selected depending on the composition of the petroleum-
containing material 525. For
example, shale may need higher temperatures because the petroleum-based
coating is more solid or
crystallized than that of the asphalt binder in asphalt pavement.
[00133] The removal or dissolving of the petroleum-based coating 507 from
the petroleum-containing
material 525 (which may contain for example, roofing shingles, asphalt
pavement or millings, tar sands, oil
sands, shale, and other petroleum-containing materials) is based upon the
heating of the oil-based solution
610 to the elevated temperature which equals or exceeds the melting or phase-
change temperature of the
petroleum-based coating 507. Each material is raised to a melting or phase-
change temperature based upon
the type of petroleum-based material being used.
[00134] To this end, and as illustrated at step 530 of Figure 5, the
petroleum-containing material 525 is
submerged into the oil-based solution 610 that is heated and maintained at an
elevated temperature for the
petroleum-based coating 507 to phase change from solid state to liquid state.
Until the temperature of the oil-
based solution 610 is elevated up to, or exceeds the elevated temperature of
the petroleum-based coating
507, the petroleum-based coating 507 remains in its solid form and the oil-
based solution 610 does not act as
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a solvent to the petroleum-based coating 507. Once the oil-based solution 610
reaches or exceeds the
elevated temperature of the petroleum-based coating 507, the oil-based
solution 610 becomes (or converts to)
a solvent for the petroleum-based coating 507, because it is able to provide
the environmental seal and the
needed temperature to cause the solid petroleum-based coating to phase-change
into a liquid and to melt so
as to be able to dissolve into the oil-based solution 610 before the petroleum-
based coating 507 can burn,
carburize, or degrade. Upon dissolving the petroleum-based coating 507 into
the oil-based solution 610, the
oil-based solution becomes a new solution of hybrid crude oil 555.
[00135] It should be clear that if the temperature of the oil-based
solution 610 were not raised, simply
adding or submerging the petroleum-based coating 507 from the petroleum-
containing material 525 into the
oil-based solution 610 at ambient temperature, the oil-based solution will not
dissolve the petroleum-based
coating 507 from the petroleum-containing material 525, over a reasonably and
economically viable short
period of time such as seconds and minutes and not days or years.
[00136] On the other hand, as the temperature of the oil-based solution
610 is raised to or above the
elevated temperature needed to melt or phase-change the petroleum-based
coating 507 from the petroleum-
containing material 525, the oil-based solution 610 becomes a solvent for the
petroleum-based coating 507. In
other terms, the oil-based solution 610 is inert to the petroleum-based
coating 507 at ambient temperatures but
becomes or acts as a solvent to the petroleum-based coating 507 at
temperatures at or above the melting or
phase-change temperature or elevated temperature for the petroleum-based
coating 507.
[00137] As a solvent, the heated oil-based solution 610 (at or above the
elevated temperature) is a
liquid that provides an environmental seal and the necessary thermal
conductance needed to cause the
petroleum-containing material 525 to phase-change and to melt the petroleum-
based coating 507 from the
petroleum-containing material 525 and to dissolve into the oil-based solution
610 (or after the initial dissolving
into the crude oil 555). The environmental seal protects the petroleum-based
coating 507 from degradation as
the temperature of the petroleum-containing material 525 rises from the
ambient temperature to the elevated
temperature needed for the melting or phase change temperature of the
petroleum-based coating 507. Having
dissolved into the oil-based solution 610, the petroleum-based coating 507
becomes the solute of the solution
or oil-based solution and would remain in a liquid state at both ambient or
elevated temperatures, resulting in
a mixture of hybrid crude oil 555 and minerals 506.
[00138] More specifically, and for illustration purpose only, upon
submerging the petroleum-containing
material 525, such as roofing shingles, asphalt pavement or millings, tar
sands, oil sands, shale, or other
petroleum containing material into the heated oil-based solution 610 at
elevated temperatures, the heat
energy of the oil-based solution 610, is transferred to the petroleum-
containing material 525 as the petroleum-
based coating 507 melts or phase-changes from solid to liquid. As the
petroleum-based coating 507 melts and
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liquifies, it dissolves into the oil-based solution 610 which is a liquid at
both ambient and elevated
temperatures, resulting in the hybrid crude oil 555, which is a mixture of the
oil-based solution 610 and the
dissolved petroleum-based coating 507.
[00139] This new solution, i.e., the hybrid crude oil 555, can still be
used as an oil-based solution 610
to keep absorbing more petroleum-based coatings 507 from the petroleum-
containing material 525 as
additional petroleum-containing material 525 is submerged into the oil-based
solution 610. This new solution
can still be referred to as oil-based solution 610 until it has achieved a
desired percentage, concentration, or
mixture ratio of initial oil-based solution 610 and petroleum-based coating
507 dissolved into it, whereupon it
will be designated as hybrid crude oil. The desired range of the percentage,
concentration, or mixture rate can
vary from a single submersion of the petroleum-containing material 525 into
the oil-based solution 610, to
multiple submersions of additional petroleum-containing materials 525 into the
oil-based solution 610.
[00140] Once the desired percentage of the initial oil-based solution 610
and petroleum-based coatings
507 that has dissolved into it has been achieved, this oil-based solution 610
will be referred to as hybrid crude
oil 555. As illustrated at step 556 in Figure 5, the hybrid crude oil 555 is
then sent to a refinery for reclamation
or recycling of new conventional petroleum products from the refinery.
[00141] Referring now to step 535 of Figure 5, it illustrates the resulting
effect of submerging the
petroleum-containing material 525 into the heated oil-based solution 610,
wherein the oil-based solution 610
has transformed into a hybrid crude oil 555. The container 605 of Figure 6
,contains a mixture of the hybrid
crude oil 555 and the minerals 506. The minerals 506 have their petroleum-
based coating 507 removed from
them as it was dissolved into the heated (at or above the elevated
temperature) oil-based solution 610. The
minerals 506 retain their physical size, shape and profile less the petroleum-
based coating 507 without
damage or physical deformation.
[00142] At the next step 540 of the process 500 of Figure 5, the minerals
506 are removed from
container 605, separating them from the bulk of the hybrid crude oil 555. At
this stage, the reclaimed minerals
506 are coated with a light coating 655 comprised essentially of hybrid crude
oil 555 (or oil-based solution
610), and are referenced by the numeral 560 (Figures 5 and 6). The light
coating 655 is and remains in a
liquid state in both elevated and ambient temperatures.
[00143] At step 565 of process 500 (Figure 5), the reclaimed coated
minerals 560 are then introduced
into a solvent recovery system 660 containing a solvent 575 to remove the
light oil coating 655 off the mineral
560. The solvent recovery system 660 is able to separate the solvent 575,
clean the minerals (aggregates,
sand, etc.) 506, and separate the liquid oil coating 655 back into individual
constituent components. The
solvent recovery system 660 and the solvent 575 used herein may be any
suitable system for the cleaning of
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the minerals 560 into clean minerals 506, and the recovery of the solvent 575
and the light oil coating 655,
which system can be known or is available in the field.
[00144] The reclaimed cleaned minerals 506 may be placed back in
circulation for reuse in the same or
different industries as the original minerals. The separated solvent 575 may
also be reused, for example, at
step 565 as a solvent in the solvent recovery system 660. In addition, the
separated and reclaimed liquid oil
coating 655 may be mixed for example, with the oil-based solution 610 in which
the petroleum-containing
material 525 is submerged (step 532).
[00145] Having described the general operation (process 500) of the present
system 600, the
following description will provide specific illustrations of how man-made and
natural waste stream products
505, 510, 515, 520 from the following exemplary sources, be implemented by the
present process 500:
A. Hybrid crude oil from a waste stream of roofing shingles.
B. Hybrid crude oil from a waste stream of asphalt millings / millings.
C. Hybrid crude oil from natural waste streams of sand tars, oil sands, and
shale.
D. Hybrid crude oil from other man-made and/or natural waste stream products.
A. Hybrid Crude Oil From A Waste Stream Of Roofing Shingles
[00146] The hybrid crude oil 555 that is made by the process 500 of the
present invention may result
from several man-made sources, such as the waste stream of roofing shingles
505 and the waste stream of
asphalt pavement / millings 510. Roofing shingles use asphalt as binder or
glue for the mineral portion of the
asphalt roofing shingles, while and the asphalt pavement is composed of an
asphalt binder that acts as glue
for the mineral or aggregate portion of the asphalt pavement.
[00147] The chemical compositions of the roofing asphalt and the pavement
asphalt binder differ
because the roofing shingles need to be pliable and are exposed to temperature
extremes, while the
pavement asphalt binder needs to be load bearing and is also exposed to
temperature extremes. In both
cases, the asphalt and asphalt binder are in a solid state which can be
considered a semi-solid such as wax
candles are in solid state which may be considered a semi-solid state (it can
be soft or semi-solid) at ambient
temperatures. Both the roofing shingle asphalt binder and the asphalt pavement
asphalt binder are man-made
in that they do not occur naturally but are created from the distillation of
crude oil which is a natural product.
[00148] In this illustration, the mineral 506, forming the roofing shingles
may include, for example,
fiberglass, aggregates, and sands, and similar other materials.
[00149] The hybrid crude oil 555 is created by the mixture of oil-based
solution 610 and the dissolution
of the petroleum-based coating 507 from the roofing shingles. This newly
formed solution, the hybrid crude oil
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555, emulates crude oil because it contains carbon chain molecules that are
not solely from the oil-based
solution 610 or the roofing shingle asphalt. Rather, this solution or mixture
(hybrid crude oil 555) may have
differing specific compositions, depending on the input oil-based solution
610, the petroleum-based coating
507, and/or the asphalt from the roofing shingles.
B. Hybrid Crude Oil From A Waste Stream Of Asphalt Pavement I Millings
[00150] The hybrid crude oil 555 may alternative be created by the mixture
of oil-based solution 610
and the dissolution or dissolving of the petroleum-based coating 507 or
asphalt binder from the asphalt
pavement and/or millings. This newly formed solution, the hybrid crude oil
555, emulates crude oil because it
contains carbon chain molecules that are not solely from the oil-based
solution 610 or the asphalt binder of the
asphalt pavement / millings. Rather, this solution or mixture (hybrid crude
oil 555) may have differing specific
compositions, depending on the input oil-based solution 610, the petroleum-
based coating 507, and/or the
asphalt from the asphalt binder from the asphalt pavement / millings.
C. Hybrid Crude Oil from Natural Waste Streams of Sand Tars, Oil Sands, and
Shale
[00151] Another form of natural waste streams (or waste stream products)
515 emanates from natural
sources that include, for example and without limitation: sand tars, sand
oils; and/or shale. Left in their natural
state these natural sources are composed of minerals that are coated with
petroleum-based coatings 507 and
are effectively a natural form of contamination or a waste stream. These
natural sources of petroleum-
containing materials 515 (and/or 520) have a petroleum-based coating 507 that
is generally similar to the
petroleum-based coating 507 of the roofing shingles, asphalt pavement, or
asphalt millings, except that the
petroleum-based coating 507 of these natural sources are not man-made and are
created by a natural waste
stream.
[00152] Currently, this natural waste stream 515 is being harvested by the
appropriate industries to
directly extract the petroleum-based coating 507 from the natural minerals.
However, the present invention
discloses a process 500 for extracting the petroleum-based coating 507 by
creating a new source of crude oil,
termed hybrid crude oil 555 by dissolving the petroleum-based coating 507 away
from the natural minerals
506 into an oil-based solution 610 and creating a hybrid crude oil 555. This
hybrid crude oil 555 is extracted by
removing the petroleum-based coating 507 from the mineral portion 506 of the
natural waste stream of sand
tars, sand oils, and/or shale, by melting or phase-changing the petroleum-
based coating 507 so that it
dissolves into the oil-based solution 610 as explained herein.
[00153] The petroleum-based coating 507 extracted from the sand tars, sand
oils, and/or shale is
different than the petroleum-based coating 507 extracted from the asphalt from
roofing shingles or the asphalt
binder from asphalt pavement or millings. The difference between the natural
and man-made petroleum-based
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coatings is that the man-made petroleum-based coatings from roofing shingles
and asphalt pavement or
millings are homogeneous or similar carbon chain molecules and their mere
extraction does not yield a crude
oil but rather asphalt as in the roofing shingles or asphalt binder as in the
asphalt pavement or millings.
[00154] The asphalt from roofing shingles and the asphalt binder from
asphalt pavement contain a
more homogeneous blend of carbon chain molecules which in general are the
longest carbon chain molecules
left in the refinery distillation process. By themselves, their mere
extraction from the mineral portion of the
petroleum-containing material 525, roofing shingles, or asphalt pavement does
not make them a crude oil
because of their homogeneous carbon chain of molecule composition. On the
other hand, a natural crude oil
has varied carbon-chained molecules, such that the refinery distillation can
extract random carbon chained
molecules from the lightest to the most dense.
[00155] The current industry process of extracting the petroleum-based
coatings 507 to create crude
oil from the natural waste stream of sand tars, sand oils, or shale, has
proven to be an alternative or synthetic
crude oil as termed by the trade. However, as stated earlier, unlike the man-
made asphalt and asphalt binder,
the natural petroleum-based coatings 507 that are extracted from sand tars,
sand oils, or shale, contain varied
carbon-chain molecules in size and composition such that they contain similar
properties of natural crude oil.
[00156] In the extraction of the crude oils from sand tars, sand oils, or
shale the industry uses
processes that do not fully extract all of the petroleum-based coating 507
from the mineral portion 506 of the
sand tars, sand oils, or shale. The reason for the partial extraction of the
petroleum-based coating of
petroleum-containing materials is that the industry uses water and steam as
the basis for the extraction
process. The present hybrid crude oil process 500 does not use water or steam
but rather dissolves the
petroleum-based coating 507 into an oil-based solution 610 to attain the
hybrid crude oil 555 for a complete
removal of the petroleum-based coating 507 from the minerals 525, 560. The
current industry practice of
partial extraction of crude oil (or the petroleum-based coating) from the sand
tars, sand oils, or shale makes
economic sense to the industry when petroleum prices are at certain price
levels. The unextracted portion of
the petroleum-based coating 507 remaining on the minerals 506 following the
partial crude oil extraction
creates serious man-made environmental or pollution issues.
[00157] The industry thrives to improve the extraction output of petroleum-
based coating 507 and to
minimize environmental or pollution hazards; however, prior to the advent of
the present invention, there has
been no practical and economical solution to remedy the current processing
issue. The present invention
describes a process for processing natural (and man-made) waste streams from
sand tars, sand oils, or shale
similarly to the process 500 described earlier for processing the man-made
asphalt from the roofing shingles
and the asphalt binder from the asphalt pavement or millings. In fact, the
same process 500 can be used for a
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petroleum-containing material 525 that is composed of a mixture 520 of man-
made and natural waste
streams.
[00158] To improve environmental issues associated with the partially
removed petroleum-based
coatings from sand tars, sand oils, and shale, the process 500 of forming
hybrid crude oil 555 of the present
invention may be used directly onto the natural waste stream 515. In addition,
the process 500 of forming
hybrid crude oil 555 of the present invention may be used for the current
industry output of partially removed
petroleum-based coatings on sand tars, sand oils, and shale not only to
recover the remaining petroleum-
based coating but to also eliminate the pollution caused by the current method
of creating partially coated
sand tars, sand oils, and shale. As described herein, the present process 500
uses the oil-based solution 610
to remove the petroleum-based coatings 507 from the sand tars, sand oils, and
shale in their entirety and to
dissolve them into the oil-based solution 610 so as to create the hybrid crude
oil 555. The hybrid crude oil 555
would be composed of the man-made oil-based solution 610 and the natural
petroleum-based coatings 507
from the sand tars, sand oils, and shale whether they are in their natural
state or in a partially petroleum-based
coated state.
[00159] This new solution, i.e., the hybrid crude oil 555, is created by
the ability of the oil-based
solution 610 to dissolve the petroleum-based coating 507 from the oil tars,
sand oils, or shale. The new hybrid
crude oil 555 emulates crude oil because it contains the varied carbon-chain
molecules of the natural
petroleum-containing materials 515: oil tars, sand oils, or shale. The hybrid
crude oil 555 is comprised of oil-
based solution 610 and petroleum based coatings 507 and can still be used as
an oil-based solution 610 to
keep absorbing more petroleum-based coatings 507 from the petroleum-containing
material 525 as the
petroleum-containing material 525 is submerged into the oil-based solution
610.
[00160] The new hybrid crude oil 555 containing the petroleum-based
coatings 507, may still be
referred to as oil-based solution until it has achieved a desired percentage,
concentration, or mixture ratio of
the initial oil-based solution 610 and the petroleum-based coating 507
dissolved thereinto. This percentage,
concentration, mixture ration can be from a single submersion of petroleum
petroleum-containing material 525
into the oil-based solution 610 to multiple submersions of additional
petroleum-containing material 525 into the
oil-based solution 610. Once the desired percentage, concentration, or mixture
ratio of the initial oil-based
solution 610 and the dissolving petroleum-based coating 507 has been achieved,
this oil-based solution 610 is
referred to as a hybrid crude oil 555. The hybrid crude oil 555 may be sent to
a refinery for reclamation or
recycling of new or conventional petroleum product or byproduct.
[00161] The hybrid crude oils 555 from the various natural waste stream
sources 515 of oil tars, sand
oils, or shale, create unique hybrid crude oils based upon the natural
composition of the site and the source
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specific oil tars, sand oils, or shale compositions of the petroleum-based
coatings. Each oil tar, sand oil, or
shale site will create its own hybrid crude oil 555 that has a varying
composition of carbon-chain molecules.
D. Hybrid Crude Oil From Other Man-Made AndlOr Natural Waste Stream
Products
[00162] Similarly to what has been described earlier, another source for
the hybrid crude oil formed
according to the present invention, can be from a mixture of man-made and/or
natural waste stream products,
i.e., 505, 510, 515, and may further include contaminated sites, such as, for
example only, an oil spill site, a
soil contamination site, and a hazardous waste.
[00163] As an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the oil-based
solution 610 may include
any one or more of: virgin motor oil, recycled motor oil, used motor oil
and/or any suitable petroleum-based
liquid that can be safely elevated to temperatures of for instance, up to 500
F at atmospheric pressure.
Additionally, the liquid oil-based solution 610 can be from vegetable oils,
waxes, greases, and/or other
materials that can act as a solvent for petroleum-based coatings on petroleum
containing materials 525.
[00164] The liquid oil-based solution 610 has a specific thermal
conductivity or heat transfer rate of the
heat energy from the oil-based solution 610 to the petroleum-based coating 507
in order to cause the latter to
phase-change. In general, the faster the thermal conductivity can transfer the
needed heat energy to melt or
phase-change the petroleum-based coating 507 into a liquid, the sooner the
dissolving process between the
oil-based solution 610 and the petroleum-based coating 507 can occur. The
melting or phase-change cycle
time is important and a faster melting or phase-change cycle time reduces the
likelihood of the petroleum-
based coating being damaged by burning, carburizing, or other degradation.
[00165] In order to improve the thermal conductivity, if the liquid oil-
based solution 610 were to contain
metallic particulates within the liquid, the metallic particulates would serve
as more effective conductors of
thermal energy within the liquid and aid to improve the overall thermal
conductivity properties of the liquid oil-
based solution 610. Metals are better thermal conductors than liquids
especially petroleum-based liquids and
any metallic particulate within the oil-based solution would have a better
thermal conductance than petroleum-
based liquids without the metallic particulates.
[00166] In order to support this concept of a mixture of a liquid and solid
metallic composition for the
oil-based solution 610, metallic particulates can alternatively be added to
the virgin motor oil, recycled motor
oil, and/or petroleum-based liquids, so as to improve their thermal
conductivity characteristics. Another
petroleum-based liquid for use as the oil-based solution is from commercial
waste streams of virgin motor oil,
recycled motor oil, and petroleum-based liquids that already contain a
metallic content. These commercial
waste streams for the oil-based solutions include, for example:
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a. Used motor oil. Used motor oil is not only a waste stream product from the
combustion or other forms of
engines, but it also has a metallic content from the engine component
frictional forces.
b. Cutting tool fluids. As with the used motor oil, cutting tool fluids also
have a metallic content from the
cutting action of the tool.
c. Greases. Grease is a mixture of petroleum-based or oil-based composition, a
thickener, and bismuth.
Bismuth is the metal content. Greases are a semi-fluid or thick fluid that
under elevated temperature
becomes more fluid.
[00167] The use of these commercial waste stream products as the oil-based
solution 610, not only
improves the thermal conductivity of the oil-based solution 610 because of
their metallic content, but it also
provides a second life to a waste stream product such as the used motor oil,
cutting tool fluids, and greases
which would normally be recycled using refinery processes that are dedicated
towards the specific waste
stream product such as used motor oil, used cutting fluids, and used greases.
[00168] The oil-based solution 610 use of these commercial waste stream
products could include non-
petroleum-based materials, including used cooking oil, used vegetable oil,
used bees wax, used vegetable
fats, and used animal fats.
[00169] This recycling effort has inherent issues especially when this low
value product is not properly
disposed of. Current industrial recycling of used motor oil reclaims less than
60% of the used motor oil in this
country. Reference is made to https://www.greenandgrowing.org/oil-recycling-
101-oil-waste-facts/. The
remaining 40% of the used motor oil is either burned as a fuel source or
becomes an environmental pollutant.
By adding a second life to the used motor oil as well as the used cutting
fluids and used grease, an added
economical value will be added to avoid these items becoming fuel sources or
pollutants.
[00170] All publications, including but not limited to patents and patent
applications, cited in this
specification are herein incorporated by reference as if each individual
publication were specifically and
individually indicated to be incorporated by reference herein as though fully
set forth.
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