CA2490734C - Method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream - Google Patents

Method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2490734C
CA2490734C CA2490734A CA2490734A CA2490734C CA 2490734 C CA2490734 C CA 2490734C CA 2490734 A CA2490734 A CA 2490734A CA 2490734 A CA2490734 A CA 2490734A CA 2490734 C CA2490734 C CA 2490734C
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Prior art keywords
internals
vessel
column
stream
bitumen
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CA2490734A
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French (fr)
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CA2490734A1 (en
Inventor
Daryl Alban Perrin
William James Power
Marc Rene Charles Lacrampe
Steven Paul Kaija
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Shell Canada Ltd
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Shell Canada Ltd
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Priority to CA2490734A priority Critical patent/CA2490734C/en
Publication of CA2490734A1 publication Critical patent/CA2490734A1/en
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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B08CLEANING
    • B08BCLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
    • B08B9/00Cleaning hollow articles by methods or apparatus specially adapted thereto 
    • B08B9/08Cleaning containers, e.g. tanks
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C10PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
    • C10GCRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
    • C10G1/00Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal

Abstract

A method for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream, such as a paraffinic diluent recovery column (1) in a bitumen refining plant, comprises introducing a cleansing stream (3) comprising aromatic and/or naphthenic components into the vessel such that the cleansing stream flows along at least a substantial part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals. The cleansing stream (3) may comprise an aromatic and/or naphthenic light gas oil (LGO), which is recycled from an atmospheric distillation column (2) in a bitumen refining plant.

Description

Peb METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR WASHING THE INTERNALS OF A VESSEL
FOR PROCESSING A HEAVY HYDROCARBON STREAM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream.
Such a vessel may be a diluent recovery column and/or other vessel for separating, heating, distilling and/or fractionating a heavy hydrocarbon stream in a bitumen or other heavy hydrocarbon refining plant.
It is known from International patent application WO00/39251 to remove solids, particularly catalyst fines from an asphaltene-containing hydrocarbon liquid by contacting the liquid with a solvent which may comprise an alkane, such as propane to pentanes, and the mixture may be heated until the asphaltenes precipitate to a separate phase and can be separated from the mixture. The known method is not suitable to wash the internals of a heavy hydrocarbon processing vessel in an efficient manner.
Bitumen, that may be produced from a heavy oil or oil sand deposit, either by surface mining or by steam injection into the deposit, typically has such a high viscosity that it is required to add a diluent to the produced bitumen stream in order to reduce the viscosity such that the bitumen is pumpable through a pipeline from the production site to a processing facility.
The diluent may comprise paraffinic components such as pentane and/or hexane, which are recovered in a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant and subsequently recycled to the production site for reinjection into the bitumen transportation pipeline.

A problem with currently available diluent recovery columns and other heavy hydrocarbon processing vessels is that the internals of these vessels are susceptible to fouling by asphaltene deposits and that these deposits cannot be adequately washed from these internals by means of currently available cleansing liquids. This is because the reflux stream, normally used to wash the internals, is highly paraffinic and therefore unable to effectively re-dissolve the asphaltenes that have precipitated on the internals.

The method and system according to some embodiments of the present invention may provide a solution to this problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The method according to some embodiments of the invention for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream comprises introducing a cleansing stream comprising aromatic and/or naphthenic components into the vessel such that the cleansing stream flows along at least a substantial part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals.

The vessel may be a vessel for separating, heating, distilling and/or fractionating a bitumen and/or other heavy hydrocarbon stream. In particular, the vessel may be a separating vessel formed by a diluent recovery column at the upstream side of a bitumen refinery plant, in which column diluent, in particular a paraffinic diluent such as pentane and/or hexane, is separated from the bitumen and subsequently recycled to the production site for reinjection into the bitumen transportation pipeline.
If the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refinery plant it is preferred to recycle an aromatic light gas oil from a distillation column which is located in the bitumen refinery plant downstream of the diluent recovery column, such that the recycled aromatic light gas oil flows along at least a substantial part of the surface of the internals of the diluent recovery column and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals.
The recycled aromatic light gas oil is typically added to the reflux stream in the diluent recovery column, on an intermittent basis.
In an embodiment the diluent recovery column is a preflash column in which a pentane and/or hexane and/or other diluent is separated from bitumen, which column is located upstream of a bitumen heating furnace of the bitumen refining plant and the recycled aromatic light gas oil is recycled from an atmospheric distillation column which is located downstream of the bitumen heating furnace.
It is preferred that the internals of the preflash column comprise a packing which at least partly made of stainless steel in at least part of the region of the interior of the preflash column where the diluted bitumen stream enters the interior of the preflash column.
Preferably, the recycled aromatic light gas oil has an average carbon number less than 18 and a boiling range between 100 and 400 degrees Celsius at atmospheric pressure and comprises at least 60 vol% of aromatic components and less than 40vol% of paraffinic components.
It is furthermore preferred that the recycled aromatic light gas oil is introduced to the reflux stream, so that the recycle stream and the retlux stream, in combination, comprise at least 50 vol% of aromatic components and less than 50 vol% of paraffinic components.

The system according to some embodiments of the invention for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream comprises means for introducing a cleansing stream comprising aromatic and/or naphthenic components into the vessel such that the cleansing stream flows along at least a substantial part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals.

If the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant then the system may comprise a conduit for recycling an aromatic light gas oil from a distillation column which is located in a bitumen refining plant downstream of the diluent recovery column into the diluent recovery column such that in use the recycled aromatic light gas oil flows along at least a substantial part of the surface of the internals and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from the internals.

These and other features and advantages of the method and system according to some embodiments of the present invention are further detailed in the appended claims, abstract and detailed description of a preferred embodiment in which reference is made to the accompanying drawing.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream, the system comprising means for introducing a cleansing stream comprising at least one of aromatic and naphthenic components into the vessel thereby allowing the cleansing stream to flow along at least a part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flush precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals wherein the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant, and the system comprises a conduit for recycling an aromatic light gas oil from a distillation column -4a-which is located in the plant downstream of the diluent recovery column into the diluent recovery column, thereby allowing the recycled aromatic light gas oil to flow along at least a part of the surface of the internals and flush precipitated asphaltene deposits from the internals.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream, the method comprising introducing a cleansing stream comprising at least one of aromatic and naphthenic components into the vessel, wherein the cleansing stream flows along at least a part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals, wherein the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant as described herein and the cleansing stream comprises an aromatic light gas oil which is recycled from a distillation column which is located in the plant downstream of the diluent recovery column.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowscheme of a bitumen refining plant in which light gas oil is recycled from a distillation column to a diluent recovery column in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.1, which provides a flowscheme of a bitumen refining plant in which light gas oil is recycled from a distillation column into a diluent recovery column.
In FIG.1 a refining unit is shown which comprises a preflash diluent recovery column 1 and an atmospheric distillation column 2 from which an aromatic light gas oil (LGO) is recycled back into the diluent recovery column 1 via a LGO recycling conduit 3. The aromatic LGO
is combined with the reflux stream 9 of the diluent recovery unit 1.
The plant furthermore comprises a vacuum distillation column 4, a diluent recovery unit 5 which is connected to a diluent outlet conduit 6 at the upper end of the preflash diluent recovery column 1 and various pumps/condensors 7 and furnaces 8.
A diluted bitumen stream is pumped from an oil sand production site (not shown) into the preflash diluent recovery column 1 via a diluted bitumen transportation pipeline 10 Several laboratory experiments have been carried out to investigate the fouling of the preflash diluent recovery column 1 which revealed that recirculation of aromatic light oil LGO effectively flushes asphaltene deposits from the internals of the preflash diluent recovery column 1 and that it is beneficial that these internals are made of smooth stainless steel packings.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS:
1. A system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream, the system comprising means for introducing a cleansing stream comprising at least one of aromatic and naphthenic components into the vessel thereby allowing the cleansing stream to flow along at least a part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flush precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals wherein the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant, and the system comprises a conduit for recycling an aromatic light gas oil from a distillation column which is located in the plant downstream of the diluent recovery column into the diluent recovery column, thereby allowing the recycled aromatic light gas oil to flow along at least a part of the surface of the internals and flush precipitated asphaltene deposits from the internals.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the conduit is arranged between the diluent recovery column and an atmospheric distillation column which is located downstream of a bitumen heating furnace.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the internals of the diluent recovery column comprise a packing which is at least partly made of stainless steel in at least part of the region of the interior of the diluent recovery column where the diluted bitumen stream enters the interior of the diluent recovery column.
4. A method for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream, the method comprising introducing a cleansing stream comprising at least one of aromatic and naphthenic components into the vessel, wherein the cleansing stream flows along at least a part of the surface of the internals of the vessel and flushes precipitated asphaltene deposits from said internals, wherein the vessel is a diluent recovery column in a bitumen refining plant according to claim 1 and the cleansing stream comprises an aromatic light gas oil which is recycled from a distillation column which is located in the plant downstream of the diluent recovery column.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the recycled aromatic gas oil comprises at least 60 vol% of aromatic components and less than 40 vol% of paraffinic components.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the recycled aromatic gas oil is combined with a reflux stream in the diluent recovery column on an intermittent basis, such that the combined stream comprises at least 50 vol% of aromatic components and less than 50 vol% of paraffinic components.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the diluent recovery column is a preflash column in which diluent, in particular a paraffinic diluent such as pentane and/or hexane is separated from bitumen, which column is located upstream of a bitumen heating furnace of the bitumen refining plant.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the recycled aromatic light gas oil is recycled from an atmospheric distillation column which is located downstream of the bitumen heating furnace.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the internals of the preflash column comprise a packing which is at least partly made of stainless steel in at least part of the region of the interior of the preflash column where a diluted bitumen stream enters the interior of the preflash column.
10. The method of any one of claims 4-9, wherein the recycled aromatic light gas oil has an average carbon number less than 18 and a boiling range between 100 and 400 degrees Celsius at atmospheric pressure.
CA2490734A 2004-12-21 2004-12-21 Method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream Active CA2490734C (en)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2490734A CA2490734C (en) 2004-12-21 2004-12-21 Method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream

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CA2490734A CA2490734C (en) 2004-12-21 2004-12-21 Method and system for washing the internals of a vessel for processing a heavy hydrocarbon stream

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CA2490734A1 CA2490734A1 (en) 2006-06-21
CA2490734C true CA2490734C (en) 2013-02-12

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Cited By (5)

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US8684079B2 (en) 2010-03-16 2014-04-01 Exxonmobile Upstream Research Company Use of a solvent and emulsion for in situ oil recovery
US8753486B2 (en) 2008-06-27 2014-06-17 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Optimizing feed mixer performance in a paraffinic froth treatment process
US8752623B2 (en) 2010-02-17 2014-06-17 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Solvent separation in a solvent-dominated recovery process
US8899321B2 (en) 2010-05-26 2014-12-02 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Method of distributing a viscosity reducing solvent to a set of wells
US9089797B2 (en) 2009-07-14 2015-07-28 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Feed delivery system for a solid-liquid separation vessel

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CA2595336C (en) 2007-07-31 2009-09-15 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Reducing foulant carry-over or build-up in a paraffinic froth treatment process
CA2716809C (en) 2008-03-20 2014-04-08 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Enhancing emulsion stability
CA2650750C (en) 2009-01-23 2013-08-27 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Method and system for determining particle size distribution and filterable solids in a bitumen-containing fluid
US9222929B2 (en) 2009-12-07 2015-12-29 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Solvent surveillance in solvent-based heavy oil recovery processes
CA2714842C (en) 2010-09-22 2012-05-29 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Controlling bitumen quality in solvent-assisted bitumen extraction
CA2729457C (en) 2011-01-27 2013-08-06 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process for integration of paraffinic froth treatment hub and a bitumen ore mining and extraction facility
CA2906715C (en) 2011-02-25 2016-07-26 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process for treating high paraffin diluted bitumen
CA2733342C (en) 2011-03-01 2016-08-02 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process and unit for solvent recovery from solvent diluted tailings derived from bitumen froth treatment
CA2733862C (en) 2011-03-04 2014-07-22 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process and system for solvent addition to bitumen froth
CA2735311C (en) 2011-03-22 2013-09-24 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process for direct steam injection heating of oil sands bitumen froth
CA2734811C (en) 2011-03-29 2012-11-20 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Feedwell system for a separation vessel
CA2737410C (en) 2011-04-15 2013-10-15 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Heat recovery for bitumen froth treatment plant integration with sealed closed-loop cooling circuit
CA2805804C (en) 2011-04-28 2014-07-08 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Process and tsru with inlet with multiple nozzle configuration for distribution of solvent diluted tailings
CA2738560C (en) 2011-05-03 2014-07-08 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Enhancing fine capture in paraffinic froth treatment process
CA2739667C (en) 2011-05-04 2015-07-07 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Enhanced turndown process for a bitumen froth treatment operation
CA2832269C (en) 2011-05-18 2017-10-17 Fort Hills Energy L.P. Temperature control of bitumen froth treatment process with trim heating of solvent streams
CA2783819C (en) 2011-11-08 2014-04-29 Imperial Oil Resources Limited Dewatering oil sand tailings

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8753486B2 (en) 2008-06-27 2014-06-17 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Optimizing feed mixer performance in a paraffinic froth treatment process
US9089797B2 (en) 2009-07-14 2015-07-28 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Feed delivery system for a solid-liquid separation vessel
US8752623B2 (en) 2010-02-17 2014-06-17 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Solvent separation in a solvent-dominated recovery process
US8684079B2 (en) 2010-03-16 2014-04-01 Exxonmobile Upstream Research Company Use of a solvent and emulsion for in situ oil recovery
US8899321B2 (en) 2010-05-26 2014-12-02 Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company Method of distributing a viscosity reducing solvent to a set of wells

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