# US 11,441,080 B2 · Lubricant base stock production from recycled oil

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 11,441,080 B2
- Document ID: US11441080B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/742,317
- Filed: 2020-01-14
- Published: 2020-08-20
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2019-02-14
- Assignees: ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company
- Applicants: ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company
- Inventors: Richard C. Dougherty; Kristin L. Sanfilippo; Christine A. Zielinski; Charles L. Baker, Jr.
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441080B2

## CPC

- C10G 9/32: according to the "fluidised-bed" technique
- C10B 55/10: according to the "fluidised bed" technique
- C10B 57/045: {containing mineral oils, bitumen, tar or the like or mixtures thereof}
- C10G 69/06: including at least one step of thermal cracking in the absence of hydrogen
- C10B 57/16: Features of high-temperature carbonising processes
- C10G 2300/1007: Used oils
- C10G 2300/203: Naphthenic acids, TAN
- C10G 2300/302: Viscosity
- C10G 2400/10: Lubricating oil
- C10M 2203/1006: used as base material
- C10N 2070/00: Specific manufacturing methods for lubricant compositions
- C10G: CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION (cracking to hydrogen or synthesis gas C01B; cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbon gases to individual hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof of definite or specified constitution C07C; cracking to cokes C10B); RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
- C10B: DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS (cracking oils C10G; underground gasification of minerals E21B43/295)
- C10M: LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS (well drilling compositions C09K8/02); USE OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES EITHER ALONE OR AS LUBRICATING INGREDIENTS IN A LUBRICATING COMPOSITION (mould release, i.e. separating, agents for metals B22C3/00, for plastics or substances in a plastic state, in general B29C33/56, for glass C03B40/02; textile lubricating compositions D06M11/00, D06M13/00, D06M15/00; immersion oils for microscopy G02B21/33)
- C10N: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS C10M RELATING TO LUBRICATING COMPOSITIONS

## Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for co-processing of used lubricant oils with a coker feedstock in a fluidized coking process to form lubricant base stocks. The fluidized coking process can remove contaminants and/or additives from used lubricant oils with modest conversion of the lubricant boiling range portion.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for producing a lubricant base oil product, comprising:
introducing a first feed via a first line to a scrubbing zone of a reactor to form a scrubbed first feed, the first feed comprising a used lubricant oil comprising a viscosity index of 70 or more;
introducing a second feed via a second line to the scrubbing zone of the reactor to form a scrubbed second feed, the second feed comprising a coker feedstock comprising a T10 distillation point of 450° C. or more,
exposing the scrubbed first feed and the scrubbed second feed to a fluidized bed in a coking zone of the reactor at a residence time of about 1 second to about 30 seconds, the fluidized bed comprising solid particles under fluidized coking reactor conditions including a temperature of at least 510° C. to form a coker effluent, the fluidized coking conditions comprising 10 wt % or more conversion of the feedstock relative to 450° C., the fluidized coking conditions being effective for depositing coke on the solid particles;
passing at least a portion of the solid particles comprising deposited coke from the reactor to a coke combustion stage;
removing from the coke combustion stage a first portion of partially combusted solid particles, a rate of removal of the partially combusted solid particles comprising 1.5% or more on a weight basis of a rate of introduction of the feed into the reactor;
separating at least a coker gas oil product from the coker effluent; and
hydroprocessing at least a portion of the separated coker gas oil product under effective hydroprocessing conditions to produce a hydroprocessed coker gas oil having a sulfur content of 100 wppm or less.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises a total acid number of greater than 1.0 mg KOH/g oil.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the fluidized coking reactor conditions comprise a temperature of 510° C. to 593° C.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises 10 wppm or more of corrosion metals; or wherein the used lubricant oil comprises 100 wppm or more of detergent metals; or a combination thereof.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises exposing the at least a portion of the solid particles comprising deposited coke to combustion conditions to form a gas phase product and partially combusted solid particles, the first portion of the partially combusted coke particles comprising 95 wt % or more of the corrosion metals, or 95 wt % or more of the detergent metals, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising passing at least a second portion of the partially combusted solid particles from the coke combustion stage to the reactor.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises 500 wppm or more of water.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises a pre-treated used lubricant oil.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises a viscosity index of 120 or more; or wherein the used lubricant oil comprises a used base oil, the used base oil comprising a viscosity index of 80 or more; or a combination thereof.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises 1.0 wt % or more of additives having a boiling point greater than 1050° F. (about, 566° C.).

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the used lubricant oil comprises a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.0 cSt to 40 cSt.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the solid particles comprise coke particles.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein hydroprocessing at least a portion of the separated coker gas oil product under effective hydroprocessing conditions comprises hydroprocessing a vacuum gas oil fraction and the at least a portion of the separated coker gas oil product.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the hydroprocessed coker gas oil comprises a first coker gas oil viscosity index of 75 or more and a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.0 cSt or more; or wherein the hydroprocessed coker gas oil comprises a lubricant base oil, the lubricant base oil comprising a first base oil viscosity index of 75 or more and a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.0 cSt or more; or a combination thereof.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein a marginal yield of lubricant base oil from the used lubricant oil is 40 wt % or more relative to the weight of used lubricant oil in the feed.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, the method further comprising:
exposing a third feed to the fluidized bed comprising solid particles under fluidized coking conditions to form a second coker effluent, the third feed comprising less than 0.1 wt % of a used lubricant oil;
hydroprocessing at least a portion of the second coker effluent to form a second hydroprocessed coker gas oil wherein a) the second hydroprocessed coker gas oil comprises a second coker gas oil viscosity index that is lower than the first coker gas oil viscosity index by 10 or more; b) wherein the second hydroprocessed coker gas oil comprises a second lubricant base oil, the second lubricant base stock comprising a second base oil viscosity index that is lower than the first base oil viscosity index by 10 or more; or c) a combination thereof.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, the method further comprising:
exposing a fourth feed to the fluidized bed comprising solid particles under fluidized coking conditions to form a third coker effluent, the fourth feed comprising 0.5 wt % to 15 wt % of a second used lubricant oil comprising a viscosity index of 70 or more and a transition metal content of 100 wppm or more; and
hydroprocessing at least a portion of the third coker effluent to form a third lubricant base oil.

### Claim 18 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the separated coker gas oil product comprises a nitrogen content of 1000 wppm or more, and wherein the hydroprocessed coker gas oil comprises a nitrogen content of 100 wppm or less.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising removing a liquid product from the scrubbing zone of the reactor and introducing the liquid product to the second line to mix the liquid product with the second feed.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the scrubbing zone is disposed above the coking zone of the reactor.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the scrubbing zone comprises a plurality of sheds.