Method for low-severity gasification of heavy petroleum residues

A method for the co-production of a sulfur-containing raw synthetic gas and an essentially desulfurized carbon-containing solid residue from a sulfur-containing heavy petroleum residue feedstock selected from the group consisting of petcoke, an asphaltenic-rich residue, and combinations thereof, the method consisting essentially of:

• (a) feeding a particulate sulfur-containing heavy petroleum residue feedstock into a bubbling fluidized-bed reactor with a residence time of less about 4 minutes or less;
• (b) converting said sulfur-containing heavy petroleum residue feedstock to a sulfur-containing raw synthetic gas by partial oxidation reaction of said feedstock, the partial oxidation reaction taking place in the bubbling fluidized-bed gasification reactor in the presence of water and a partial oxidation agent at a temperature of 1000° C. or less and a pressure of about 10 atm or less, thereby also producing an essentially desulfurized carbon-containing solid residue that contains between about 47% wt to about 55% wt of an initial amount of carbon in the feedstock;
• and
• (c) separately recovering the essentially desulfurized carbon-containing solid residue and the sulfur-containing raw synthetic gas,
• wherein all reactions involved in the co-production method, including consumption of O2 from air as an oxidant from the partial oxidation agent, steam-reforming reactions, carbon-steam reactions and cracking reactions, take place in the bubbling fluidized-bed gasification reactor at 1000° C. or less, along with the partial oxidation reaction.