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US 2023/0407188 A1Published application
Method for removing asphaltenes, resins and heavy metals from crude oil
AssigneeRock Springs Energy Group, LLC
InventorVENKATA MANOHAR PALLA
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Abstract
Presented is a method for using an ethyl acetate solvent to remove all or most of the asphaltenes, resins and heavy metals from crude oil. The oil is filtered to remove the precipitants and the permeate is then deasphalted oil, rich in ethyl acetate solvent. The ethyl acetate may be recovered by flashed solvent recovery system and recycled back. Filter elements are regenerated with toluene and recovered by a flashed solvent recovery system.
Claims13
A method for removing asphaltenes, resins, and heavy metals from crude oil, comprising:
- adding a volume of crude oil into a mixing chamber;
- adding a volume of ethyl acetate into said mixing chamber, wherein said volume of ethyl acetate is at an approximate ratio to said volume of crude oil in a range from 1:1 to 4:1 to form a solution;
- mixing said solution until said solution is separated into precipitants and a permeate, wherein said precipitants comprise asphaltenes, resins, heavy metals, or a combination of asphaltenes, resins, and heavy metals, and wherein said permeate comprises deasphalted oil and said ethyl acetate;
- separating said precipitants from said permeate using a filter, wherein said filter has pores in the size in the range of 5 nm to 10 nm;
- and
- regenerating ethyl acetate from said permeate leaving deasphalted oil.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.