Process to upgrade and desulfurize crude oil by supercritical water
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsKi-Hyouk Choi, Joo-Hyeong Lee, Mohammad S. Garhoush
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Abstract
This present invention generally relates to a process for upgrading and desulfurizing crude oil using supercritical water. In general, the invention provides a process for removal of contaminants from a crude oil stream by mixing the crude oil stream with supercritical water and then filtering out the precipitated solid compounds that result from mixing the crude oil stream with supercritical water.
Claims20
A process for removal of contaminants from a crude oil stream, the process comprising the steps of:
- feeding a crude oil stream to a mixing apparatus, wherein the mixing apparatus is selected from a static mixer, an in-line mixer, agitator, in-line parts that can enhance mixing, and an impeller embedded device;
- feeding a supercritical water stream to the mixing apparatus;
- mixing the crude oil stream and the supercritical water stream in the mixing apparatus to produce a mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream, wherein mixing the crude oil stream and the supercritical water stream in the mixing apparatus causes solid compounds to precipitate;
- feeding the mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream to a physical filter to remove the solid compounds from the mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream and to produce a filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream;
- feeding the filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream to a unit for further processing, wherein the filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream are subjected to upgrading reactions that occur in the unit for further processing.
A process for removal of contaminants from a crude oil stream, the process comprising the steps of:
- feeding a water stream below supercritical conditions to a water filter to remove solid compounds to produce a filtered water stream;
- heating the filtered water stream to supercritical conditions using a heating apparatus to produce a filtered supercritical water stream;
- feeding the filtered supercritical water stream to a mixing apparatus, wherein the mixing apparatus is selected from a static mixer, an in-line mixer, agitator, in-line parts that can enhance mixing, and an impeller embedded device;
- feeding a crude oil stream to the mixing apparatus;
- mixing the crude oil stream and the filtered supercritical water stream in the mixing apparatus to produce a mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream;
- feeding the mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream to a physical filter to remove second solid compounds from the mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream and to produce a filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream;
- feeding the filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream to a unit for further processing, wherein the filtered mixed crude oil and supercritical water stream are subjected to upgrading reactions that occur in the unit for further processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.