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US 4,376,693 AGranted
Solid liquid extraction
AssigneePhillips Petroleum Company
InventorF. Morgan Warzel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for replacing a solution obtained for instance by exposing oil shale particles to the action of a solvent under supercritical conditions, by a solvent is provided for. The solid/solution mixture is extracted in a multitude of cross flow extractions such as to gradually replace the solution e.g. a bitumen solution, by the solvent, e.g. toluene. An apparatus for carrying out this process is also disclosed.
Claims18
An extraction process comprising
- (a) introducing a mixture of solid particulate material and extractable products into a housing,
- (b) passing said mixture in a plug flow manner along a flow path through a series of connected replacement zones in said housing, wherein these zones are portions of the flow path and are interconnected in such a manner as to have essentially no obstruction within the entire flow path,
- (c) releasing at each of the respective replacement zones a stream of an inlet fluid into contact with said mixture, said inlet fluid comprising a significant amount of solvent capable of replacing at least a portion of said product present in said mixture,
- (d) passing said inlet fluid through said solid material in a cross-flow direction with respect to the flow direction of the mixture,
- (e) withdrawing from each replacement zone a stream of an outlet fluid comprising a significant amount of solvent and a larger amount of extracted products compared to said inlet fluid, thereby replacing in each replacement zone at least a portion of the fluid and/or extractable products present in said mixture entering the respective replacement zone, by said inlet fluid,
- (f) recovering at least one of said outlet streams as the product of the process, and
- (g) withdrawing a mixture comprising solid particulate material and solvent but being depleted of extractable products from said housing.
4 more elements
A process for the supercritical extraction of a mixture of solid particulate material and supercritically extractable liquid products and a solvent comprising
- (a) introducing said mixture into a housing and subjecting said mixture to supercritical extraction conditions for a time sufficient to alter and/or dissolve at least a significant portion of said supercritically extractable organic products in said solvent such as to form a mixture of said solid particulate material and a fluid comprising said solvent and the organic material resulting from the exposure of said organic products to the supercritical conditions,
- (b) maintaining said supercritical conditions for a time long enough to achieve the desired supercritical extraction,
- (c) passing the mixture from the supercritical extraction step in a plug flow manner along a flow path in a housing through a series of connected replacement zones, wherein these zones are portions of the flow path and are interconnected in such a manner as to have essentially no obstruction within the entire flow path,
- (d) releasing at each of the respective replacement zones a stream of inlet fluid comprising a significant amount of solvent capable of dissolving or replacing said fluid containing the organic material present in said mixture,
- (e) passing said inlet fluid through said solid material in a cross-flow direction with respect to the flow direction of the mixture,
- (f) withdrawing from said replacement zone a stream of an outlet fluid comprising a significant amount of solvent and a larger amount of organic material compared to said inlet fluid, thereby replacing in each replacement zone at least a portion of the fluid and/or organic material present in said mixture entering the respective replacement zone, by said inlet fluid,
- (g) recovering at least one of said outlet streams as the product of the process, and
- (h) withdrawing a mixture comprising solid particulate material and solvent being depleted of extractable organic products from the last of said replacement zones.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.