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US 6,955,753 B1Granted
Treatment of crude oils
AssigneeRMG Services Pty.Ltd.
InventorRodolfo Antonio M. Gomez
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process and apparatus to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products including the steps of emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent, adding a leach solution to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at elevated temperature and pressure to give a leached emulsified crude oil. The leach solution may be acid or alkali. A proportion of the leach solution is extracted for recovering heavy metals. There can also be a microwave hydro-treating step using hydrogen gas at a temperature below 220° C. to ensure there is no quality degradation in the crude feed to produce a desulfurized crude oil and a hydrogen sulphide by-product and recovering sulfur from the hydrogen sulphide by-product.
Claims67
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid or alkali to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- and
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water
- wherein the leaching step is carried out during the application of microwave energy.
6 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- and
- further leaching the acid leached and washed crude oil or petroleum product with an alkali solution while being irradiated with microwaves to remove sulfur from the crude oil.
6 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid or alkali to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- and
- microwave hydro-desulfurizing the leached and washed crude oil using hydrogen gas at a temperature below about 220° C. to ensure there is no quality degradation in the crude oil to produce a desulfurized crude oil and a hydrogen sulfide by-product;
- and
- recovering sulfur from the hydrogen sulfide by-product.
8 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid or alkali to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- and
- wherein the leaching step is carried out during the application of both conventional heat and microwave energy.
6 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- and
- wherein the leach solution contains an inorganic acid and includes a small amount of an oxidizing agent including hydrogen peroxide.
6 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid or alkali to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- and
- wherein the leaching step includes placing anode cells in contact with the leachate to oxidize ions including ferrous and vanadium ions before the leachate is recycled.
6 more elements
A process to extract and recovery heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid or alkali to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- wherein the recovering sulfur or heavy metals step includes
- separating a bleed solution from a main leaching stream after an anode cell;
- adjusting the pH of the bleed solution to about between 1.5 and 2.5 using calcium or sodium hydroxide or carbonate;
- applying hydrogen sulfide gas to the solution to precipitate metals and filtering the precipitate;
- adjusting the pH of the boiling solution to about between 3.0 to 3.5 using soda ash to precipitate iron oxide and filtering the iron oxide precipitate from the solution;
- applying an oxidizing agent including hydrogen peroxide to convert vanadium ions to their highest oxidation state before applying soda ash or ammonia to the solution to increase the pH to about 3.6 to 4.6;
- applying hydrogen sulfide gas to the solution to precipitate vanadium sulfide and filtering the vanadium sulfide precipitate;
- adjusting the pH of the hot solution to between about 8 and 10 using soda ash or ammonia to precipitate vanadium hydroxide;
- and
- subjecting the waste solution to a vacuum to recover any remaining hydrogen sulfide gas.
14 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising
- making the crude oil readily broken down into very small particles by applying solvents and emulsifiers to facilitate an intimate contact between the crude oil and a leaching solution during leaching,
- providing an apparatus designed to withstand corrosive conditions, temperatures of up to 160° C. and pressures up to 100 bars and fitted with a standpipe, impeller, and baffles to break-up the crude oil into very small particles and intimately mix the crude oil particles and the leaching solution, and
- utilizing the apparatus to apply heat and microwaves at about 800 to 22,000 megahertz frequency to the crude oil-leach solution mixture to achieve the desired reaction temperature,
- wherein the leaching comprises one or more stages with a liquid-liquid separator between stages arranged in counter-current mode,
- the leach solution contains an inorganic acid or alkali or an oxidizing agent including hydrogen peroxide,
- a washing step that contains one or more washing stages with liquid-liquid separators between stages arranged in counter-current mode where the wash water is supplied with alkali to ensure the leached and washed crude oil is ideal feed for microwave hydro-treating or refining, and
- the leached and washed crude oil, if it contains sulfur above a desired level, is subjected to microwave hydro-treating using hydrogen gas and conventional heating and microwave activation, and the hydro-treating is carried out at high pressure and at a temperature below 220° C.
4 more elements
A process to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- emulsifying the crude oil with an emulsifying agent;
- adding a leach solution containing an inorganic acid to the emulsified crude oil and leaching the emulsified crude oil at an elevated temperature and pressure to provide a leached emulsified crude oil and a leachate;
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the leachate;
- removing a proportion of the leachate;
- recovering sulfur or heavy metals from the leachate;
- washing the leached emulsified crude oil with water;
- and
- separating the leached emulsified crude oil and the washing water;
- wherein the leaching step comprises:
- leaching the emulsified crude oil with an acid leach solution,
- washing the acid leached emulsified crude oil with water,
- separating the crude oil from the wash water,
- re-emulsifying the crude oil,
- leaching the re-emulsified crude oil with an alkali leach solution,
- washing the alkali leached re-emulsified crude oil with water, and
- separating the crude oil from the wash water.
13 more elements
A system to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- a mixer adapted to receive the crude oil or petroleum fuel products and an emulsifying agent to provide an emulsified product;
- a leaching device which combines the emulsified product and a leaching solution to form a leached emulsified product and a leachate during the application of microwave energy;
- a microwave generator to provide microwave energy to the leaching device;
- a first separator, said first separator providing a leached emulsified product stream and a leachate stream;
- and
- a recovery system to treat the leachate stream, said recovery system constructed to recover sulfur or heavy metals.
3 more elements
A system to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- a mixer adapted to receive the crude oil or petroleum fuel products and an emulsifying agent to provide an emulsified product;
- a leaching device for combining the emulsified product and a leaching solution to form a leached emulsified product and a leachate;
- a first separator, said first separator providing at leached emulsified product stream and a leachate stream;
- a recovery system to treat the leachate stream, said recovery system constructed to recover sulfur or heavy metals;
- a microwave hydro-desulfurization device disposed downstream of the first separator, said microwave hydro-desulfurization device adapted to generate a desulfurized crude oil and a hydrogen sulfide by-product;
- a second separator, said second separator providing a desulfurized crude oil stream and a hydrogen sulfide by-product stream;
- and
- a sulfur recovery device to recover sulfur from the hydrogen sulfide by-product stream.
5 more elements
A system to extract and recover heavy metals and sulfur from crude oil or petroleum fuel products comprising:
- a mixer adapted to receive the crude oil or petroleum fuel products and an emulsifying agent to provide an emulsified product;
- a leaching device for combining the emulsified product and a leaching solution to form a leached emulsified product and a leachate;
- a first separator, said first separator providing a leached emulsified product stream and a leachate stream;
- and
- a recovery system to treat the leachate stream, said recovery system constructed to recover sulfur or heavy metals;
- wherein said sulfur or heavy metals recovering system further comprises:
- a conveyance device in fluid communication with the leaching device and a first mixer said first mixer adapted to permit adjustment of the pH of the leachate to about 1.5 to 2.5 using calcium or sodium hydroxide or carbonate;
- a second mixer adapted to introduce hydrogen sulfide gas to the pH-adjusted leached product, said second mixer disposed downstream of said first mixer and constructed to permit removal of precipitated sulfides from a sulfide-lean product stream;
- a third mixer disposed downstream of said second mixer, said third mixer adapted to heat and adjust the pH of the sulfide-lean product stream to about between 3.0 and 3.5 and constructed to permit removal of iron as a precipitate;
- a vanadium recovery system disposed downstream of said third mixer, said vanadium recovery system adapted to introduce an oxidizing agent and to permit pH-adjustment to increase the pH to about 3.6 to 4.6 to recover precipitated vanadium sulfides and vanadium oxide;
- and
- a vacuum device to recover waste gases downstream of said vanadium recovery system.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.