GB1335283A - Removing metal contaminants from petroleum residual oil - Google Patents

Abstract

1335283 Purifying and hydrocracking residual oils SUN OIL CO 20 Aug 1971 [26 Aug 1970 17 May 1971] 39132/71 Heading C5E The sulphur and metal contents of residual oils are reduced by contacting with a hydrogen or donor liquid in a weight ratio to the oil of from 0À1 to 10 and with a porous inorganic scrubbing agent at 500-5000 p.s.i.g. and at a temperature of incipient coking, the scrubbing agent is subsequently separated, regenerated and then recycled containing the deposited metals. The contact of the oil with the scrubbing agent can be performed either during or after the contact with the hydrogen donor. The hydrogen donor is suitably a hydrocrackate bottoms containing partially hydrogenated pulycyclic aromatic compounds. 3-15 weight per cent based on the residual oil of scrubbing agents such as montmorillonite, beidellite, kaolinite, attapulgus clay, activated alumina and activated bauxite is used. The scrubbing agent is regenerated by burning off coke in air to leave deposited metals in the pores to provide catalytic activity, during the initial start-up period a metal-containing compound such as vanadium acetyl acetonate can be added to the residual oil feed. The treated residual oil can be hydrodesulphurized with a sulphided cobaltmolybdenum on alumina catalyst. An atmospheric bottoms from a petroleum or tar sand oil is separated in a vacuum tower 10 into a gas oil 11 and a vacuum bottoms 12. The vacuum bottoms is contacted in a demetal - lizer 13 with a hydrogen donor consisting of a hydrocrackate bottoms 18, a scrubbing agent 19 and gaseous hydrogen, e.g. at 750-1000‹ F. for 0À25 to 3 hours. The effluent from the demetallizer is separated into a scrubbing agent stream 22 which is regenerated at 23 and then recycled containing nickel and vanadium from the feed. The liquid products from the demetallizer are fractionated at 25 to provide naphtha and lighter hydrocarbons, heavy fuel oil and gas oil. The gas oil streams from the fractionator 25 and from the tower 11 are combined and hydrotreated at 26 at 500-850‹ F. and 500-2500 p.s.i. using a catalyst such as cobalt and molybdenum and nickel and molybdenum on alumina and hydrocracked at 14, e.g. using a catalyst of nickel sulphide on silicaalumina or of platinum or palladium on a molecular sieve or on silica-alumina, and then fractionated at 17 to provide naphtha and lower boiling hydrocarbons and a hydrocrackate bottoms 18 which is passed to the demetallizer as the hydrogen donor.