Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SEPARATING HYDROCARBONS WITH
SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED EMISSIONS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention generally relates to a modular crude oil refinery (MCOR).
The MCOR is
designed for smaller scale deployment with a capacity to process in the range
of 3,000-4,000 barrels
of crude oil per day in a single production unit and up to or greater than
100,000 barrels per day with
linked production units. More specifically, a MCOR includes a low temperature,
low pressure primary
separation reactor, condensing system and recirculation systems operating in a
closed loop
configuration that enable the production of both heavy and light hydrocarbon
products with
substantially no greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The MCOR has the capability
to receive and
process crude-oil feedstocks of varying API gravity and be controlled to
produce a variety of both
heavy and light products including cleaner-burning bunker fuels, jet fuels,
diesel fuels, gasoline fuels
and asphalt binders.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The properties of hydrocarbons depend on the number and
arrangement of the carbon
and hydrogen atoms in the molecules. Hydrocarbons containing up to four carbon
atoms are usually
gases, those with 5 to 19 carbon atoms are usually liquids, and those with 20
or more carbon atoms
are solids at ambient temperatures. Crude oils range in consistency from water
to tar-like solids,
and in color from clear to black. An "average" crude oil contains about 84%
carbon, 14% hydrogen,
1%-3% sulfur, and less than 1% each of nitrogen, oxygen, metals, and salts.
Crude oils are generally
classified as paraffinic, naphthenic, or aromatic, based on the predominant
proportion of similar
hydrocarbon molecules. Mixed-base crudes have varying amounts of each type of
hydrocarbon.
Refinery crude base stocks usually consist of mixtures of two or more
different crude oils. The
conventional energy-intensive oil refining process uses chemicals, catalysts,
heat and pressure to
separate and combine the basic types of hydrocarbon molecules naturally found
in crude oil into
groups of similar molecules. In addition, refining processes can be used to
rearrange structures and
bonding patterns into different hydrocarbon molecules and compounds.
[0003] Throughout the history of refining, various treatment methods have
been used to
remove non-hydrocarbons, impurities and other constituents that adversely
affect the properties of
finished products or reduce the efficiency of the conversion processes. It is
generally accepted fact
-1-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
that SOx and NOx emissions from fossil fuel combustion affects human health,
especially when
combined with atmospheric aerosols that form "acid rain" and more harmful
secondary pollutants
(including toxic mercury, sulfur oxides, sulfuric acids, nitric acids,
hydrogen peroxides) that are
absorbed by floating particulate matter and dissolved in rain droplets to
exacerbate local air pollution
and change the chemistry of local water supplies. Countries today have decades
of experience and
scientific proof about the effects on agriculture, livestock and humans from
burning fossil fuels. No
longer are governments tolerating the sun-blocking smog and respiratory harm
to their populations
caused by unregulated fossil fuel combustion emissions. Scientific studies
worldwide estimate that
SOx and NOx emissions from fossil fuels are responsible for the deaths of
millions of children and
the elderly, due to respiratory harm from fossil fuel combustion pollutants.
Concern for the
environmental effects of burning fossil fuels has recently turned to the
global maritime shipping
industry, where shipping pollution emissions of particulate matter (PM)
smaller than 2.5 microns is
estimated in recent studies to be responsible for 60,000 premature
cardiopulmonary deaths every
year as a consequence of ships burning high-sulfur low-purity bunker fuels.
Low-grade ship bunker
fuel (or fuel oil) can have more than 2,000-3,000 times the sulfur content of
low-sulfur diesel fuels
used in US and European automobiles. The International Maritime Organization
(IMO) used such
data to justify enactment of its IMO 2020 regulations for the shipping
industry to burn only low-sulfur
bunker fuels in order to reduce harmful SOx and particulate matter (PM)
emissions from maritime
sources. As the fuel market moves to a low-sulfur world, low-SOx bunker fuels,
jet fuels, kerosene,
diesel fuels and gasoline fuels will become the most in-demand fuels in the
market. The global
move to low-sulfur fuels is expected to reduce markets and demand for high-
sulfur crude oil
produced from Middle East based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC)
countries. "Sour oil"-producing countries, like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE,
Kuwait and Mexico face a
changing market place for oil, where their "sour" crude oil supplies may have
a lower value because
it costs refineries much more money to remove the sulfur, than to buy other
countries' low-sulfur
crude oil at a higher price in the first place.
[0004] Based on rising demand for sweet low-sulfur crude oil feedstocks
to meet the low-cost
needs of global low-sulfur fuel refineries, oil producers must deliver
environmentally friendlier ways
to refine raw crude oil, if they want to increase the number of oil refineries
worldwide that would want
to buy their crude.
[0005] Conventional petroleum refining methods typically focus on methods
to separate crude
oil into various petroleum products for different applications and to increase
the value of the products
relative to the crude oil feedstock. The "lighter" short hydrocarbon chain
products, such as
kerosene, gasoline and naphtha, are more valuable and separating these lighter
chain products
-2-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
from the other heavier chain components has been the primary focus of most
refining operations.
Conventional refineries commonly use crude distillation towers to separate
crude feedstock into its
components, or fractions, which are often further processed by other
processing units. Distillation
towers typically operate by first heating crude oil to a temperature of 370-
400 C (700-750 F) to
vaporize the crude oil at or slightly above atmospheric pressure. These vapors
rise through the
tower and pass through a series of perforated trays or structured packing in
the tower. The vapors
cool as they rise and different components condense into liquid at different
levels based on their
respective boiling points. Different distillation fractions are drawn from the
tower at different levels
to yield product streams or for further processing.
[0006] Heavier fractions that do not boil off in the atmospheric
distillation tower accumulate
at the bottom of the tower (atmospheric residuum) and are sometimes sent to a
separate distillation
tower called a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) for further fractionation under
a vacuum of
approximately 1/20th of atmospheric pressure (often 25 to 40 mmHg or lower).
At these low
pressures, the lighter components of the atmospheric residuum will vaporize at
temperatures of 425
C (800 F) that are below those where the hydrocarbon chains start to crack.
This allows separation
of the heavier atmospheric residuum without cracking.
[0007] The VDU typically produces a vacuum gas oil (VGO) and a vacuum
residuum which
are in turn sent to additional processing units for further refining. These
additional processing units
often use cracking processes to break down larger hydrocarbon molecules into
smaller molecules
to form more valuable product streams. Most major conversion units in
conventional refinery
operations today use some form of cracking operation. Cracking can be achieved
using heat
(thermal cracking) or by adding hydrogen (hydrocracking), often in the
presence of a catalyst
(catalytic cracking or hydrocracking).
[0008] VG0 produced by the VDU is typically sent to cracking units that
perform fluid catalytic
cracking (FCC) or hydrocracking (HC). Vacuum residuum from the VDU is
typically blended with
residual fuel oil or sent to deep conversion units such as a coker or
visbreaker to crack the feedstock
and extract lighter components. The vacuum residuum can also be used to
produce a by-product
such as asphalt binder.
[0009] Refineries also commonly incorporate additional processing units
that use various
methods to improve yield and fuel quality and reduce contaminants, such as
units for hydrotreating
for desulfurization and de-nitrification, alkylation to upgrade low-value
light ends (C3s and C4s) to a
higher-value gasoline blend stock with relatively high-octane properties and
no aromatic
components, as well as reformers to upgrade heavy naphtha into a high-value
gasoline blend stock
by raising its octane.
-3-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
[0010] The conventional refining technologies used for separation and
cracking of crude oil
feedstock described above have several disadvantages related to cost, safety,
energy consumption
and greenhouse gas and various toxic emissions. In particular, conventional
refining technologies
are typically complex, require expensive facilities and equipment, are
expensive to operate, can
require the use of expensive catalysts in the refining process, require higher
operating temperatures
and often higher pressures all requiring more energy to operate. Importantly,
such systems typically
have high emissions of greenhouse gases and other toxic emissions.
[0011] Over the years, work continues to develop systems and strategies to
separate crude
oil hydrocarbon fractions, produce higher quality fuels, increase refining
yields of lighter products
and to limit the toxic gases emitted from oil refineries.
[0012] Importantly, past systems primarily focus on upgrading various
feedstocks to increase
light product yield and can have limited ability to reduce carbon dioxide,
sulfur and nitrogen
emissions. Moreover, most crude oil refining processes utilize high pressure
and elevated
temperature conditions for cracking and separation of hydrocarbon molecules
using costly heaters
and costly fuels for high-temperature cracking and separation of asphaltenes
and paraffins from the
crude. Further still, such systems are inefficient as they do not completely
recycle nor use the
exhaust gases and deposit left-over contaminants from their processes into a
residuum or asphalt
by-product. As such, they have higher emissions of greenhouse gases and other
toxic emissions.
Moreover, conventional refining technologies are costly to build, use
expensive facilities and
complex equipment, are expensive to operate and use expensive catalysts in the
refining process.
While processes and techniques from such prior art may solve some problems,
they can create
other problems.
[0013] With regard to the production of high-quality asphalt binders, it
is expected that the
supply of this product will be affected by the ongoing closures of major
refining operations
throughout the world due to reduction in carbon-based fuel demand and the
associated
environmental concerns as well as the re-purposing of existing refineries to
process biofuels as
feedstock to produce biodiesel. As a result, the supply of asphalt binder is
expected to decline into
a continually growing road and transportation infrastructure construction
market driven primarily by
developing economies. Refinery closures also create particular challenges for
remote and
dislocated markets as these markets are being subjected to lower supply and
higher costs for clean
fuels and asphalt products. This problem is only expected to intensify over
time as there is no
substitute for asphalt in road and transportation infrastructure at this time.
-4-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
[0014] As a result, there has been a need for refining systems and methods
enabling the
production of both heavy and light hydrocarbon products and particularly high-
quality asphalt binder
wherein these products are produced with:
= reduced greenhouse gas and/or other emissions within closed loop refining
systems;
= lower temperature and pressure within a reactor during separation;
= lower operating costs;
= lower capex costs for separation and condensing systems and processes;
= efficient recycling/use of heat throughout the systems and sub-systems;
= smaller scale refineries that allow for efficient geographical
distribution of these smaller
refineries that can be located near or within communities; and,
= modular systems enabling effective scaling of production for site
specific deployments
to meet local market demands for a variety of hydrocarbon products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is
provided a crude oil refining
system for separating hydrocarbons within a crude oil feedstock with reduced
emissions comprising
one or more production units, each production unit having:
a reactor for separating the feedstock into heavy and light fractions, each
reactor having a
reactor body including:
an atomizing system for introducing and atomizing feedstock in the reactor
body under
conditions to effect rapid surface-area generation of the feedstock and
separation of
the feedstock into heavy and light fractions;
a heavy fraction removal system adjacent a bottom of the reactor body;
a light fraction removal system adjacent a top of the reactor body;
a condenser connected to the at least one reactor to receive the light
fraction, the condenser
having:
a condenser body;
a sectioned cooling system configured to the condenser body to condense the
light
fraction into one or more light hydrocarbon products;
a light hydrocarbon collection system (LHCS) for selectively removing the one
or more light
hydrocarbon products;
a light fraction return system configured between the condenser and reactor to
return un-
condensed light fraction gases to the reactor; and,
-5-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
a heavy-fraction collection and recirculation system (HFCRS) connected to the
heavy fraction
removal system having:
a heavy fraction product system for selectively removing a heavy fraction
product;
a heavy fraction recirculation system for selectively recirculating a portion
of the heavy
fraction to the reactor;
where each of the one or more reactors, condenser and HFCRS are connected in a
loop.
[0016] In various embodiments, the system includes various combinations of the
following:
= the light fraction return system includes a carrier gas system configured
to selectively
introduce a carrier gas into the light fraction return system.
= a vapor recovery unit is connected to the condenser and is configured to
selectively bleed
excess vapor from the loop.
= a burner is connected to the vapor recovery unit to burn excess vapor
outside the loop and
wherein combustion heat from the burner is thermally connected to the
feedstock and/or the
light fraction return gas as a source of heat to pre-heat the feedstock and/or
the light fraction
return gas.
= a blower system is configured below the atomizing system (atomizing
nozzles or other similar
devices) to promote vertical movement of vapor and droplets within the
reactor.
= a feedstock system having a feedstock storage tank connected to the
reactor, the feedstock
system having at least one heater to pre-heat the feedstock prior to the
reactor.
= a control system is operatively connected to the system and configured to
enable selective
control of temperature, pressure and flow of vapor in the reactor to seta cut-
point in the reactor
between the light fraction and heavy fraction.
= the control system is operatively connected to the system and configured
to enable selective
control of a feedstock flow rate into the reactor, a heavy fraction
recirculation rate into the
reactor and a heavy product removal rate from the system.
= the control system is configured to enable flash atomization of the
feedstock at a reactor
pressure of 0-30 in Hg.
= the atomizing system includes a plurality of atomizing nozzles and the
control system and
atomizing system are configured to introduce feedstock through the atomizing
nozzles at 1375
to 6700 kPa (200-1,000 psi).
= the control system and atomizing nozzles are configured to introduce
returned heavy fraction
through the atomizing nozzles at 1375 to 6700 kPa (200-1,000 psi).
= the control system and atomizing system are configured to eject feedstock
into the reactor
with a droplet size diameter of 5-120 microns.
-6-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
= the control system and blower system are configured to induce vapor flow
within the reactor
at a rate of 3-20 feet/second.
= the HFCRS includes a heater configured to add heat to the heavy fraction
before the
proportion of the heavy fraction is re-introduced into the reactor.
= the sectioned cooling system is a horizontal condenser configured to
condense the light
fraction in at least one stage, each stage producing a light hydrocarbon
product including any
one of or a combination of bunker fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene and naphtha.
= the sectioned cooling system is a vertical condenser configured to
condense the light fraction
in at least one stage, each stage producing a light hydrocarbon product
including any one of
or a combination of bunker fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene and naphtha.
= the uncondensed light fraction gases from the condenser have a
temperature less than 10 C
(50 F).
= the light fraction return system includes a gas trap connected to the
condenser to separate
uncondensed light fraction gases from the condenser as the uncondensed light
fraction gases
and a naphtha fraction.
= the condenser is a distillation tower configured to condense a plurality
of light hydrocarbon
products and a second heavy fraction configured for re-introduction into the
HFCRS.
= the reactor body includes a sump for collecting the heavy fraction.
= the system includes at least two production units configured to a
feedstock system in parallel,
the feedstock system having a single feedstock storage tank connected to each
production
unit.
[0017] In another aspect, the invention provides a reactor for separating a
crude oil feedstock into
heavy and light fractions, the reactor having a reactor body including:
an atomizing system for introducing and atomizing the feedstock in the reactor
body under
conditions to effect rapid surface-area generation of the feedstock and
separation of the
feedstock into heavy and light fractions;
a heavy fraction removal system adjacent to the bottom of the reactor body;
and,
a light fraction removal system adjacent to the top of the reactor body.
[0018] In various embodiments, the reactor includes various combinations of
the following:
= a feedstock system configured to the reactor for delivering feedstock to
the reactor, the
feedstock system having a feedstock storage tank connected to the reactor and
at least one
heater to pre-heat the feedstock prior to entering the reactor.
= a carrier gas system configured to the reactor for introducing a carrier
gas into the reactor.
-7-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
= a blower system configured below the atomizing nozzles to promote vapor
circulation within
the reactor.
= a vapor separator adjacent to the top of the reactor body.
= a control system operatively connected to the reactor and configured to
enable selective
control of temperature, pressure and flow of vapor in the reactor to seta cut-
point in the reactor
between the light fraction and heavy fraction.
= the control system is configured to enable selective control of a
feedstock flow rate into the
reactor, a heavy fraction recirculation rate into the reactor and a heavy
product removal rate
from the system.
= the control system is configured to enable flash atomization of the
feedstock at a reactor
pressure of 0-30 in Hg.
= the control system and atomizing nozzles are configured to introduce
feedstock into the
atomizing nozzles at 1375 to 6700 kPa (200-1,000 psi).
= the control system and atomizing nozzles are configured to eject
feedstock into the reactor
with a droplet size diameter of 5-120 microns.
= the control system and blower system are configured to induce vapor flow
within the reactor
at a rate of 3-20 feet/second.
[0019]
In another aspect, the invention provides a condenser for condensing a
hydrocarbon
vapor, the condenser including:
a condenser body;
a sectioned cooling system configured to the condenser body to condense the
hydrocarbon
vapor into one or more light hydrocarbon products;
a light hydrocarbon collection system for receiving the light hydrocarbon
products; and,
an un-condensed vapor collection system for receiving un-condensed vapor
and where the condenser is thermally connected to a separation reactor
configured to supply
hydrocarbon vapor to the condenser in a closed loop and return un-condensed
vapor to the
reactor.
[0020] In various embodiments, the condenser includes various combinations of
the following:
= the sectioned cooling system is a horizontal condenser configured to
condense the light
fraction in at least one stage, each stage having a separate compartment for
containing a light
hydrocarbon product, the light hydrocarbon products including any one of or a
combination of
bunker fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene and naphtha.
-8-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
= the sectioned cooling system is a vertical condenser configured to
condense the light fraction
in at least one stage, each stage producing a light hydrocarbon product
including any one of
or a combination of bunker fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene and naphtha.
= the temperature of the un-condensed vapor is less than 50 F.
= the condenser includes four stages configured to condense four light
hydrocarbon products
and includes a first section for condensing bunker fuel, a second section for
condensing diesel
fuel, a third section for condensing kerosene and a fourth section for
condensing naphtha.
= each stage of the condenser includes a heat exchanger connected to each
stage configured
to recover heat during condensing and where recovered heat is utilized to pre-
heat a crude
oil feedstock.
= the condenser is a distillation tower having at least one tray, each tray
configured to condense
and recover the light fraction as one or more light hydrocarbon products.
= the distillation tower recovers a heavy hydrocarbon product from a bottom
of the distillation
tower.
[0021] In another aspect, the invention provides a process for separating
a crude oil feedstock
into a plurality of hydrocarbon products including the steps of:
a) atomizing a crude oil feedstock in a reactor under conditions to flash
vaporize the
feedstock;
b) collecting a light fraction from the reactor and condensing the light
fraction into one or
more hydrocarbon products and an uncondensed gas fraction; and,
c) collecting a heavy fraction from the reactor wherein a portion of the
heavy fraction is
collected as a heavy hydrocarbon product.
[0022] In various embodiments of the process, the process includes various
combinations of the
following:
= the process includes a further step of recirculating and atomizing a
portion of the heavy
fraction back to the reactor.
= the process includes further steps of returning uncondensed gas from step
b) to the reactor.
= the process includes a further step of introducing a carrier gas into the
reactor and where the
carrier gas is natural gas.
= the process includes further steps of atomizing the crude oil feedstock
and collecting the light
fraction are conducted at a temperature less than 315 C.
= the steps of atomizing the crude oil feedstock and collecting the light
fraction are conducted
at a pressure less than 0-30 in Hg.
-9-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
= the step of atomizing includes forming the crude oil feedstock into
droplets having a droplet
size diameter of 5-120 microns.
= excess gas from the condenser is bled out of the closed loop and burned
and used to pre-
heat the crude oil feedstock.
= the process includes further steps of independently controlling each of
temperature, pressure
and vapor velocity in the reactor to provide a cut-point between coarse light
and heavy
fractions.
= the process includes further steps of independently controlling a
feedstock flow rate into the
reactor, a heavy fraction recirculation rate into the reactor and a heavy
product removal rate
from the reactor.
= the process includes a further step of controlling reactor pressure
between 0-30 in Hg during
flash atomization of the feedstock.
= the process includes a further step of controlling a feedstock atomizing
system to introduce
feedstock into the reactor through atomizing nozzles at 1375 to 6700 kPa (200-
1,000 psi).
= the process includes a further step of controlling the atomizing system
to eject feedstock into
the reactor with a droplet size diameter of 5-120 microns.
= the process includes a further step of controlling a blower system within
the reactor to induce
vapor flow within the reactor at a rate of 3-20 feet/second.
= the process includes further steps of controlling each of temperature,
pressure and flow in the
reactor to maintain a cut-point between the light hydrocarbon fraction and
heavy hydrocarbon
fraction between C20-C30.
= the process utilizes a crude oil feedstock having an API gravity less
than 15 and wherein a
feedstock feed rate, reactor temperature, carrier gas velocity and pressure,
and heavy fraction
recirculation rate are controlled to produce an asphalt product corresponding
to approximately
70 vol% of the feedstock volume.
= the feedstock has an API gravity of 6-15.
= the process includes a further step of monitoring the concentration of
nitrogen compounds in
the uncondensed light fraction and directing a proportion of the uncondensed
light fraction to
a noxious emissions treatment system.
= the process includes a further step of monitoring the concentration of
sulphur compounds in
the uncondensed light fraction and directing a proportion of the uncondensed
light fraction to
a sulphur treatment system.
-10-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
= the process includes a further step of blending crude-oil feedstocks
having different API
gravities prior to introducing the feedstock into the reactor.
= the process utilizes a feedstock that is a high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) or
heavy fuel oil (HFO)
and the sulfur content in the light hydrocarbon fraction are monitored and
controlled to produce
an IMO 2020 compliant fuel.
[0023] In another aspect, each production unit has a feedstock processing
capacity of 3,000-4,000
barrels per day and two or more production units are connected in parallel to
a common feedstock
delivery system and product storage system.
[0024] In another aspect, the invention provides a network of modular oil
refinery systems comprising
a plurality of geographically distributed production units and each production
unit are connected in
parallel and have a common feedstock delivery system and product storage
system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] The invention is described with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIGURE 1 is an overview of a modular crude oil refinery (MCOR) in accordance
with one
embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 1(1) is an overview of a modular crude oil refinery (MCOR) in
accordance with one
embodiment of the invention showing details of various pumping and control
systems;
FIGURE 1A is a system and process flow diagram illustrating a feedstock
delivery system
to a reactor in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 1B is a system and process flow diagram illustrating a condenser and
light fraction
recovery system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 1C is a system and process flow illustrating a feedstock delivery
system to a reactor
in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
FIGURE 1D is a system and process flow diagram in accordance with one
embodiment of
the invention where products are condensed in a distillation tower.
FIGURE 2 is a schematic diagram of the reactor used in the crude oil refining
process
according to an embodiment herein.
FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram showing geographical deployment of MCOR
production
units in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.
-11-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous
details thereof
are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that
are illustrated in the
accompanying drawings and the following description.
Overview and Rationale
[0027] Efficient deployment of smaller scale oil refining facilities or
plants, such as a Modular
Crude Oil Refinery (MCOR) as described herein, can enable local markets to
"make their own fuels"
and in the process reduce the retail cost of various hydrocarbon products
including bunker, jet,
diesel, and gasoline fuels, as well as other products such as asphalt binders.
Such systems can
provide benefits to local consumers by reducing the cost of transporting
feedstocks and/or products
from suppliers to refiners and buyers/consumers. For example, instead of
importing refined fuels
by sea/land/rail tankers full, a local MCOR can import a crude oil and, from
that raw material,
produce higher-value, higher-purity fuels that can be delivered and sold to
that local market.
[0028] In addition, the MCOR process and systems as described herein have
several
technical advantages over conventional crude oil refining processes that are
typically pollution-
intensive, use various combinations of high-temperature, high-pressure
processing and expensive
upgrading equipment such as open-ended vertical distillation columns and other
distillation columns.
[0029] As described herein, the MCOR is less complex, operates at lower
temperatures and
lower pressures than conventional refineries and can provide a safer, lower
energy and less costly
plant to build and operate. Furthermore, the MCOR achieves substantially zero-
emissions by
effective recycling of process gases in a closed-loop system. Importantly, the
only emissions are
from process heaters used to generate process heat that are external to a
closed loop refining
process. Moreover, these external emissions can be captured/scrubbed with
other
capturing/scrubbing systems.
[0030] The MCOR may also be operated to separate and deposit the majority
of crude oil
impurities into certain products such as a final stage residuum/asphalt
product and, when required,
impurities may be removed by separate gas/product treatment systems.
[0031] MCOR units can be constructed without threatening the local
environment with toxic
emissions that are typically associated with oil refineries and can thus be
located within or adjacent
to communities.
[0032] Figures 1 and 1 ( 1 ) illustrate the MCOR system 100. Figure 1
shows a high-level
overview of the system and Figure 1 ( 1 ) shows further details of the
systems, pumps, sensors and
thermal control systems. As shown in Figure 1, the system 100 includes a
separation reactor 108,
- 1 2-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
a condensing system 112, a heavy fraction collection and recirculation system
(HFCRS) 103 and
light fraction recirculation system (LFRS) 123. These systems are defined as a
production unit (PU)
that can be operatively linked together to scale processing capacity at a
plant.
[0033] As shown, crude oil feedstock 102a from storage tank 102 is heated
and introduced
into reactor 108 to effect heavy and light fraction separation at a desired
cut point under vacuum
flashing conditions. Solvent 152 may be added if desired. A heavy fraction
103a is removed from
the bottom of the reactor to the HFCRS 103 where a portion 103b is selectively
returned to the
reactor and a second fraction 103c is selectively removed as a heavy fraction
product to heavy
fraction product tanks 103d.
[0034] Light fraction 107 is removed from the top of the reactor to
condenser 112. The light
fraction 107 is condensed in a sectioned-cooling system within the condenser
to produce at least
one light fraction that is delivered to light fraction storage tanks 130, 132,
134 and 136. Uncondensed
gases from the condenser are delivered to the LFRS 123 where a proportion 123c
is selectively
returned to the reactor and a second proportion 123b may be bled/recovered
into a vapor recovery
unit 126. Excess/recovered vapor 126a may be used as a fuel for heater 128.
[0035] With reference to Figures 1(1), 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D various
embodiments are described
with additional details of each section of the MCOR system and its operation.
Feed, Reactor and Heavy Fraction Collection and Recirculation Systems
[0036] Figure 1A is a system and process flow diagram which illustrates an
embodiment of
the feedstock delivery and HFCRS systems. Crude oil 102a from crude oil stock
tanks 102 passes
through pumps (eg. centrifugal pump or positive displacement pump) 110 to
deliver feedstock to the
reactor. Crude oil from the crude oil stock tanks 102 is maintained at ambient
temperature for light
crude and at 48-94 C (120-200 F) for heavy crude. For each feedstock, the
pressure is increased
from an initial pressure of 690 t01375 kPa (100-200 psi) in the feed lines to
a reactor input pressure
of 1375 to 6700 kPa (200-1,000 psi). As shown, crude oil passes through a
preheat heat exchanger
104a where it is, preheated (preferably from recovered heat from a first stage
of condenser 112 to
93 - 204 C (200-400 F).
[0037] In various embodiments, the crude may be directed to a one or more
electrical heaters
106a & 106b for heating and/or to a heat exchanger 104b as controlled by a
plurality of control
valves. The hot crude oil may be directed through a first path or a second
path to raise the
temperature to 200-320 C (400-600 F). When the crude takes the first path, it
passes through two
electric heaters 106a & 106b controlled by a plurality of control valves and
passes through the heat
exchanger 104b before the reactor 108. If the crude is directed through the
second path, it bypasses
-13-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
the electric heaters and flows directly through heat exchanger 104b to be
heated using thermal
fluids (eg. heat recovered from hot products) before the reactor 108.
[0038] Hot crude with a temperature ranging from 200-320 C (400-600 F)
enters the reactor
108 through a plurality of atomizing nozzles or other atomizing devices to
atomize the crude oil to
droplets in the range of 5-120 microns in size. The pressure inside the
reactor 108 is maintained in
a range from 0 ¨ 30 inHg. Accordingly, the heated crude feedstock is sprayed
into the vacuum
condition at an input pressure of 1375 to 6700 kPa (200-1,000 psi) and
temperature of 200-320 C
(400-600 F) resulting in rapid and efficient vaporization of the lighter end
hydrocarbon chains. This
spray atomization and vacuum flashing allows for more efficient separation of
the feedstock into
light end chains and heavy end chains at lower temperatures and with less
energy at this stage as
compared to a conventional refinery that would operate at a substantially
higher temperature to boil
the feedstock. The lighter chains are carried out of the reactor 108 through a
separator 122a into a
condenser such as a multi-stage horizontal/vertical condenser 112. Heavier
hydrocarbon chains
drop to the sump 108a of the reactor 108. Residuum (i.e. the heavy fraction
containing heavier
hydrocarbon chain compounds) is removed from the sump 108a, upon which a
proportion is
selectively re-circulated back into the reactor via pumps (eg. re-circulating
centrifugal or positive
displacement pump 110) through an atomizing system as described above in order
to further extract
lighter chains from the heavy fraction. Residuum collected in the sump 108a
may also pass through
a heat exchanger 104c.
[0039] Depending on the API gravity of the feedstock and the operational
parameters,
residuum from the reactor is either pumped as bunker fuel (#4 diesel) 136a and
collected into a
bunker fuel stock tank 136 or pumped as asphalt and collected into a heavy
product storage tank
103d (Figure 1) or asphalt output storage tank 154 (Figure 1D).
Condenser and Light Fraction Recirculation Systems
[0048] Figure 1 B is a system and process flow diagram illustrating a
multi-stage horizontal
condenser 112 and corresponding outputs from each stage in accordance with one
embodiment.
As shown, vapor from reactor 108 enters the multi-stage horizontal condenser
112 having at least
one section/stage (preferably 3 or more) to condense the vapor into targeted
products. Vapor
containing C1-C4 carbon chains will typically not condense in the multi-stage
horizontal condenser,
and these lighter chains will be recovered by vapor trap tank 114 and
delivered to the vapor recovery
unit 126 to be burned by process heaters or similar devices 128. Main blowers
120a, 120b and
optionally vacuum boosters 120c,120d draw a vacuum in the reactor 108 through
the multi-stage
condenser 112 and deliver vapor to the vapor trap tank 114. Vapor from the
vapor trap tank 114
-14-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
passes through a separator 122b to remove any entrapped gases. Methane and
other vapor are
circulated from vapor trap tank 114 by main blowers 120a,120b. Main blowers
120a,120b increase
the velocity and pressure of the gases which are passed through methane
heaters 124a,124b which
use thermal fluids or other heating mediums to raise the temperature of the
gases to the reactor
temperature. Heated gases from the methane heaters 124a, 124b enter the
reactor 108 through a
plurality of nozzles or other process devices from the sides of the reactor
108. These gases pass
through the reactor carrying atomized crude oil particles at a rate of 3-20
feet per second and reach
the separator 122a inside or on top of the reactor. Shorter carbon chain
molecules are passed
through the separator 122a, while longer carbon chain droplets/molecules
impact the separator
122a and fall into the sump 108a of the reactor 108. Additional carrier gas
may be introduced via a
supplemental carrier gas system 131 (Figure 1).
[0049] Importantly, as the initial feedstock crude is passed through the
reactor 108,
approximately 60-70% of any sulfur in the feedstock stays with the heavier end
chains as the heavier
fractions fall down the sides of the reactor. As such, sulfur is collected in
the sump with the residuum
with at least a portion of the total sulfur sequestered within asphalt binder
products.
[0050] As noted, the condensed fuel products are collected into each of
the respective fuel
storage tanks 130, 132, 134, 136.
[0051] A commercial 3rd party gas scrubber system GS (Figure 1) can used
before the vapor
recovery unit to remove sulfur and nitrogen compounds in the collected vapors
if needed to reduce
GHG emissions to desired levels. In addition, a commercial 3rd party sulfur
removal system S can
used to remove additional sulfur in condensed fuel products prior to fuel
storage tanks to meet fuel
specifications.
[0052] As noted, vapor from the reactor 108 enters the multi-stage
horizontal condenser 112.
The multi-stage horizontal condenser 112 may have three to four
sections/stages according to the
specifications of the fuels that are to be produced. The multi-stage
horizontal condenser condenses
side-ways or laterally flowing vapor through a condenser tube, such that the
targeted low
temperature of the condenser condenses the remaining vapor into bottom section
compartments of
the condenser corresponding to the different fuel fractions contained in the
crude oil. Alternatively,
the condenser may be a vertical condenser, in which case vapor is cooled in
separate vertically
stacked compartments and condensed droplets fall down via gravity within each
compartment. As
above, each compartment is designed to condense at targeted temperatures to
produce targeted
fuel products that can be collected in separate storage tanks.
[0048] The stages of the multi-stage horizontal reverse condenser in
accordance with one
embodiment, are shown in Figure 1B with the first stage taking the inlet
temperature of the vapor
-15-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
from the reactor 200-320 C (400-600 F) and condensing the vapor to a
temperature range of 95 -
65 C (200-150 F) to produce diesel fuel (#2 diesel fuel) from the first
stage of multi-stage horizontal
condenser 112 which is collected in the diesel stock tank 134. The cooling
medium is obtained from
heat exchanger 104a. The second stage takes the temperature (95-65 C (200-150
F)) from first
stage and uses a fin fan 116 or similar system to condense the vapor to 75 -10
C (170-50 F) to
obtain kerosene or jet fuel which gets collected into a kerosene/jet fuel
stock tank 132. Further, the
third stage uses chillers 118 or similar system to reduce the temperature from
the second stage (75
-10 C (170-50 F) to 15 - -6 C (60-20 F)) to produce naphtha or gasoline
fuel which is collected
in a naphtha/gasoline stock tank 130.
[0049] Figure 1C is a system and process flow diagram similar to Figure
1A illustrating the
feedstock input system and HFCRS. Figure 1C illustrates one embodiment where
the condenser is
a distillation tower and heat recovered from the residuum from a product side
of the reactor is used
to partially heat the feedstock.
Distillation Tower
[0051] Figure 1D is a system and process flow diagram illustrating an
embodiment utilizing a
distillation tower 112a and a second heavy fraction collection system. As
shown, vapor from the
reactor 108 enters a gas separator 114a wherein vapors are introduced into a
distillation tower 112a
under vacuum. Light fractions rise to their condensable levels and are
collected from a plurality of
fractionation trays. Gases leaving the gas separator 114a and the distillation
tower 112a are cooled
by a heat exchanger 112b prior to the main blowers and the vapor recovery unit
(VRU) 126 via a
gas separator 114b. Naphtha fuel is condensed and collected in a naphtha
product tank 142.
Gasoline fuel is condensed and collected in a gasoline product tank 144. Jet
fuel is condensed and
collected in a jet fuel product tank 146. Kerosene fuel is condensed and
collected in a kerosene
product tank 146. Diesel is condensed and collected in a diesel product tank
148. Bunker fuel is
condensed and collected in a bunker fuel product tank 150. Heavier long chain
hydrocarbons fall
to the bottom of the distillation tower 112a and are pumped (eg. via a
centrifugal or positive
displacement pump 110) into the asphalt stream from the reactor 108 to an
asphalt product tank
154.
Reactor Design
[0052] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of the reactor 108. As
described above, hot crude
oil feedstock from the crude feed tank 102 enters the reactor with an input
pressure of 1375 to 6700
kPa (200-1,000 psi) through plurality of nozzles N or other process devices
designed to atomize
-16-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
the crude oil to droplets in the range of 5-120 microns in size. These
droplets are sprayed into the
reactor under a vacuum, preferably from 0 ¨ 30 inHg, which causes rapid and
efficient vaporization
of the lighter end hydrocarbon chains 170a. This spray atomization and vacuum
flashing in the
reactor enables efficient separation of the feedstock into light fractions and
heavy fractions at lower
temperatures. In addition, vapor from vapor trap tank or gas separator 114a or
114b enters the
reactor through one or more blowers 120a, 120b. The blower(s) with returned
gases circulates the
atomized crude droplets 170 at a velocity of 3-20 feet per second to the
separator 122a located
inside the reactor 108, where light short chains 170a of the light fraction
pass through the separator
122a and are delivered to the condenser 112 or distillation tower 112a. The
separator 122a together
with vertical movement of droplets/vapor in the reactor causes heavier long
chain hydrocarbons
170b of the heavy fraction to fall down the sides of the reactor as shown by
the arrows to be collected
in the sump 108a of the reactor. A portion of the heavy fraction collected in
the sump 108a can be
re-circulated back into the reactor using a pump 110 for further processing to
separate additional
light fraction. After the recycling step, and depending on the feedstock API
gravity, either bunker
fuel (#4 diesel fuel) or asphalt is finally delivered to the product tanks.
System Control
[0053] System control is accomplished by the various pumps, blowers,
control valves, safety
valves and heat exchangers as described above, together with appropriate
temperature, pressure,
flow, density, Coriolis meters, vortex flow meters and other sensors
throughout the system.
Typically, and depending on the feedstock, the reactor is controlled to effect
heavy fraction and light
fraction separation at a chosen cut point, typically about C20-C30.
[0054] Generally, as described below, different API feedstocks will
enable production of
different proportions of heavy fractions and light fractions. Thus, based on
the feedstock API, the
temperature, pressure and flow rates are controlled with appropriate feedbacks
throughout the
systems to provide sufficient residence times in each of the reactor, HFCRS,
condenser and LFRS
to a) provide separation of the heavy and light fractions in the reactor at
the desired cut point, and
b) condensation of light fractions in the condenser at the desired product
compositions.
Crude Oil Feedstocks and Products
[0055] The MCOR has the capacity to process a wide variety of feedstocks
having a range of
API gravities from extra-heavy bitumen (API 6-8) to light oils (API up to
about 45). As noted, the
feedstock and control of the system can be controlled to produce a variety of
products. Table 1
-17-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
provides a range of feedstocks with varying API gravities and the
representative proportions of
asphalt, light and gas fractions that may be produced.
Table 1- Representative Feedstocks and Proportions of Asphalt, Light and Gas
Fractions
Feedstock API % Asphalt %
Light Gas Fraction
Fraction (wt %) Fraction (wt %) (wt %)
Athabasca 8.2 81.8 18.9 0.3
Thermal
Cold Lake 10.8 72.9 26.7 0.4
Thermal
Wabasca 12.7 70.0 25.5 0.5
Primary
Santa Maria 13.0 73.0 26.5 0.5
Midland Texas 40 1.0 95.0 4.0
[0051] In various embodiments, the MCOR is operated as an asphalt
refinery utilizing
feedstocks having an API less than about 25 and preferably in the range of 6-
15 API. In these
embodiments, an asphalt binder is produced that is end-user ready and the
light fraction may be
further processed to produce light fraction products. Depending on the
requirements, the light
fraction may be processed to meet tighter product specifications or may
processed to produce one
or more lighter crude oil feedstocks for other refineries. Moreover,
additional polishing of the light
fraction product compositions may be conducted at the MCOR or coarser-cut
light products without
polishing may be delivered to customers.
Modular Deployment
[0052] The MCOR is designed at a scale for efficient and economic
deployment and to enable
further scaling of the system. Generally, as noted above and illustrated in
Figure 3, the MCOR can
be deployed in a wider range of locations compared to conventional refinery
technology due to the
scalability of an MCOR and the lack of emissions. As shown in Figure 3, a
heavy crude oil source
can be shipped by road or rail tanker or pipeline to a number of
geographically distributed MCOR
plants. Products produced by the MCOR plants can be sold to local markets thus
reducing overall
transportation/production costs.
-18-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
[0053] The optimal size of an MCOR production unit PU (Figure 1) is based
on a reactor
designed to process about 3,000-4,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock. Based on
flow volumes of
fluids/gases and the requirement for pumps and blowers to provide both flow
rates and maintain
reactor operating conditions together with economic considerations, a
preferred reactor capacity is
approximately 3,000 bpd. Although larger reactors can be built, larger
capacity pumps, blowers and
piping would be required to enable reactor operating conditions at higher
throughputs which can
increase capital costs and reduce operational efficiencies and/or flexibility.
As such, in deployments
where a larger capacity throughput is required, individual production units
including reactors,
condensers and heavy and light fraction recirculation systems can be
integrated and connected in
parallel where each production unit shares feedstock delivery systems/tanks,
product tanks, carrier
gas systems, vapor recovery units and sulfur removal systems.
[0054] As such, depending on available land, multiple production units can
be integrated to
increase the overall capacity of the plant to match the market needs. In
various embodiments, 35
or more production units can be deployed together with shared equipment as
noted above.
Importantly, modular integration of production units allows operators to scale-
up (as well as scale-
down) operations based on changing market conditions. For example, if a market
is growing or
shrinking after deployment, additional production units can be added or
removed from a facility in
discrete volumes allowing operators to adjust to local market conditions more
readily.
[0055] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully
reveal the general
nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current
knowledge, readily modify
and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without
departing from the generic
concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are
intended to be
comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed
embodiments. It is to
be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the
purpose of description
and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been
described in terms of
preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the
embodiments herein can be
practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended
claims.
-19-
Date Recue/Date Received 2022-01-18
