ES2725551T3 - Deasphalting with solvent with cyclonic separation - Google Patents

Abstract

A continuous process for the production of an improved refinery raw material and solids of thermally affected dry asphaltenes from heavy hydrocarbons, said process comprising: (a) preheating heavy hydrocarbons as a process fluid in a heater at a predetermined temperature; (b) moving the preheated process fluid to a single thermal conversion reactor with a partial condenser of the head distillate to convert asphaltenes into the process fluid based on heavy hydrocarbons to produce a stream of non-condensable vapor and lighter liquid hydrocarbons , and a second stream of asphaltene-rich fractions thermally affected from the process fluid; wherein the conditions of the thermal conversion reactor procedure are within the following parameters: (i) a uniform heat flow of between 22.1-37.9 kW / m2 (7000-12000 BTU / h square feet) introduced in the process fluid in the reactor; (ii) a scanning gas between 4.8-19.3 sm3 of gas / m3 of the process fluid (20-80 scf / bbl (gas / process fluid)) is introduced into the process fluid in the reactor ; (iii) residence time of the process fluid in the reactor between 40-180 minutes; (iv) an essentially uniform temperature of the process fluid between 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) in the reactor; and (v) an almost atmospheric pressure <345 kPa (<50 psig) in the reactor; (c) de-tarnish the fractions rich in thermally affected asphaltenes obtained in step (b) with a solvent extraction procedure in a stream of deasphalted oil (DAO) and a second stream containing thermally affected asphaltene precipitated in solid form; (d) separating the thermally affected dry asphalte solids precipitated from the second stream obtained in step (c) in a vapor-solid separation unit that separates the asphaltene solids from the solvent and gas vapor that is still present in the second stream obtained in step (c) using one or more forces, such as centrifugal, gravitational and inertia to obtain a solid and dry asphaltene that does not contain more than 20% moisture, wherein said vapor-solid separation unit is selected from a settling chamber, a chamber with baffles or a centrifugal collector; (e) the refinery raw material comprises at least one of the streams produced.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Deasphalting with solvent with cyclonic separation

The present invention relates to a method of improving heavy hydrocarbons, such as bitumen, in a lighter and more fluid product and, more specifically, in a final hydrocarbon product that is ready for refinery and meets pipeline transport criteria without the addition of diluent. A solid form asphalt by-product is created for easy handling and subsequent processing. The invention is directed to enhance Canadian bitumen, but has general application in the improvement of any heavy hydrocarbon. Background of the invention

Refining sweet crude resources requires less capital input and has a much lower processing cost than heavy sulfur crude. However, the global availability of light and sweet crude oil that is supplied in the refineries for the production of transport fuels has decreased by making heavy sulfur crude processing an increasingly important option to meet the global demand for fuels based on hydrocarbons

Most (if not all) commercial recovery units for heavy crude processing have been constructed to convert heavy viscous hydrocarbons into crude products ranging from combinations of sweet and light to medium sulphurous. Heavy oil recovery units basically achieve this by means of high intensity conversion procedures that either release up to 20% by weight of raw material as a coke by-product and another 5% as a product of discharge gases, or they require hydroprocessing, such as hydrocracking and hydrotreatment to maximize the conversion of heavy components in the raw material to lighter and lower sulfur-based liquid products and gas.

Description of the prior art

Procedures for converting and / or conditioning bituminous sands into a crude transportable by pipes and acceptable for refinery have been described. It should be noted that thermal cracking, catalytic cracking, deasphalting with solvent and combinations of the three (for example, viscorreduction and deasphalting with solvent) have been proposed to convert bitumen to improve its characteristics for transport and use as a refinery raw material .

Thermal cracking

Viscorreduction or viscosity reduction, a form of thermal cracking, is a well-known oil refining process in which heavy and / or reduced crude oils are pyrolized, or in cracking conditions, under comparatively mild conditions to provide products that have lower viscosities and pour points, thus reducing the required quantities of less viscous and increasingly expensive products to obtain a combination of hydrocarbons known as a diluent to improve the fluidity of crude oil, and to make the crude oil meet the minimum pipe transport specifications ( API severity minimum of 19).

There are two basic visco-reduction configurations, the single coil viscosity reducer and the coil and impregnation viscosity reducer. Both require heaters to heat the oil, with the unique type of coil that uses cracking only in the heater tubes. Single coil viscosity reducers operate at approximately 900 ° F at the outlet of the heater with a residence time of approximately 1 minute. The diesel is recycled to interrupt the reaction. In the coil and impregnation viscosity reducer, a vessel is used at the exit of an oven to provide additional residence time for the cracking of the crude. The oil settles and continues cracking / reacting as the temperature slowly decreases. The coil and impregnation viscosity reducer is operated at heater outlet temperatures of 800 ° F. The reaction chamber drum temperature is reduced to 700 ° F at the outlet with added residence times of more than 1 hour.

Examples of such viscoreduction procedures are described in Beuther et al., "Thermal Visbreaking of Heavy Residues", The Oil and Gas Journal. 57:46, November 9, 1959, p. 151-157; Rhoe et al., "Visbreaking: A Flexible Process," Hydrocarbon Processing, January 1979, p. 131-136; and in U.S. Patent No. 4,233,138. The performance structure is approximately identical for any combination: 1-3% of volatile fractions, 5% (by weight) of gasoline and 15% (by weight) of diesel. The rest remains as heavy oil or bitumen. The products are separated in a distillation column for further processing or combination. A concern regarding conventional visco-reduction schemes is that for Canadian bitumen, operating temperatures are above the limit (around 700 ° F-720 ° F) where a coking has an impact on operability (Golden and Bartletta, Designing Vacuum Units (for Canadian heavy crudes), Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q2, 2006, p. 105). In addition, heat is added for a short period of time in the heater, so the local heat fluxes are not uniform and can reach their maximum point well above the coking start limits; and the heat is not constantly maintained allowing condensation reactions to occur. The attempt to apply conventional viscoreduction to bitumen Canadian is limited due to the propensity for coking and the inability of these systems to solve this problem.

In the first part of US Patent No. 6,972,085 and in patent application US2008 / 0093259, an attempt is made to address the desire for a constant and sustained application of heat to crude oil for a prolonged period of time. Essentially, the heater and storage vessel are combined in a vessel to create a continuous heated bath for oil. Multiple levels of oil heating are applied at various times. This is an improvement over conventional visorreduction but does not eliminate hot spots in processed crude, allowing coking due to temperature peaks above optimal cracking levels.

Combination of thermal / catalytic cracking and deasphalting with solvent

In US Patent No. 4,454,023 a method of treating oil based on heavy and viscous hydrocarbon is described, the process comprising the steps consisting of: oil viscoreduction; Viscorreduced oil fractionation; solvent de-asphalting of the undistilled part of the visco-reduced oil in a two-phase deasphalting process to produce asphaltene, resin and deasphalted oil ("DAO") fractions other than visco-reduced distillates; and recycling and combination of resins from the deasphalting stage with the raw material initially distributed in the viscosity reducer. US Patent '023 provides a means to valorize lighter hydrocarbons (API gravity> 15) than Canadian bitumen but is affected by the improper application of thermal cracking technology that will crackle excessively and coke the hydrocarbon stream, and for the complexity and cost of a two-phase solvent deasphalting system to separate the resin fraction from the deasphalted oil. In addition, the need to recycle part of the resin stream increases the operating costs and the complexity of the operation.

In U.S. Patent No. 4,191,636, heavy oil is continuously converted to asphaltenes and metal-free oil by selectively hydrotreating heavy oil to crack asphaltenes and simultaneously remove heavy metals such as nickel and vanadium. Liquid products are separated into a light fraction of an asphaltene-free and metal-free oil and a heavy fraction of an oil containing asphaltenes and heavy metals. The light fraction is recovered as a product and the heavy fraction is recycled in the hydrotreatment stage. The catalytic conversion of Canadian heavy bitumen (API gravity <10) using this' 636 procedure constitutes a high intensity procedure that tends to have reliability problems with rapid deactivation of the catalyst that has an impact on selectivity and yield.

In U.S. Patent No. 4,428,824, a solvent deasphalting unit is installed upstream of a viscoreduction unit to remove asphaltenes from the viscoreduction operation. In this configuration, the visco-reduction unit can now operate at higher temperatures to convert the heavier molecules to lighter hydrocarbon molecules without dirt, as asphaltenes are completely removed from the product stream. However, the bitumen yield is greatly reduced (by 10-15%) since the early removal of asphaltenes in the process prevents the thermal conversion of this part of the crude into a refinable product.

As in United States Patent No. 4,428,824, United States Patent No. 6,274,032 described a method of treating a hydrocarbon supply source comprising a fractionator to separate the oil components. primary, followed by a deasphalting unit (SDA) with solvent to work on the asphaltene-rich component of the heaviest crude, and a mild thermal cracking unit for the asphaltene free stream. The asphaltene-rich stream is processed in a gasification unit to generate synthesis gas for hydrogen requirements. The placement of an SDA unit upstream of a thermal cracking unit reduces the overall performance of bitumen as a refinery supply, since the asphaltene portion of crude oil, which comprises up to 15% of Canadian bitumen, is excluded from the issue of inclusion in some format as crude. This loss in product performance is not compensated by the increase in cracking in the viscosity reducer.

In US Patent No. 4,686,028 a process of treating the whole crude oil is described, the process comprising the steps consisting of deasphalting a hydrocarbon with a high boiling range in a two phase deasphalting process for produce different asphaltene, resin, and deasphalted oil fractions, followed by only the recovery of the resin fraction by hydrogenation or viscoreduction. The invention of US Patent No. 4,686,028 applies viscoreduction to a favorable portion of the entire crude oil stream to minimize coke generation. However, the '028 patent is limited by the lack of a large part of the crude that could benefit from the conversion and, therefore, a large part of the crude does not end up as a pipe product without the need for a transport diluent.

In US Patent No. 5,601,697 a first distillation crude oil treatment process is described, the process comprising the steps consisting in vacuum distillation of the first distillation crude oil, deasphalting the bottom product of distillation, catalytic cracking of deasphalting oil, mixing of distillable catalytic cracking fractions (atmospheric boiling temperature equivalent to approximately 593 degrees C (1100 degrees F)) to produce products comprising transport fuels, light gases, and decanted oil. US Patent No. '697 is weighed down by the complexity, cost and technical feasibility of vacuum distillation of a first distillation crude oil at approximately 454 ° C (850 ° F) and by catalytic cracking of the deasphalted oil to produce transport fuels.

In US Patent No. 6,533,925, a process is described that involves the integration of a solvent deasphalting process with a gasification process and an improved process for separating a resin phase from a solvent solution. comprising a solvent, a deasphalted oil (DAO) and a resin. A resin extractor with the solvent raised at a temperature above that of the first asphaltene extractor is included in the invention of '925. The asphaltene stream is treated but removed before any thermal conversion eliminating the possibility of obtaining an increase in the value of a usable refinery raw material. The impact implies a reduction in the potential for overall yield of the crude oil stream.

In the US patent application 2007/0125686, a process is described in which a heavy hydrocarbon stream is first separated into several fractions through a distillation with the heavy component sent to a mild thermal cracking unit (reducer of viscosity). The remaining heavy liquid from the mild thermal cracking unit is a deasphalted solvent in an open-ended SDA unit. Separate asphaltenes from SDA are used as a supply for a gasifier. Deasphalted oil is combined with steam from the condensed mild thermal cracking unit to form a combined product. As stated earlier in the '023 patent, viscoreduction faces the challenges of early coke generation. Specifically, the '686 patent application explains that the intention of this mild thermal cracking unit is to crack the material exclusively without asphaltenes, which is also not practical with Canadian bitumen. In addition, additional energy is required in the distillation stages with most of the separate components that are recombined for pipeline transport.

Treatment of a stream rich in asphaltenes generated by SDA

In US Patent No. 4,421,639 a solvent deasphalting process uses a 2nd asphalt extractor to concentrate asphaltene-based material (and recovery of more deasphalted oil). The concentrated asphalt stream is sent through a heater to reach 218 ° C (425 ° F) at 124 kPa (18 psia) and uses a sudden evaporation drum and a current separator to separate solvent (in this case propane) of the asphalt stream. The asphalt-based product, in liquid form, is pumped into storage. This arrangement only works if the asphalt-rich stream is liquid under these conditions. It is affected by clogging if asphaltenes are visibly present in solid form as in currents rich in asphaltene similar to bitumen.

In U.S. Patent No. 3,847,751, the concentrated asphaltene-based product of the SDA unit is mixed with solvent to be transported as a liquid solution to a spray dryer. The design of the spray nozzle and the pressure drop dictate the size of the liquid drops that are formed. The smaller the drop of light hydrocarbon (solvent), the faster it will suddenly evaporate completely to steam. The smaller the heavy hydrocarbon (asphaltene) particle, the greater the area available for heat transfer to cool the heavy drops in order to produce a dry, solid and non-sticky particle. Additional cold gas is added to the bottom of the spray dryer to enhance cooling by additional convective heat transfer as well as increase the residence time of the drop by slowing down its rate of descent (through the flow of upward cooling gas) in order to reduce the size of the container (which tends to be extremely large). This arrangement is not necessary if the asphaltene particles that have settled in the extractor are in solid form in the solvent at the operating temperature of the process.

In US Patent No. 4,278,529 a method of separating a solvent from a bituminous material by reducing the pressure without entrainment of the bituminous material is illustrated. The fluid-like phase comprising bituminous material and solvent is reduced by pressure by passing through a pressure reducing valve and introduced into a steam separator. The pressure reduction vaporizes part of the solvent and also disperses a mist of fine bituminous particles in the solvent. The concern about this approach is that the remaining asphaltene remains wet and sticky and does not have enough solvent to keep the heavy bituminous phase (with numerous solids) flowable.

In US Patent No. 4,572,781 a solvent deasphalting process for essentially separating asphaltenes in dry form from a high softening point of heavy hydrocarbon material using a centrifugal decanter to separate a liquid phase from a suspension is described. highly concentrated asphaltenes in solid form. This procedure attempts to handle a stream rich in asphaltenes that has solid particles but is a highly expensive procedure since the separation of the solids is carried out through a solid / liquid separation with the additional solvent necessary to make the material flow to the decanter Invariably, the separated solid material is still relatively wet and needs another drying step to recover the solvent as a vapor. The solvent vapor needs to be condensate for reuse, another stage of great energy.

In US Patent No. 7,597,794 a dispersion solvent is introduced into the asphalt phase after solvent extraction and the asphalt phase is subjected to a rapid phase change in a gas-solid separator and dispersed in solid particles while the solvent vaporizes, resulting in a separation of the asphalt at low temperature and solvent with adjustable size of the asphalt particles. The challenge with instant / spray dryers that uses liquid solvent as the means of transport is the propensity of asphaltenes generated in this integrated procedure to remain wet before, during and after the instant drying phase. In addition, with this integrated procedure, asphaltene continues to liquefy at elevated temperatures. A wetted asphaltene adheres to all surfaces and soils and easily clogs the equipment. The reduced reliability of using this approach makes this operation expensive for heavy crude with high asphalt content.

In US Pat. No. 7,964,090, a method for valorization of heavy asphaltene crudes is used when using SDA and gasification. Of interest in this patent, a current is generated towards a gasifier by mixing a hydrocarbon comprising one or more asphaltenes and one or more non-asphaltenes with a solvent, wherein a ratio of the solvent to the hydrocarbon is from about 2: 1 to about 10: one. The asphaltene-rich stream is transferred out of the SDA to a gasifier as a liquid stream. The large amounts of solvent used in transport are consumed in the gasifier, reducing its value to an equivalent of combustible gas. Since asphaltenes tend to be liquid, it is feasible to use a solvent to transport the material in the amounts indicated. For asphaltene in solid form, this procedure would require 10-20 times more solvent to transport and this amount of expensive solvent would be consumed and its value would be reduced. WO 2011/106878 describes a process for producing a raw material ready for refinery from heavy crude.

Compendium of the invention

It should be considered that other aspects of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, where various embodiments of the invention are shown and described by way of illustration.

Consequently, the drawings and description should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in nature. The present invention provides a continuous process for the production of an improved refinery raw material and thermally affected dry asphalte solids from heavy hydrocarbons, said process comprising:

(a) preheat heavy hydrocarbons as a process fluid in a heater at a predetermined temperature;

(b) moving the preheated process fluid to a single thermal conversion reactor with a partial condenser of the head distillate to convert asphaltenes into the process fluid based on heavy hydrocarbons to produce a stream of non-condensable vapor and lighter liquid hydrocarbons , and a second stream of asphaltene-rich fractions thermally affected from the process fluid;

wherein the thermal conversion reactor process conditions are within the following parameters:

(i) a uniform heat flow of between 22.1-37.9 kW / m2 (7000-12000 BTU / h square feet) introduced into the process fluid in the reactor;

(ii) a scanning gas between 4.8-19.3 sm3 of gas / m3 of the process fluid (20-80 scf / bbl (gas / process fluid)) is introduced into the process fluid in the reactor ;

(iii) residence time of the process fluid in the reactor between 40-180 minutes;

(iv) an essentially uniform temperature of the process fluid between 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) in the reactor; Y

(v) an almost atmospheric pressure <345 kPa (<50 psig) in the reactor;

(c) de-tarnish the fractions rich in thermally affected asphaltenes obtained in step (b) with a solvent extraction procedure in a stream of deasphalted oil (DAO) and a second stream containing thermally precipitated asphaltene precipitated in solid form;

(d) separating the thermally affected dry asphalte solids precipitated from the second stream obtained in step (c) in a vapor-solid separation unit that separates the asphaltene solids from the solvent and gas vapor that is still present in the second stream obtained in step (c) using one or more forces, such as centrifugal, gravitational and inertia to obtain a solid and dry asphaltene that does not contain more than 20% of moisture, wherein said vapor-solid separation unit is selected from a settling chamber, a chamber with baffles or a centrifugal manifold;

(e) the refinery raw material comprises at least one of the streams produced.

Bitumen is heat treated to remove and convert / crack selected asphaltenes, which are then sufficiently separated in an efficient solvent extraction procedure, reducing coke production and isolating undesirable contaminants (such as metals, MCR, and remaining asphaltenes).

Considering the relative complexity and the high degree of side chains in Canadian bituminous asphaltenes, under the operating conditions of the invention described herein, the side chains are preferably cleaved from the main asphaltene molecule to prepare a desired vacuum diesel in class components. of light hydrocarbons. The remaining polyaromatic asphaltene nuclei remain solid at elevated temperatures and with pressures above operating conditions and thus separate more easily than thermally affected asphaltenes, resulting in improved separation procedures, such as solvent deasphalting. (50) and vapor-solid separation similar to inertia separation (110).

In addition, heavier hydrocarbons in bitumen are also slightly cracked for vacuum diesel, gasoline and distillate boiling range components, desirable for separation and conversion into refineries. Any major deviation in temperature and heat flow in the bitumen tank in the reactor will result in coking, an increase in gas efficiency, a reduction in the overall crude oil yield of the original bitumen, and reduced reliability. of the operation, increasing the operational costs of the installation.

The invention provides an improved process for producing a raw material ready for pipeline transport and ready for refinery from heavy asphaltene crude oils with a high content (eg, Canadian bitumen), and raw material, useful for any stream of virgin or previously processed hydrocarbons.

Use is made of a sweep gas in the reactor, and it can be preheated to provide a source of heat flow different from that of the reactor heaters; in the same way the sweeping gas helps in the elimination of steam products from the reactor.

Deasphalting can be achieved using an open technique solvent extraction procedure, since the fluid from the initial procedure has been separated so that only fractions rich in heavy asphaltene require deasphalting, the extraction procedures that use high solvent to oil ratios They are feasible and economical. The improved solvent extraction yield, which uses lower solvent to oil ratios and an improved DAO yield can be achieved by an additional concentration of an asphaltene-rich fraction before a final extraction stage. The process improves a deasphalting with open technique solvent that uses an additional solvent extraction column (rinse column) that operates in the asphaltene-rich stream from the primary solvent extraction column to increase the recovery of oil from the pipeline. And the quality.

The SDA process may allow any part of the hydrocarbon stream rich in heavy asphaltenes to be recycled and combined with the recent supply in the reactor.

The resulting thermally concentrated affected asphaltenes are successfully processed in a vapor-solid separation unit selected from a settling chamber, a deflector chamber or a centrifugal collector to generate a dry and solid asphaltene byproduct.

In one embodiment, the refinery raw material comprises a combination of at least two of the streams produced ready for pipeline transport, with an API gravity greater than 19 degrees and a viscosity less than 350 cSt at 8 ° C; One or more of the streams produced is treated to remove olefins.

In another embodiment, the refinery raw material comprises one or more of the streams produced, suitable for various types of refinery by virtue of their proportion of vacuum residue.

The present description also provides a procedure in which the integrated procedure is applied to a recovery unit or an existing bitumen refinery per coker by accepting as raw material the virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbon streams from a recovery or refinery unit and producing the streams of the process of light liquid hydrocarbons and heavy deasphalted hydrocarbons in the recovery unit or refinery.

In a further embodiment, the integrated procedure is applied to the existing hydrocracking waste or refinery recovery unit by accepting virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbon streams from a recovery or refinery unit as raw material and producing the hydrocarbon process streams. light liquids and heavy deasphalted hydrocarbons in the recovery unit or refinery.

In another additional embodiment, the integrated procedure is applied to a new bitumen recovery unit, a new “sweet crude” refinery or an existing “sweet crude” refinery instead of a coking process by accepting as a raw material the currents of Virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbons from a recovery or refinery unit and producing the streams of light liquid hydrocarbons and heavy deasphalted hydrocarbons in the recovery or refinery unit.

Brief description of the drawings

With reference to the drawings where similar reference numbers indicate similar parts throughout the various views, the various aspects of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in detail in the figures, where:

Fig. 1 is a diagram of the process for forming a hydrocarbon based product transportable by pipe of a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock; Y

Fig. 2 is a diagram of the procedure that pertains specifically to a cracking process and a liquid separation process; Y

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the procedure for an exemplary solvent deasphalting process.

Fig. 4 depicts an illustrative application of an integrated light cracking and deasphalting process with improved solvent with an existing recovery or refinery unit with a vacuum and / or coking unit according to one or more described embodiments.

Fig. 5 represents a specific illustrative application of Fig. 4 of an integrated light cracking and deasphalting process with improved solvent supplied in a vacuum bottom stream from an existing recovery or refinery unit with the various products of the integrated cracking unit / SDA sent to hydrocracking, waste hydrocracking [waste] and gasification units according to one or more described embodiments.

Units, currents and equipment in the Figures

The lists of units, procedure streams and equipment elements provided below are classified into the numbered components in the Figures, and are provided as readers' reference.

Units in Figure 1

10 = Procedure

20 = Supply heater

30 = Reactor

40 = Gas-liquid separator

50 = High performance solvent extraction

110 = Inertial separation unit

Currents in Figure 1

12 = Supply of recent bitumen

14 = Complete supply for the heater

21 = Supply for the reactor

32 = Reactor head distillate

34 = Funds of the reactor

36 = Scanning gas in the reactor

43 = Non-condensable steam

44 = Light hydrocarbon liquid from 40

52 = DAO

54 = Resin

58 = Stream rich in asphaltenes

60 = Product

70 = Resin Recycling

111 = Asphaltene Solids

112 = Solvent for recycling

Units in Figure 2

30 = Reactor - Asphaltene optimal conversion unit -41 = Head distillate condenser

42 = Vapor / liquid separator

Currents in Figure 2

21 = Supply for the reactor

22 = Adding energy / heat to the reactor

32 = Reactor head distillate

34 = Funds of the reactor

36 = Scanning gas in the reactor

43 = Non-condensable steam

44 = Light hydrocarbon liquid from 42

45 = Supply for steam / liquid separator 42

46 = Light hydrocarbon liquid from 42

Equipment in Figure 3-50a = Tube with static mixers (primary extractor in co-current) 50b = Cooler

50c = Clarifier / Decanter

50d = Heater

50e = Rinse column (secondary asphaltene extractor)

50f = Resin extractor

50g = Solvent extractor

Currents in Figure 3

34 = Supply for the SDA unit of reactor funds

52 = DAO to produce a combination

54 = Resin bottom product for solvent extraction

55 = Output of the tube / static mixers in co-current

56 = Supply for clarifier

57 = Adding solvent

58 = Stream rich in asphaltenes

59 = Clarifier head distillate in the resin column

61 = Clarifier funds for the rinse column

62 = Supply for the rinse column

63 = Replacement solvent

64 = Exit from head distillate to resin column

65 = Replacement solvent

66 = Head distillates from resin extractor to solvent extractor (50 g) 67 = Solvent recovered for reprocessing

Units in Figure 4

20, 30, 40 = Slight thermal cracking unit

50, 110 = SDA ISU

200 = Vacuum unit and / or catalytic cracking unit

300 = Coking or FCC unit or asphalt plant

400 = Hydrocracking and hydrotreatment complex

Currents in Figure 4

5 = Heavy hydrocarbon streams

34 = Funds of the reactor

43 = Non-condensable steam

44 = Light hydrocarbon reactor liquid

52 = DAO

54 = Resin

111 = Asphaltene solids

301 = coker, FCC, light hydrocarbons

302 = Solids

401 = Finished transport products for sale

Units in Figure 5

20, 30, 40 = Slight thermal cracking unit

50, 110 = SDA ISU

200 = Vacuum unit and / or catalytic cracking unit

400 = Hydrocracking and hydrotreatment complex

500 = Unit of residual hydrocracking

600 = Gasification unit

Currents in Figure 5

5 = Heavy hydrocarbon streams

34 = Funds of the reactor

43 = Non-condensable steam

44 = Light hydrocarbon reactor liquid

52 = DAO

54 = Resin

111 = Asphaltene Solids

205 = Light liquid hydrocarbons from the vacuum unit

301 = Light liquid hydrocarbons from the residual hydrocracking unit

302 = Heavy hydrocarbons from residual hydrocracking unit funds

401 = Finished transport products for sale

Detailed description of various embodiments

The detailed description set forth below together with the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments contemplated by the inventor. The detailed description includes specific details in order to provide a complete understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details.

Figure 1 is a process flow diagram depicting a process 10 for forming a hydrocarbon-based product 60 from a hydrocarbon raw material 12, wherein the final hydrocarbon-based product 60 has sufficient characteristics to meet the minimum pipeline transport requirements (API minimum gravity of 19) and is a favorable refinery raw material. A process fluid 14 formed from a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock 12 may be oriented through a heater 20 to heat the process fluid 14 to a desired temperature level before it is directed towards a reactor 30 where it is controlled. the fluid procedure 14 and is maintained while undergoing a mild controlled cracking procedure. After the slight cracking process, a light upper fraction 32 can be directed from the reactor 30 to a gas and liquid condensation separating process 40 and a heavy lower fraction 34 can be oriented to a high performance solvent extraction process 50 Some of the outlets 44 of the gas-liquid separation process 40 may be combined with some of the outlets 52, 54 of the high performance solvent extraction process 50 to give rise to a hydrocarbon-based product 60 that has sufficient characteristics physical so that it can meet the necessary pipe transport criteria without having to mix the final hydrocarbon product 60 with diluents from external sources, or require very small volumes of such diluent.

The raw material 12 may be a heavy hydrocarbon (virgin or preprocessed stream), such as heavy hydrocarbon obtained from a SAGD (steam-assisted gravity drainage) procedure, for example Canadian bituminous sands, or any other suitable hydrocarbon source heavy In one aspect, the raw material 12 may have an API gravity in the range of 0 to 14.

In one aspect, a recycled portion 70 of the resin stream outlet 54 of the high performance solvent extraction process 50 can be combined with the incoming raw material 12 to form the process fluid 14 that passes through the process 10. The resin stream can be added to the process fluid in cases where a lighter crude, and / or crude yield, and / or asphaltene suppression is also desired in order to meet the characteristic objectives of the treated product. Resin recycling provides the operator with the flexibility, through an adjustable flow parameter, to meet production specifications, and allows the plant to handle robust material variations robustly.

The resin product 54 of the solvent extraction process 50 will normally have a relatively low API gravity. In one aspect, the API gravity of the resin product 54 may have an API gravity between 0 and 10. Depending on the characteristics of the raw material 12 and the amount of resin product 54 combined with the raw material 12, the process fluid resulting 14 may have a number of characteristics and in particular a range of seriousness ^to P ⁱ .

The process fluid 14 (obtained completely from the raw material 12 or formed as a combination of raw material 12 and resin product 54 from the solvent extraction process 50) can be directed to the heater 20 where the process fluid 14 is It can be heated to a desired temperature as it passes through heater 20 before being oriented to reactor 30 to undergo slight thermal cracking. The reactor 30 maintains a constant fluid temperature thanks to a uniform application of heat through the reactor to allow a slight thermal cracking without coking that is a concern or detriment to the operation and / or performance of the reactor.

In one aspect, heater 20 heats the process fluid 14 at a temperature between 357 ° C-413 ° C (675 775 ° F) before the process 14 fluid is introduced into reactor 30.

In reactor 30, the process fluid 14 (heated between 357 ° C-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) by the heater 20) is subjected to a mild controlled cracking procedure. Properly located heaters are provided in this reactor 30 to maintain the desired constant temperature generated in the heater 20 and apply uniform heat flow to the fluid 14. The heaters provide indirect heat through any readily available source (electrical, flow fluid heat transfer, radiant etc.). To ensure uniform heat flow, the mixture can be applied to the process fluid continuously or intermittently.

The reactor 30 can be operated in a manner, primarily through the optimization of five interrelated variables of the process (temperature, pressure, residence time, sweep gas and heat flow), in order to reduce or even prevent it from forming coke during the reaction, and minimization of gas production, while also providing optimal conversion of the asphaltene part of the heavy hydrocarbon into raw material components ready for refinery.

The first and second variables involve the application of a uniform heat flow between 22.1-37.9 kW / m2 (7000 12000 BTU / h square feet) to the entire process fluid reservoir in the reactor and the maintenance of a single operating temperature in the reactor between 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F). This can be achieved by the presence of heating devices of adequate size and located in the reactor. The number of heaters will be established by calculating the optimum heat dispersion between two heaters in order to have a uniform temperature throughout the tank and avoid maximum or point temperatures significantly higher than the target temperature in the reactor.

The third variable of the reactor, the residence time, can be between 40-180 minutes in the reactor. The fourth variable of the reactor, the operating pressure, can be maintained at almost atmospheric pressure, in any case, which is less than 345 kPa (50 psig) with the conventional pressure control principles used for constant performance. The pressure range is controlled at the lower end to avoid sudden and premature sudden evaporation of hydrocarbons, essentially bypassing the reactor, and limited at the upper end to reduce secondary cracking and the consequent increase in gas yields.

The fifth variable of the reactor, the hot sweep gas 36, in the same temperature range as the process fluid 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) 21, is added to the process fluid 14 in the reactor 30 in the range of 4.8-19.3 sm3 / m3 (20-80 scf / bbl).

The sweeping gas 36 may be natural gas, hydrogen, combustible gas produced from the process, steam, nitrogen or any other non-reactive, non-condensable gas that will not condense into a liquid.

The sweeping gas in the dosage of 4.8-19.3 sm3 / m3 (20-80 scf / bbl) supply is provided to eliminate products based on "light" hydrocarbons (ie methane to spot hydrocarbons of boiling <399 ° C (<750 ° F) as soon as they are formed in reactor 30 so that there is a minimum of secondary cracking that could increase the replacement gas and potentially increase the production of naphtha / olefin distillates.

The sweeping gas can also allow the reactor to operate closer to the desired operating pressure and temperature <345 kPa (<50 psig). The sweeping gas 36 can also be used to provide additional heat and / or mixture for the process fluid 14 in the reactor 30.

As discussed with respect to Figures 1 and 2, the thermal energy current 22, for the reactor 30 is uniformly applied 22.1-37.9 kW / m2 (7000-12000 BTU / h square feet) throughout the residence time of hydrocarbons (40-180 minutes) in the reactor at the temperature 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) and the desired pressure (below 345 kPa (50 psig)) to minimize any fluid temperature local maximum that can initiate coking, and thus allow an increase in heat transfer at a higher global temperature that improves the conversion of hydrocarbons within the reactor 30. Under these operating conditions, reaction kinetics favors conversion optimum of asphaltenes that preferably cleaves peripheral hydrocarbon chains creating desirable hydrocarbons (VGO and diesel class hydrocarbons) for the refiner without causing coking or an increase in gas production in the reactor. As an example, Table 4 illustrates different asphaltene configurations for different types of crude. The proposed operating conditions of the reactor 30 factor the relative complexity and the high degree of side chains on different crudes.

Table 4 - Medium molecular structures representing asphaltene molecules from different sources: A, asphalte us from traditional heavy crude; B, asphaltenes of Canadian bitumen ( Sheremata et al., 2004).

Each variable can be changed independently, within the suggested intervals, based on the quality of the raw material provided or based on the desired output quality. Since the 5 procedure variables indicated are related to each other, a multivariable procedure control scheme with a prescribed objective function (maximum performance to meet the minimum product specifications) will be beneficial to ensure that the procedure works at an optimal point when any one of the variables is changed or the supply / product situation is altered.

Once the process fluid 14 has been maintained in the reactor 30 for a sufficient period of time for the characteristics of the reactor outlets 30 to achieve desired qualities, a light fraction of the head distillate 32 and a heavy fraction of bottoms 34 can be removed from reactor 30.

The light fraction of head distillate 32 of the outlet of the reactor 30 may contain non-condensable vapor products, light liquid hydrocarbons and heavier liquid hydrocarbons. The steam products may be vapors released from the process fluid 14, such as sulfur gas, while being subjected to thermal cracking, as well as sweeping gas 36 introduced and not converted or unused that has passed through the reactor 30.

The liquid fraction of head distillate 32 will have an API gravity much greater than the bottom fraction 34. For example, the liquid fraction of head distillate 32 could normally have an API gravity of 26 or higher. The head distillate fraction 32 may be directed to a gas-liquid separation unit 40, which may comprise a cooler 41 and a separation drum 42, as an example, in which a part of the head distillate fraction 32 which is a condensable liquid product containing naphtha and heavier hydrocarbons can be separated from the gaseous components of the head distillate fraction 32. A discharge gas line 43 containing undesirable gases such as sulfur gas can be provided in the separation drum 42 for those gases to be disposed of, recycled, or subjected to an additional treatment.

One or more liquid hydrocarbon streams can be produced from the separation drum 42. Stream 44, a hydrocarbon heavier than stream 46, can be sent to the product combination, while stream 46 can be considered to obtain an additional solid hydrotreatment before the product combination.

The bottom fraction 34 may contain hydrocarbons, and modified asphaltenes. Although the characteristics of the bottom fraction 34 taken from the reactor 30 will vary depending on the fluid inlet of the process 14 in the reactor 30 and the operating parameters of the reactor, in one aspect, the bottom fraction 34 may have an API gravity. which varies between -5 and 5.

The controllable process variables allow an operator to vary the performance of the reactor 30 to meet the needs of the final product based on the change in fluid characteristics of the incoming process 14.

The controllability of the five interrelated variables, residence time, sweep gas, heat flow, temperature and pressure in the reactor 30 allows an operator to vary the performance of the reactor 30.

Thus, when the characteristics of the raw material 12 are changed, whether as a different or more or less recent resin supply 70, the five interrelated variables of the process can be optimized to avoid coke production and minimize the production of vapors. Non-condensables produced in reactor 30. For example, the operator may vary the residence time of the process fluid 14 in the reactor 30 based on the characteristics of the process fluid 14 to obtain the desired yields and / or quality of outputs 32, 34. Alternatively, the operator can vary the sweep gas, temperature or pressure to achieve similar results. The process variables are related to each other and the minimization of coke and the avoidance of excess replacement gas is a challenge and is best determined by pilot operations.

The bottom fraction 34 of the reactor 30 can be supplied to a high performance solvent extraction process 50 that can produce a stream of thermally affected asphaltenes 58, a stream of extracted oil 52 and a stream of resin 54. The reactor 30 operates in a way that significantly limits and even prevents the formation of coke and reduces gas production, while converting asphaltenes into more suitable components for downstream processing. Accordingly, the modified asphaltenes and other unwanted elements remain in the bottom fraction 34 that is removed from the reactor 30.

In order to maximize the recovery of crude oil from a desirable refinery raw material, the undesirable elements that are still present in the bottom fraction 34, the bottom fraction 34 of the reactor 30 has to be further treated using, for example, an extraction procedure with high performance solvent 50. The treatment of the bottom fraction 34 by a solvent extraction procedure 50 allows the reactor 30 and the solvent extraction procedure 50 to be used together to produce a crude of raw material from refinery raw material. full interval

The solvent extraction process 50 may comprise any suitable solvent extraction procedure. In one aspect, it may be a three-phase supercritical solvent process that separates the asphaltenes from the resins in the bottom fraction 34. The output of the solvent extraction procedure 50 may be a stream of asphaltenes 58, a stream of extracted oil. 52 and a resin stream 54. The asphaltene stream 58 is normally undesirable and is removed from procedure 10. The extracted oil stream 52 may be of a relatively high quality, with an API gravity range of 9 to 15. The stream Resin 54 is normally of a lower quality than the extracted oil stream 52, with an API gravity lower than the extracted oil stream 52. In one aspect, the resin stream 54 may have an API gravity in the API gravity range. from 0 to 10.

The extracted oil stream 52 and the resin stream 54 of the solvent extraction process 50 can be combined together with the stream of liquid product 44 obtained from the liquid-gas separator 40 to form a final hydrocarbon product 60 that complies with the specifications of the pipe and / or the refinery. In one aspect, this final hydrocarbon product 60 would have an API gravity greater than 19. Normally, the final hydrocarbon product 60 would have a viscosity of 0.00035 m2 / s (350 centistokes ("cSt") or less. It can be applied. combined current hydrotreatment 60 in the case of the need to reduce olefins to meet a specific pipeline and / or refinery specification.

The resin stream 54 is normally of a lower quality than the extracted oil stream 52. The recycle portion 70 of the resin stream 54 can be combined with the raw material 12 to be reprocessed in order to form the final hydrocarbon product 60. As a result, this part of the resin stream recycling will improve the quality of the final hydrocarbon product 60.

In another aspect, to increase the overall recovery of hydrocarbon product from reactor 30 and reduce solvent circulation rates, a high performance solvent extraction process 50 may include a supplementary extraction process step, rinse column 50e, upstream of the asphaltene stream 58. instead of sending a stream 61, the funds primary extractor 50c, a separator or asphaltene spray dryer such as units D ^{s to} conventional known in the art, stream 61 may be sent to a secondary solvent extraction column. Conventionally, extra solvent extraction is carried out in the primary deasphalted oil, in the form of a resin extractor 50f, to provide a separate stream of deasphalted heavy oil 66. The extra solvent extraction stage in the asphaltene-rich stream by a Rinsing column 50e as shown in Figure 3 uses a conventional liquid-liquid extraction with the same solvent used in the primary extractor. The placement of this conventional liquid-liquid column in the asphaltene-rich stream is unique and beneficial, since the solvent-to-oil ratio can be economically increased within this column by up to 20: 1 to increase recovery of deasphalted oil, while the general use of solvents is reduced. Solvent in stream 63 is added to the asphaltene-rich stream 61 at a very high solvent to oil ratio and is further cooled to improve asphaltene precipitation and therefore oil recovery in column 50e. The de-asphalted oil stream 64 is sent to the resin extractor 50f, to be further refined for the product combination. The bottom stream, which includes thermally concentrated asphaltenes and solvent, from the rinsing column 50e is converted to stream 58, and is sent for solvent recovery by distillation, separation or instant drying.

The general use of solvents to achieve a high recovery of hydrocarbons in stream 60 may be 25% less than the use of comparable open technique procedures. To obtain desired yields of 99+% recovery of DAO (deasphalted oil) in stream 60 while still fulfilling pipeline and refinery specifications, typical 3-phase extraction procedures require solvent-to-oil ratios in the range 8- 9: 1 for Canadian oil sands (www.uop.com). As an example, for a bitumen flow of 60,000 BPD, the minimum solvent required is 480,000-540,000 ^b P ^d . Using the arrangement of a rinse column 50e helps reduce the total circulating solvent since the process step is specifically directed to the molecules (asphaltenes) that need to be separated from the desired crude oil (heavy oil). A solvent to oil ratio of 3-4: 1 in the main 50 abc extractor is only necessary (240,000 BPD) to precipitate all thermally affected asphaltenes with minimal DAO drag. The rinse column, 50e, will have a supply of approximately 6,000 BPD of asphaltene-based components and 750-1000 BPD of crude. A solvent to oil ratio of 15-20: 1 in the rinsing column 50e would be to extract the remaining crude that is required up to 140,000 BPD of additional solvent. The total circulated solvent is 380,000 BPD with the rinse column configuration shown as 50e, resulting in a 25% reduction in the amount of circulating solvent. The result is a significant reduction in energy consumption compared to a state of the 3-phase extraction procedure of the technique. This high performance solvent extraction scheme, including column 50e, can be applied to an existing open technique solvent extraction scheme in operation to further increase crude oil yield and / or reduce operating costs by reducing Total solvent circulation. In another aspect, the new scheme can be used as an improvement of designs in the recovery of heavy oil that normally uses solvent deasphalting of the prior art.

The resulting asphaltene stream 58 can be processed in a 20% smaller asphalte separation unit, 110. The main part of the remaining thermally concentrated asphalts are solid even at elevated temperatures (above 371 ° C (700 ° F)) with the side hydrocarbon chains removed, resulting in a smaller volume to handle for the asphaltene separation unit. In addition, the modified nature of asphaltenes offers the opportunity for a more efficient recovery of metals and a better raw material for a clean energy conversion technology (e.g. gasification, catalytic gasification, oxy-combustion for improved SAGD production) .

The vapor-solid separation unit (eg, by inertia), 110, separates the asphaltene solids from the solvent vapor and the gas that is still present in the stream 58 using one or more forces, such as centrifugal, gravitational, and inertia These forces move the asphaltene solid to an area where the forces exerted by the gas stream are minimal. Asphaltene in separate solid form moves by gravity in a hopper, where it is temporarily stored. The unit 110 can be either a settling chamber, a chamber with baffles or a centrifugal manifold; a device that provides the separation of solid and gas. The centrifugal collectors can be either individual or multi-phase cyclones. In the case of the SDA unit, 50, is excessively effective in separating asphaltenes from the resin, DAO and solvent, stream 58 can be injected with suitable low molecular weight gas (eg natural gas, or nitrogen) to provide pneumatic transport to asphaltene solids, which would otherwise be provided by sudden evaporation of solvent in the line. A pneumatic transport system can transport solids up to approximately 50 mm in size. The solid must be dry, with no more than 20% moisture and not sticky. The thermally affected asphaltene solids meet the above criteria and therefore the benefits of the process of the ability to use an inertia separation unit, 110.

In a pneumatic transport system, most of the energy is used to transport the gas itself. Consequently, the energy efficiency of a pneumatic transport plant is relatively low, but this is often compensated for by its easy handling and, in well-designed systems, dust-free solutions. In general, the length of a pneumatic system should not extend to 300 m for each pneumatic unit. Products can be transported over long distances by connecting the systems in series. There are three basic designs of pneumatic transport systems that can be considered for the transport of current 58 to unit 110:

• Transport of the diluted phase at high gas speeds (eg 20-30 m / s)

• Thread transport at limited gas speeds (eg 15-20 m / s)

• Transport of the dense phase at low gas speeds (eg, 5-10 m / s).

Procedure 10 provides a raw raw material that is the adjustable pipe and is optimal for high conversion refiners. Stream 60 has low metal content (<20 wppm Ni V), low asphaltene content (<0.3% by weight), a very low TAN number (<0.3 mg KOH / mg), without diluent, and has a high content in the VGO class material (30-50% crude). For high conversion refiners (> 1.4: 1 conversion for coking), the quality of the distillation of crude oil produced in stream 60 will be to improve the utilization of the higher profit generating units by filling in the remaining units. Table 5 shows the distillation curve of a representative raw material (diluted bitumen) and the refinery ready raw material produced that is a well-balanced crude, compared to other heavy crude oil raw material such as WCS (Western Canada Select ). WCS has a heavier residue (510 + ° C material (950+ ° F) that requires intense conversion and a lighter material than refiners that can successfully refine transport fuels.

Table 5 - Distillation analysis for different crude oils including the product of procedure 10

The combination of reactor 30, the high performance solvent extraction process unit 50, and the vapor-solid separation unit (eg by inertia), 110, has a reduced process complexity. This can be expressed as a Nelson complexity index value of 4.0-4.5, significantly lower than 9.0-10.0 for a coking and / or hydrotreatment scheme. Another illustration of the performance improvement is the reduced energy requirement of 3.93 GJ / tons of supply compared to a delayed coking process that requires an energy input of 4.70 GJ / tons of supply to be carried out. . This constitutes a 16.4% reduction in energy intensity compared to a delayed coking process. This corresponds to a specific greenhouse gas (GHG) output of 0.253 tons of CO ² / tons of supply for the delayed coking process and 0.213 tons of CO2 / tons of supply for the proposed procedure. On a product comparison basis, the energy reduction is approximately 25-27% compared to a coking process.

When compared with a coking valorization unit procedure and a conventional reactor and solvent extraction procedure, procedure 10 provides a significant improvement in performance, minimizing by-products (coke and non-condensable hydrocarbons) as mentioned in Table 6.

Table 6 - Product performance comparison (stream 60)

In addition to being suitable for new common installations, Figure 4 shows an illustrative application of the integrated controlled thermal cracking unit and enhanced SDA for an existing recovery unit. The proposed integrated procedure, reactor 20, improved SDA 50, and asphaltene recovery, 110, can be placed upstream of the coking unit of the refiner / recovery unit. The benefit for a refiner / recovery unit is the ability to decongest the vacuum and coking unit and accept heavier crude in the unit. More barrels processed in existing equipment equals higher profits and economic profitability. In addition, with a higher quality material that is sent to the coking unit, 300, the operational severity can be decreased, which increases the life of the coker by increasing the cycle time for the coker (from 12 to 24 hours) , and a lower production of gas and coke and more product. Capital costs to replace the equipment may be delayed and an increase in performance can be made (approx. 2-3%). The solid asphaltenes captured in SDA have an easily available, current 302 arrangement, the existing coke collection and transport systems make the addition of the proposed integrated procedure more profitable and highly lucrative.

Stream 5 may constitute the bottom streams of an atmospheric column, a vacuum column, or a catalytic cracking unit, indicated as the unit 200 in Figure 4. The integrated cracking unit and the SDA process produces a stream of DAO, 52, which can be further processed in transport fuels, stream 401, in a hydrocracking and hydrotreatment complex, unit 400. The integrated cracking unit and the SDA process can also produce a resin quality stream, 54 , which can be sent to a coking, FCC (fluidized catalytic cracking) and / or an asphalt plant for further processing in finished products. As indicated above, asphaltenes in solid form generated as stream 111, can either be mixed with the coke generated in unit 300 or sent off-site for further processing (power generation and / or sequestration).

As an example, Figure 5 shows a specific embodiment for a new design or renovation opportunity for a refinery and / or recovery unit. Unit 200 is a vacuum unit and the bottom stream 5 is sent to the integrated cracking unit / SDA procedure, units 20, 30, 40, 50, 110. The DAO stream, 52, is sent to the unit of hydrocracking and hydrotreatment, 400, together with current 205 of the vacuum unit. A resin stream, 54, is produced from unit 50, and sent to a waste hydrocracking unit, 500. With less asphaltenes, which are highly exothermic when they react, sent to unit 500, the hydrocracking unit of waste can work at higher conversions (+ 8-15%) producing more material as a final transport fuel product. The asphaltene stream in solid form, 111, of unit 110 can be sent to the gasification unit for hydrogen generation.

As in Figure 4, the benefits of adding the unit integrated in Figure 5 are:

1. Maximum yield of crude incoming to the plant.

2. Decongestion, if any, or reduction of the coking unit size

3. Decongestion, if any, or reduction of hydrocracking waste size

4. Decongestion, if any, or reduction of gasification unit size

5. Reduced general carbon footprint for the complex.

The procedure integrated in Figure 3 can also help sweet, low complexity (simplified distillation) refiners take the heaviest and cheapest crudes that are easier to obtain, and therefore replenishment assets to obtain more value. The integrated procedure can be placed at the front of the refinery to provide the initial conditioning of the heaviest oil.

The above description of the described embodiments is provided to allow any person skilled in the art to carry out or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be granted the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein the reference to a singular element, such as by use of the article " an "or" an "is not intended to mean" one and only one "unless specifically stated, but rather" one or more. " All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various embodiments described throughout the description that are known or subsequently become known to those skilled in the art are intended to be encompassed by the elements of the claims. Moreover, nothing described herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether said description is explicitly listed in the claims.

Claims (14)

1. A continuous process for the production of an improved refinery raw material and thermally affected dry asphalt solids from heavy hydrocarbons, said process comprising: (a) preheat heavy hydrocarbons as a process fluid in a heater at a predetermined temperature; (b) moving the preheated process fluid to a single thermal conversion reactor with a partial condenser of the head distillate to convert asphaltenes into the process fluid based on heavy hydrocarbons to produce a stream of non-condensable vapor and lighter liquid hydrocarbons , and a second stream of asphaltene-rich fractions thermally affected from the process fluid; wherein the thermal conversion reactor process conditions are within the following parameters: (i) a uniform heat flow of between 22.1-37.9 kW / m2 (7000-12000 BTU / h square feet) introduced into the process fluid in the reactor; (ii) a scanning gas between 4.8-19.3 sm3 of gas / m3 of the process fluid (20-80 scf / bbl (gas / process fluid)) is introduced into the process fluid in the reactor ; (iii) residence time of the process fluid in the reactor between 40-180 minutes; (iv) an essentially uniform temperature of the process fluid between 357-413 ° C (675-775 ° F) in the reactor; Y (v) an almost atmospheric pressure <345 kPa (<50 psig) in the reactor; (c) de-tarnish the fractions rich in thermally affected asphaltenes obtained in step (b) with a solvent extraction procedure in a stream of deasphalted oil (DAO) and a second stream containing thermally precipitated asphaltene precipitated in solid form; (d) separating the thermally affected dry asphalte solids precipitated from the second stream obtained in step (c) in a vapor-solid separation unit that separates the asphaltene solids from the solvent and gas vapor that is still present in the second stream obtained in step (c) using one or more forces, such as centrifugal, gravitational and inertia to obtain a solid and dry asphaltene that does not contain more than 20% moisture, wherein said vapor-solid separation unit is selected from a settling chamber, a chamber with baffles or a centrifugal collector; (e) the refinery raw material comprises at least one of the streams produced. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning gas is nitrogen, steam, hydrogen and / or a light hydrocarbon. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning gas is preheated. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the heat flux is released into the thermal reactor by one or more heating devices properly positioned to obtain essentially uniform process fluid temperatures inside the reactor. 5. The process of claim 1, wherein a resin recycle stream collected from the deasphalting process of step (c) is mixed with the raw material upstream of the reactor to form the process fluid. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the refinery raw material comprises a combination of at least two of the streams produced ready for pipeline transport, with an API gravity greater than 19 degrees (specific gravity of 0.94) and a viscosity of less than 0.00035 m2 / s (350 cSt) at 8 ° C. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein one or more of the streams produced are treated to remove olefins. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises an additional stage of pneumatic transport and handling of the resulting thermally affected asphaltene solids. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein transport gas is added to the second stream obtained in step (c) to allow and improve pneumatic transport to the vapor-solid separator. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the transport gas intended for pneumatic transport can correspond to any suitable low molecular weight gas. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the preheated heavy hydrocarbons in step (a) constitute a virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbon stream from a recovery unit or an existing bitumen refinery per coker and where the hydrocarbons Light liquids produced in step (b) of the process and the heavy deasphalted oil (DAO) stream produced in step (c) of the procedure are forwarded to the recovery unit or refinery. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the preheated heavy hydrocarbons in step (a) constitute a virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbon stream from an existing waste hydrocracking or refinery recovery unit and wherein the light liquid hydrocarbons produced in stage (b) of the procedure and the heavy deasphalted oil (DAO) stream produced in stage (c) are forwarded to the recovery unit or refinery. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the preheated heavy hydrocarbons in step (a) from a new bitumen recovery unit and wherein the light liquid hydrocarbons produced in step (b) of the process and the flow stream Heavy deasphalted oil (DAO) produced in step (c) of the process is forwarded to the recovery unit. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the preheated heavy hydrocarbons in step (a) constitute a virgin or processed heavy hydrocarbon stream from a new or existing "sweet crude" refinery, and wherein the stream of Light liquid hydrocarbons produced in step (b) of the process and the heavy deasphalted oil (DAO) stream produced in step (c) of the process are forwarded to the refinery.