CA1334129C - Pyrolysis of bitumen in a reactor containing grinding bodies - Google Patents
Pyrolysis of bitumen in a reactor containing grinding bodiesInfo
- Publication number
- CA1334129C CA1334129C CA 568104 CA568104A CA1334129C CA 1334129 C CA1334129 C CA 1334129C CA 568104 CA568104 CA 568104 CA 568104 A CA568104 A CA 568104A CA 1334129 C CA1334129 C CA 1334129C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- reactor
- bitumen
- grinding bodies
- pyrolysis
- accordance
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B55/00—Coking mineral oils, bitumen, tar, and the like or mixtures thereof with solid carbonaceous material
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B1/00—Retorts
- C10B1/10—Rotary retorts
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- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
- Materials Engineering (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
- Working-Up Tar And Pitch (AREA)
Abstract
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for the pyrolysis of bitumen. The process involves spraying preheated bitumen into a generally horizontal cylindrical rotating reactor which is heated from the outside and which contains grinding bodies. The bitumen is heated to the pyrolysis temperature and thereby forms a gaseous product and a solid pyrolyzed coke. The solid pyrolyzed coke is removed from the reactor walls by the grinding bodies and the resulting small particles are continuously removed from the reactor through ports in the reactor wall.
Description
Pyrolysis of bitumen in a reactor containing grinding bodies This invention relates to a method suitable for the thermal decomposition of bitumen in a reactor that is heated from the outside and contains grinding bodies.
In particular, the reactor is able to process into synthetic crude oil bitumen that has been extracted from oil-containing sand.
Bitumen, when extracted from oil sand, is in the form of a semifluid viscous complex mixture of compounds of high molecular weight. The economical refining of bitumen presupposes its conversion to a synthetic crude oil that, being readily transportable, is largely free from contaminants.
At this stage in the process, the constituents of the bitumen should already have been converted into high-grade hydrocarbon compounds, in particular aromatic compounds.
The conversion of bitumen has to date been accomplished by coking processes (delayed coking, fluid coking, flexicoking - see e.g. Heavy Oil Processing Handbook 1982).
Such processes involve either discontinuous treatment or necessitate the employment of costly aggregates for the purpose of producing fluidized beds.
The object of the invention is to develop a continuous process employing simple and inexpensive aggregates.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a process of pyrolyzing bitumen which comprises:
preheating the bitumen to over 80 C and continuously spraying the bitumen onto an inner wall of a heated rotating reactor containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor and/or onto the grinding bodies themselves, heating the bitumen in the reactor to pyrolysis temperature so that it is broken down into pyrolysis gas and pyrolyzed coke, continuously removing the pyrolysis gas from the reactor and continuously removing pyrolyzed coke particles produced when the pyrolyzed coke is deposited on the inner wall and/or grinding bodies and is ground away and removed, at least from the inner wall, by the grinding bodies that move during rotation of the reactor.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus suitable for carrying out the above process, comprising a reactor in the form of a generally horizontal cylinder rotatable about its longitudinal axis and containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor, said cylinder having one or more nozzles for spraying preheated bitumen therein and apertures over a portion of its length that feed into a hollow ring which seals and surrounds the cylinder, from which hollow ring extend a gas removal member and a coke removal member.
The process according to the invention takes place inside a rotating cylindrical reactor that contains grinding bodies.
At the start of and during the operation, the equipment is rendered inert by waste gases produced when the reactor is heated. The pressure inside the reactor is maintained at a level slightly above atmospheric in order to prevent the incursion of oxygen into the reactor.
Preheated bitumen is sprayed into the reactor and, given a suitable pyrolysis temperature, is pyrolyzed inside the reactor and especially on the heated inner walls thereof.
.. ,~.
~ 3 1 334 1 29 In a preferred embodiment employing multiple jet nozzles arranged more or less along the cylinder axis, the preheated bitumen is sprayed in a virtually radial fashion onto the walls that have been cleansed of pyrolysis products by the grinding bodies, such spraying being directed at a point on the reactor circumference that exhibits, due to the disposition of the burners, the highest temperature and that during operation remains free of grinding bodies.
Solid pyrolysis products (pyrolyzed coke) and gaseous pyrolysis products (pyrolysis gas) are produced during the pyrolysis (coking) process. The pyrolysis gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds that differ in composition and boiling points.
The relative motion occuring between the reactor and the grinding bodies, which is preferably caused by the reactor's rotation about its essentially horizontal cylinder axis, causes the inner walls of the reactor to be largely free of solid pyrolysis products. Coke particles deposited either on the inner walls or on the grinding bodies, are thus rubbed off.
Such an arrangement permits the now finely ground pyrolyzed coke to precipitate and, without being further ground, to be fed to a furnace with a high specific energy output. The pulverized pyrolyzed coke is continuously removed from the reactor.
A further advantage of the proposed process is that, on the inner walls of the reactor that have been largely (cleansed) of pyrolyzed coke, a consistently suitable heat transition and a defined inner wall temperature suitable for pyrolysis are maintained.
The reactor is heated by burners that are fed preferably with low-boiling constituents of the pyrolysis gases and that heat the reactor from the outside.
A plurality of burners are preferably disposed more or less linearly assuming a battery-like configuration along the longitudinal axis of the reactor, each of which heats ~ 4 ~ 1 334 1 ~9 the portion of the circumference present in its vicinity at any given moment.
Reactor output can be increased if several such burner batteries are arranged in series around the circumference, since the inner wall, freed of grinding balls, can be utilized as a spraying surface for the pyrolysis of the bitumen.
The pyrolytic process can take place at a temperature lying between 300 and 900C. In a preferred embodiment of the process according to the invention, the temperature of the inner wall in the zone of the spraying surface lies between 700 and 750C, which permits an optimal yield of aromatic compounds. The average temperature of a metal conversion system employing grinding bodies lies prefer-ably between 650 and 700C.
The grinding bodies can be maintained at a temperature below that of the inner wall, for example through a suitable choice of the quantity and temperature of the sprayed-in bitumen and thus advantageously facilitate the processing of the pyrolyzed coke.
The proposed process may, in accordance with another embodiment, be carried out inside a reactor having one or more separating walls, whereby the various reactor parts are maintained at different temperatures in order to create different reaction zones. In a special embodiment involving a two stage process, the temperature of-the reactor inner wall in the first reaction zone lies between 460 and 500C, while in the second reaction zone, the temperature of the reactor wall lies between 700 and 750C. In this case, the bitumen is sprayed onto the grinding bodies located in the first reaction zone, whereby a quantity of low-boiling hydrocarbon escapes.
The viscous mass that initially sets on the grinding bodies is, through the rotation of the reactor, transported into the second, hotter reaction zone, in which a cracking process occurs, whereby further gaseous pyrolysis products are released and pyrolyzed coke remains, which is removed.
_ 5 _ ~ 3341 29 The circulation of the grinding bodies, which in this case are composed preferably of metal, can be facilitated by the installation inside the reactor of suitable structures.
An embodiment involving a single or multi-stage process with improved output can be developed if a middle chamber is fitted with devices to expel the pyrolyzed coke and if both frontal sides of the reactor are fitted with nozzles suitable for expelling the bitumen. In this case, the outer chambers may, in order to facilitate an alternating process, be operated in alternating fashion, at high and low temperatures. Such an arrangement is especially suit-able in the case of certain types of bitumen which results in the creation of solid pyrolysis products that assume a highly viscous form and can be cracked only at high temperatures.
The material constituting the jacket of the reactor should consist of one or more layers of a heat-and-oxidation resistant steel, consisting preferably, in the case of a special embodiment, of NiCr 15Fe + Si(3%).
A wear lining of steel or a refractory, but not thermal insulating material, can be installed inside the reactor.
The grinding bodies may consist of metallic material, e.g. heat-resistant steel in the form of balls, ceramic material, ceramic material combined with a catalyst, or hardened limestone, the rubbed off portions of which combine with solid pyrolysis products and during the combustion of the latter act as a desulfurant.
The overall volume of the grinding bodies inside a reactor should not exceed 10% of the inner space of the reactor. The speed at which the reactor rotates should ideally not exceed 70% of the critical rotation speed.
A simplified preferred embodiment of an apparatus suitable for the execution of the process according to the invention is depicted in the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through a reactor, and Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross section corresponding to II-II in Fig. 1.
- 6 ~ 1 3341 29 Apertures 5 are distributed over the circumference and part of the length of a cylindrical reactor 1 having an outer jacket surface 2, an inner jacket surface 22, two outer curved frontal surfaces 3, 4, inner curved surfaces 43, 44 and inner plane frontal surfaces 23, 24. Such apertures 5 are covered by a hollow, cylindrical ring 6 that is supported gas tight upon the outer wall 2 of the reactor on surfaces 7 that face such outer wall.
The ring 6 does not rotate with the reactor 1 about its longitudinal axis. Attached to ring 6 are a gas vent 8 in the shape of a frustum of a cone and a similarly frustum-shaped coke delivery member 9 for the removal of the pyrolyzed coke. The pyrolyzed coke is extracted through a water basin 10 which serves to prevent the out-flow of pyrolysis gas from the reactor and the incursion of air into the reactor . A rod-shaped lance 11 is attached to the frontal surface 43 of reactor 1 in the longitudinal axis of the reactor 1. Rod-shaped lance 11 is sealed, by means of seal 45, against the inner curved frontal surface 43. The exit end of rod-shaped lance 11 forms a nozzle 25. Rod-shaped lance 11, through which fluid bitumen, preheated to at least 80C, flows, is enveloped by insulation 20 and can also be kept heated by hot water. The rotational axis of reactor 1, which is borne in bearings 27, runs more or less horizontally.
The rotational drive for reactor 1 and the heating burners, are not shown in Fig. 2. The inner space of reactor 1 is divided by a perforated division wall 12 into two chanbers, whereby in the first chamber 13, the bitumen is decomposed and the deposited pyrolyzed coke is ground away by grinding bodies 15, of which only a number are illustrated, removed from the inner wall 22, while in the second chamber 14 only the removal of gas and coke occurs, although the coke can be additionally treated by the addition of e.g. limestone. Disposed underneath chamber 13 are at least the burners 32 shown in Fig. 2. An inert ~ 7 ~ 1 334 1 29 gas such as waste gas can be introduced prior to processing through feed pipe 17 for example at the coke removal device 9 into reactor 1. Inert gas can also be fed during processing through pipe 17 into the reactor 1 for the purpose of maintaining a slight over pressure inside the reactor and thus to preclude the entry of air.
Fig. 2 shows the cross section through a rotating reactor 1 that has spherical grinding bodies 15, which are carried in the direction of rotation along the inner wall 22 up to a certain height 30, whereupon they either roll or fall back over the mass of processing balls. At nozz le 25 which is disposed more or less centrally in the frontal surface 43, fluidized bitumen is sprayed e.g. in a plurality of jets streams over a spraying sector 29 on the inner wall 22. Even such spraying sector 29 features the highest surface temperature from 700 to 750C on the circumference of the inner wall, since the burners 32 are directed at the corresponding point on the outer wall 2.
Spray sector 29 and burner 32 are located, advantageously, in the first lower quarter of the reactor, considered from the direction of turn 30. Ideally, the burners 32 in the illustrated example are disposed such that their flames are directly downwards and the flames 33 are aimed virtu-ally tangentially to the reactor wall 2, thus permitting the escaping gases 34 to flow around and heat-a large portion of the reactor circumference. The bitumen is broken down more or less within the spray sector 29, whereby heat is drawn from the wall, so that the adjacent circumference portion, in which the grinding bodies 15 are located and where the grinding bodies themselves feature a lower temperature, which is however sufficient for the treatment of the pyrolyzed coke and its removal from the inner wall.
The solid pyrolysis products are preferably fired in the pyrolysis operation in order to produce electricity or in an extraction operation to produce hot water to aid in _ - 8 ~ 1 3341 29 extracting bitumen from oilsands. The gaseous pyrolysis products are condensed, whereby the low-boiling fractions are separated out and used to feed the burner.
The fluid pyrolysis products condensed out of the pyrolysis gas can be further processed as a synthetic crude oil economically produced according to the proposed method.
In particular, the reactor is able to process into synthetic crude oil bitumen that has been extracted from oil-containing sand.
Bitumen, when extracted from oil sand, is in the form of a semifluid viscous complex mixture of compounds of high molecular weight. The economical refining of bitumen presupposes its conversion to a synthetic crude oil that, being readily transportable, is largely free from contaminants.
At this stage in the process, the constituents of the bitumen should already have been converted into high-grade hydrocarbon compounds, in particular aromatic compounds.
The conversion of bitumen has to date been accomplished by coking processes (delayed coking, fluid coking, flexicoking - see e.g. Heavy Oil Processing Handbook 1982).
Such processes involve either discontinuous treatment or necessitate the employment of costly aggregates for the purpose of producing fluidized beds.
The object of the invention is to develop a continuous process employing simple and inexpensive aggregates.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a process of pyrolyzing bitumen which comprises:
preheating the bitumen to over 80 C and continuously spraying the bitumen onto an inner wall of a heated rotating reactor containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor and/or onto the grinding bodies themselves, heating the bitumen in the reactor to pyrolysis temperature so that it is broken down into pyrolysis gas and pyrolyzed coke, continuously removing the pyrolysis gas from the reactor and continuously removing pyrolyzed coke particles produced when the pyrolyzed coke is deposited on the inner wall and/or grinding bodies and is ground away and removed, at least from the inner wall, by the grinding bodies that move during rotation of the reactor.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus suitable for carrying out the above process, comprising a reactor in the form of a generally horizontal cylinder rotatable about its longitudinal axis and containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor, said cylinder having one or more nozzles for spraying preheated bitumen therein and apertures over a portion of its length that feed into a hollow ring which seals and surrounds the cylinder, from which hollow ring extend a gas removal member and a coke removal member.
The process according to the invention takes place inside a rotating cylindrical reactor that contains grinding bodies.
At the start of and during the operation, the equipment is rendered inert by waste gases produced when the reactor is heated. The pressure inside the reactor is maintained at a level slightly above atmospheric in order to prevent the incursion of oxygen into the reactor.
Preheated bitumen is sprayed into the reactor and, given a suitable pyrolysis temperature, is pyrolyzed inside the reactor and especially on the heated inner walls thereof.
.. ,~.
~ 3 1 334 1 29 In a preferred embodiment employing multiple jet nozzles arranged more or less along the cylinder axis, the preheated bitumen is sprayed in a virtually radial fashion onto the walls that have been cleansed of pyrolysis products by the grinding bodies, such spraying being directed at a point on the reactor circumference that exhibits, due to the disposition of the burners, the highest temperature and that during operation remains free of grinding bodies.
Solid pyrolysis products (pyrolyzed coke) and gaseous pyrolysis products (pyrolysis gas) are produced during the pyrolysis (coking) process. The pyrolysis gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds that differ in composition and boiling points.
The relative motion occuring between the reactor and the grinding bodies, which is preferably caused by the reactor's rotation about its essentially horizontal cylinder axis, causes the inner walls of the reactor to be largely free of solid pyrolysis products. Coke particles deposited either on the inner walls or on the grinding bodies, are thus rubbed off.
Such an arrangement permits the now finely ground pyrolyzed coke to precipitate and, without being further ground, to be fed to a furnace with a high specific energy output. The pulverized pyrolyzed coke is continuously removed from the reactor.
A further advantage of the proposed process is that, on the inner walls of the reactor that have been largely (cleansed) of pyrolyzed coke, a consistently suitable heat transition and a defined inner wall temperature suitable for pyrolysis are maintained.
The reactor is heated by burners that are fed preferably with low-boiling constituents of the pyrolysis gases and that heat the reactor from the outside.
A plurality of burners are preferably disposed more or less linearly assuming a battery-like configuration along the longitudinal axis of the reactor, each of which heats ~ 4 ~ 1 334 1 ~9 the portion of the circumference present in its vicinity at any given moment.
Reactor output can be increased if several such burner batteries are arranged in series around the circumference, since the inner wall, freed of grinding balls, can be utilized as a spraying surface for the pyrolysis of the bitumen.
The pyrolytic process can take place at a temperature lying between 300 and 900C. In a preferred embodiment of the process according to the invention, the temperature of the inner wall in the zone of the spraying surface lies between 700 and 750C, which permits an optimal yield of aromatic compounds. The average temperature of a metal conversion system employing grinding bodies lies prefer-ably between 650 and 700C.
The grinding bodies can be maintained at a temperature below that of the inner wall, for example through a suitable choice of the quantity and temperature of the sprayed-in bitumen and thus advantageously facilitate the processing of the pyrolyzed coke.
The proposed process may, in accordance with another embodiment, be carried out inside a reactor having one or more separating walls, whereby the various reactor parts are maintained at different temperatures in order to create different reaction zones. In a special embodiment involving a two stage process, the temperature of-the reactor inner wall in the first reaction zone lies between 460 and 500C, while in the second reaction zone, the temperature of the reactor wall lies between 700 and 750C. In this case, the bitumen is sprayed onto the grinding bodies located in the first reaction zone, whereby a quantity of low-boiling hydrocarbon escapes.
The viscous mass that initially sets on the grinding bodies is, through the rotation of the reactor, transported into the second, hotter reaction zone, in which a cracking process occurs, whereby further gaseous pyrolysis products are released and pyrolyzed coke remains, which is removed.
_ 5 _ ~ 3341 29 The circulation of the grinding bodies, which in this case are composed preferably of metal, can be facilitated by the installation inside the reactor of suitable structures.
An embodiment involving a single or multi-stage process with improved output can be developed if a middle chamber is fitted with devices to expel the pyrolyzed coke and if both frontal sides of the reactor are fitted with nozzles suitable for expelling the bitumen. In this case, the outer chambers may, in order to facilitate an alternating process, be operated in alternating fashion, at high and low temperatures. Such an arrangement is especially suit-able in the case of certain types of bitumen which results in the creation of solid pyrolysis products that assume a highly viscous form and can be cracked only at high temperatures.
The material constituting the jacket of the reactor should consist of one or more layers of a heat-and-oxidation resistant steel, consisting preferably, in the case of a special embodiment, of NiCr 15Fe + Si(3%).
A wear lining of steel or a refractory, but not thermal insulating material, can be installed inside the reactor.
The grinding bodies may consist of metallic material, e.g. heat-resistant steel in the form of balls, ceramic material, ceramic material combined with a catalyst, or hardened limestone, the rubbed off portions of which combine with solid pyrolysis products and during the combustion of the latter act as a desulfurant.
The overall volume of the grinding bodies inside a reactor should not exceed 10% of the inner space of the reactor. The speed at which the reactor rotates should ideally not exceed 70% of the critical rotation speed.
A simplified preferred embodiment of an apparatus suitable for the execution of the process according to the invention is depicted in the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through a reactor, and Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross section corresponding to II-II in Fig. 1.
- 6 ~ 1 3341 29 Apertures 5 are distributed over the circumference and part of the length of a cylindrical reactor 1 having an outer jacket surface 2, an inner jacket surface 22, two outer curved frontal surfaces 3, 4, inner curved surfaces 43, 44 and inner plane frontal surfaces 23, 24. Such apertures 5 are covered by a hollow, cylindrical ring 6 that is supported gas tight upon the outer wall 2 of the reactor on surfaces 7 that face such outer wall.
The ring 6 does not rotate with the reactor 1 about its longitudinal axis. Attached to ring 6 are a gas vent 8 in the shape of a frustum of a cone and a similarly frustum-shaped coke delivery member 9 for the removal of the pyrolyzed coke. The pyrolyzed coke is extracted through a water basin 10 which serves to prevent the out-flow of pyrolysis gas from the reactor and the incursion of air into the reactor . A rod-shaped lance 11 is attached to the frontal surface 43 of reactor 1 in the longitudinal axis of the reactor 1. Rod-shaped lance 11 is sealed, by means of seal 45, against the inner curved frontal surface 43. The exit end of rod-shaped lance 11 forms a nozzle 25. Rod-shaped lance 11, through which fluid bitumen, preheated to at least 80C, flows, is enveloped by insulation 20 and can also be kept heated by hot water. The rotational axis of reactor 1, which is borne in bearings 27, runs more or less horizontally.
The rotational drive for reactor 1 and the heating burners, are not shown in Fig. 2. The inner space of reactor 1 is divided by a perforated division wall 12 into two chanbers, whereby in the first chamber 13, the bitumen is decomposed and the deposited pyrolyzed coke is ground away by grinding bodies 15, of which only a number are illustrated, removed from the inner wall 22, while in the second chamber 14 only the removal of gas and coke occurs, although the coke can be additionally treated by the addition of e.g. limestone. Disposed underneath chamber 13 are at least the burners 32 shown in Fig. 2. An inert ~ 7 ~ 1 334 1 29 gas such as waste gas can be introduced prior to processing through feed pipe 17 for example at the coke removal device 9 into reactor 1. Inert gas can also be fed during processing through pipe 17 into the reactor 1 for the purpose of maintaining a slight over pressure inside the reactor and thus to preclude the entry of air.
Fig. 2 shows the cross section through a rotating reactor 1 that has spherical grinding bodies 15, which are carried in the direction of rotation along the inner wall 22 up to a certain height 30, whereupon they either roll or fall back over the mass of processing balls. At nozz le 25 which is disposed more or less centrally in the frontal surface 43, fluidized bitumen is sprayed e.g. in a plurality of jets streams over a spraying sector 29 on the inner wall 22. Even such spraying sector 29 features the highest surface temperature from 700 to 750C on the circumference of the inner wall, since the burners 32 are directed at the corresponding point on the outer wall 2.
Spray sector 29 and burner 32 are located, advantageously, in the first lower quarter of the reactor, considered from the direction of turn 30. Ideally, the burners 32 in the illustrated example are disposed such that their flames are directly downwards and the flames 33 are aimed virtu-ally tangentially to the reactor wall 2, thus permitting the escaping gases 34 to flow around and heat-a large portion of the reactor circumference. The bitumen is broken down more or less within the spray sector 29, whereby heat is drawn from the wall, so that the adjacent circumference portion, in which the grinding bodies 15 are located and where the grinding bodies themselves feature a lower temperature, which is however sufficient for the treatment of the pyrolyzed coke and its removal from the inner wall.
The solid pyrolysis products are preferably fired in the pyrolysis operation in order to produce electricity or in an extraction operation to produce hot water to aid in _ - 8 ~ 1 3341 29 extracting bitumen from oilsands. The gaseous pyrolysis products are condensed, whereby the low-boiling fractions are separated out and used to feed the burner.
The fluid pyrolysis products condensed out of the pyrolysis gas can be further processed as a synthetic crude oil economically produced according to the proposed method.
Claims (9)
1. A process of pyrolyzing bitumen which comprises:
preheating the bitumen to over 80°C and continuously spraying the bitumen onto an inner wall of a heated rotating reactor containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor and/or onto the grinding bodies themselves, heating the bitumen in the reactor to pyrolysis temperature so that it is broken down into pyrolysis gas and pyrolyzed coke, continuously removing the pyrolysis gas from the reactor and continuously removing pyrolyzed coke particles produced when the pyrolyzed coke is deposited on the inner wall and/or grinding bodies and is ground away and removed, at least from the inner wall, by the grinding bodies that move during rotation of the reactor.
preheating the bitumen to over 80°C and continuously spraying the bitumen onto an inner wall of a heated rotating reactor containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor and/or onto the grinding bodies themselves, heating the bitumen in the reactor to pyrolysis temperature so that it is broken down into pyrolysis gas and pyrolyzed coke, continuously removing the pyrolysis gas from the reactor and continuously removing pyrolyzed coke particles produced when the pyrolyzed coke is deposited on the inner wall and/or grinding bodies and is ground away and removed, at least from the inner wall, by the grinding bodies that move during rotation of the reactor.
2. A process in accordance with claim 1, whereby low-boiling fractions of the pyrolysis gas are separated out and used to heat the reactor, and higher-boiling fractions condense out and are further processed as synthetic crude oil.
3. A process in accordance with claim 1, whereby the pyrolysis is carried out at a temperature lying between 300 and 904°C.
4. A process in accordance with claim 1, whereby the reactor is heated from the outside and wherein, in the reactor, the bitumen is sprayed onto a portion of the circumference whose temperature is highest and lies between 700 and 750°C and is, through rotation of the reactor, kept free of grinding bodies.
5. A process in accordance with claim 4, whereby the average temperature of grinding bodies is maintained between 650 and 700°C.
6. A process in accordance with at least one of claims 1 to 3, whereby the inner space of the reactor is sectioned into at least two reaction zones, whereby the temperature of the inner wall in the first reaction zone is maintained between 460 and 500°C and, in the second reaction zone, between 700 and 750°C, and the bitumen is sprayed onto the grinding bodies, the temperature is at least 460°C and which, due to the rotation of the reactor, move between said two reaction zones.
7. Apparatus suitable for carrying out the process according to claim 1, comprising a reactor in the form of a generally horizontal cylinder rotatable about its longitudinal axis and containing separate grinding bodies freely movable within the reactor, said cylinder having one or more nozzles for spraying preheated bitumen therein and apertures over a portion of its length that feed into a hollow ring which seals and surrounds the cylinder, from which hollow ring extend a gas removal member and a coke removal member.
8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the cylindrical reactor contains one or more dividing walls that permit the flow of gaseous and solid pyrolysis products therethrough.
9. Apparatus in accordance with claims 7 or 8, wherein the reactor is heated externally by burners and the discharge of the burners is directed downwardly against the first lower quarter of the reactor in the direction of rotation.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE19873741623 DE3741623A1 (en) | 1987-12-04 | 1987-12-04 | Pyrolysis of bitumen in a reactor containing grinding medium |
| DEP3741623.5 | 1987-12-04 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1334129C true CA1334129C (en) | 1995-01-31 |
Family
ID=6342152
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 568104 Expired - Fee Related CA1334129C (en) | 1987-12-04 | 1988-05-30 | Pyrolysis of bitumen in a reactor containing grinding bodies |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1334129C (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3741623A1 (en) |
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| WO2014121368A1 (en) * | 2013-02-06 | 2014-08-14 | Envirollea Inc. | Thermal process to transform contaminated or uncontaminated feed materials into useful oily products, uses of the process, products thereby obtained and uses thereof, manufacturing of the corresponding plant |
| EP2585556A4 (en) * | 2010-06-22 | 2016-10-05 | Univ Curtin Tech | Method of and system for grinding pyrolysis of particulate carbonaceous feedstock |
| US9555342B2 (en) | 2010-05-18 | 2017-01-31 | Envirollea Inc. | Thermal processing reactor for mixtures, fabrication of the reactor, processes using the reactors and uses of the products obtained |
| US10655070B2 (en) | 2012-07-23 | 2020-05-19 | Envirollea Inc. | Hybrid thermal process to separate and transform contaminated or uncontaminated hydrocarbon materials into useful products, uses of the process, manufacturing of the corresponding system and plant |
| CN111604023A (en) * | 2020-06-12 | 2020-09-01 | 杨明清 | High performance reation kettle agitated vessel for chemical machinery |
| US11530358B2 (en) | 2017-07-13 | 2022-12-20 | Envirollea Inc. | Process for producing liquid fuel from waste hydrocarbon and/or organic material, reactor, apparatus, uses and managing system thereof |
| US11554378B2 (en) | 2019-02-04 | 2023-01-17 | Envirollea Inc. | Flotation oils, processes and uses thereof |
Families Citing this family (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2721095B1 (en) * | 1994-06-10 | 1996-08-23 | Inst Francais Du Petrole | Waste heat treatment furnace and associated process. |
| AUPN585795A0 (en) * | 1995-10-06 | 1995-11-02 | Tox Free Systems Inc. | Volatile materials treatment system |
| CA2314586C (en) * | 1996-09-27 | 2006-11-14 | William Taciuk | Thermal apparatus and process for removing contaminants from oil |
| DE102008029927B4 (en) | 2008-06-26 | 2013-06-20 | Projektentwicklung Energie Und Umwelt Leipzig Gmbh | Flash pyrolysis of organic substances with ionic liquid as a heat carrier for the production of oily or gaseous intermediates |
| WO2010045928A2 (en) * | 2008-10-21 | 2010-04-29 | Hochschule Merseburg (Fh) | Method for the catalytic conversion of solid-like hydrocarbons |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE615467C (en) * | 1933-04-22 | 1935-07-05 | William Arthur Caunt | Smoldering process for bituminous and similar light-baking fuels in rotary kilns |
| DE699707C (en) * | 1935-12-21 | 1940-12-04 | I G Farbenindustrie Akt Ges | Device for smoldering carbonaceous substances |
-
1987
- 1987-12-04 DE DE19873741623 patent/DE3741623A1/en active Granted
-
1988
- 1988-05-30 CA CA 568104 patent/CA1334129C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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| US9555342B2 (en) | 2010-05-18 | 2017-01-31 | Envirollea Inc. | Thermal processing reactor for mixtures, fabrication of the reactor, processes using the reactors and uses of the products obtained |
| EP2585556A4 (en) * | 2010-06-22 | 2016-10-05 | Univ Curtin Tech | Method of and system for grinding pyrolysis of particulate carbonaceous feedstock |
| US9994774B2 (en) | 2010-06-22 | 2018-06-12 | Curtin University Of Technology | Method of and system for grinding pyrolysis of particulate carbonaceous feedstock |
| US10655070B2 (en) | 2012-07-23 | 2020-05-19 | Envirollea Inc. | Hybrid thermal process to separate and transform contaminated or uncontaminated hydrocarbon materials into useful products, uses of the process, manufacturing of the corresponding system and plant |
| WO2014121368A1 (en) * | 2013-02-06 | 2014-08-14 | Envirollea Inc. | Thermal process to transform contaminated or uncontaminated feed materials into useful oily products, uses of the process, products thereby obtained and uses thereof, manufacturing of the corresponding plant |
| US9828553B2 (en) | 2013-02-06 | 2017-11-28 | Envirollea Inc. | Thermal process to transform contaminated or uncontaminated feed materials into useful oily products |
| US11530358B2 (en) | 2017-07-13 | 2022-12-20 | Envirollea Inc. | Process for producing liquid fuel from waste hydrocarbon and/or organic material, reactor, apparatus, uses and managing system thereof |
| US11554378B2 (en) | 2019-02-04 | 2023-01-17 | Envirollea Inc. | Flotation oils, processes and uses thereof |
| CN111604023A (en) * | 2020-06-12 | 2020-09-01 | 杨明清 | High performance reation kettle agitated vessel for chemical machinery |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| DE3741623C2 (en) | 1992-09-24 |
| DE3741623A1 (en) | 1989-06-15 |
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