JP2009067951A - Apparatus for separating impurity of heavy oil - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an impurity separation apparatus for heavy oil producing light oil portion while reducing equipment cost. <P>SOLUTION: The impurity separation apparatus 1 for heavy oil is for removing an asphaltene portion contained in the heavy oil and is provided with an ultrasonic dispersing unit 3 for dispersing heavy oil in water to have a size of oil droplet previously set in a range from submicrometer order to nano-order to be larger than the critical radius of the asphaltene portion. a settling separator 5 for separating a separated oil phase formed by uniting oil droplets dispersed in the ultrasonic dispersing unit 3 and each having a radius larger than the critical radius from an emulsion phase dispersed in the ultrasonic dispersing unit 3 and comprising oil droplets each having smaller radius than the critical radius and water and a centrifugal separator 6 for separating oil portion and water contained in the emulsion separated in the settling separator 5 from each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heavy oil impurity separation device for removing asphaltenes contained in heavy oil.

  Heavy oil generally contains a wide range of components from low molecular weight oil components to high molecular weight oil components, consisting of saturated, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene components in order of decreasing molecular weight (in other words, in light order). Has been.

  Here, conventionally, a method of generating a light oil component from heavy oil and using it as a fuel for a gas turn has been disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the prior art described in Patent Document 1, a mixer that stirs and mixes heated and pressurized heavy oil and pressurized and heated water, and a mixture mixed in the mixer is heated to a predetermined temperature. A reactor for thermally decomposing heavy oil under reaction conditions (for example, a pressure of 30 MPa and a temperature of 500 ° C.) in which water is in the supercritical region or near the supercritical region, and a product supplied from this reactor via a flash valve Separating the gas component, oil component (liquid component), and moisture (liquid component), respectively, and the distillation column separating the oil component separated by the separator into a distillate (light oil component) and a residue It has. Then, the gas component separated by the separator and the light oil separated by the distillation tower are supplied to the combustor (combustion chamber) of the gas turbine device, mixed with the compressed air and combusted, and the generated driving combustion gas The gas turbine is driven and power is generated by the gas turbine generator. On the other hand, the residue separated in the distillation tower is supplied to a boiler and burned, and the steam turbine is driven by the steam generated thereby, and the steam turbine generator generates power.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-80750

However, there are the following problems in the above-described prior art.
That is, in the above prior art, heavy oil is thermally decomposed under reaction conditions (for example, pressure 30 MPa, temperature 500 ° C.) in which water is in the supercritical region or near the supercritical region. Therefore, it is necessary to use an expensive heat-resistant material such as, and the equipment cost is high.

  The objective of this invention is providing the impurity separation apparatus of the heavy oil which can produce | generate a light oil component, aiming at reduction of installation cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an apparatus for separating impurities in heavy oil that removes asphaltenes contained in heavy oil, and is preset in the submicron to nanoorder range so as to be larger than the critical radius of asphaltenes. Dispersers that disperse heavy oil in water as oil droplets of a specified size, a separated oil phase formed by coalescence of oil droplets larger than the critical radius dispersed by the disperser, and a critical radius dispersed by the disperser A first separator for separating an emulsion phase composed of smaller oil droplets and water, and a second separator for separating oil and water contained in the emulsion separated by the first separator. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to produce a light oil component while reducing the equipment cost.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the heavy oil impurity separation device according to the present embodiment together with a gas turbine device.

  In FIG. 1, the impurity separation apparatus 1 removes asphaltenes contained in heavy oil (specifically, a polymer compound having a layered structure of condensed polycyclic aromatics and a molecular weight of about 1,000 to 100,000). And produces light oil. The impurity separation device 1 includes a mixer 2 that mixes heavy oil and water, and an ultrasonic disperser 3 that transmits ultrasonic waves through the mixture from the mixer 2 to disperse the heavy oil in water as preset droplets. , A stirrer 4 for stirring the mixture from the ultrasonic disperser 3, a precipitation separator 5 (first separator) for separating and separating the mixture from the stirrer 4, and the precipitation separator 5. And a centrifugal separator 6 (second separator) for centrifuging the emulsion.

  Here, the basic concept of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, each heavy oil component (saturated component, aromatic component, resin component, and asphaltene component) has a critical radius (limit radius) for forming an emulsion. That is, for example, when oil droplets having a critical radius or less are dispersed in water, a stable emulsion phase as shown in FIG. 3A is formed. On the other hand, when oil droplets larger than the critical radius are dispersed in water, for example, As shown in 3 (b), the oil droplets are repeatedly combined as appropriate, and finally form a separated oil phase that is density-separated from water. The critical radius of each heavy oil component depends on the molecular weight, and the critical radius tends to decrease as the molecular weight increases.

  Therefore, for example, if heavy oil is dispersed in water as oil droplets having a nano-order radius A (for example, about 1 nm) shown in FIG. 3, the oil droplets for asphaltenes are larger than the corresponding critical radius, so that the separated oil phase is finally formed. The oil droplets of other heavy oil components (saturates, aromatics, and resins) that form and form an emulsion phase with water because they are smaller than the corresponding critical radius. Based on such a viewpoint, the ultrasonic disperser 3 is configured to transmit ultrasonic waves with a controlled frequency in order to disperse heavy oil in water, for example, as oil droplets having a radius A of a preset nano-order. . The stirrer 4 stirs the mixture by reducing the flow velocity gradient as much as possible in order to suppress coalescence of oil droplets dispersed in water by the ultrasonic disperser 3.

  The precipitation separator 5 precipitates and separates the mixture from the stirrer 4 into an emulsion phase and a separated oil phase, and the precipitated separated oil phase is used as tar (in this embodiment, asphaltenes and heavy metals contained therein). It discharges from the discharge system 7. The discharge system 7 is provided with an on-off valve (not shown), and the liquid level of the separated oil phase detected by a detector (not shown) in the precipitation separator 5 exceeds a preset predetermined value. The operation of the on-off valve is controlled so as not to occur. The tar discharged from the discharge system 7 is appropriately processed.

  The centrifuge 6 centrifuges the emulsion separated by the precipitation separator 5 into an oil component (light oil component consisting of a saturated component, an aromatic component, and a resin component in this embodiment) and water. The light oil component separated by the centrifugal separator 6 is supplied to the combustor 10 of the gas turbine device 9 through the supply system 8. The combustor 10 burns light oil together with the compressed air supplied from the compressor 11, drives the gas turbine 12 with the generated combustion gas, and generates power with the generator 13. On the other hand, the water separated by the centrifugal separator 6 is purified by the purification device 14 and stored in the water tank 15 and supplied to the mixer 2 again.

  In the present embodiment configured as described above, for example, heavy oil is thermally decomposed and separated under reaction conditions in which water is in the supercritical region or in the vicinity of the supercritical region (for example, a pressure of 30 MPa and a temperature of 500 ° C.). Unlike the case, for example, the asphaltenes contained in heavy oil can be removed under conditions of normal temperature and pressure. At this time, since 99% or more of heavy metals such as vanadium are contained in the asphaltenes, heavy metals can also be removed, and fuel applicable to the gas turbine device 9 can be generated. In addition, for example, by setting the conditions at room temperature and normal pressure, it is not necessary to use an expensive heat-resistant member for the structure, so that the equipment cost can be reduced. Moreover, the conventional apparatus performance and empirical rule can be used and the reliability with respect to durability etc. can be improved.

  In the first embodiment, as a disperser that disperses heavy oil in water, an ultrasonic disperser 3 that transmits ultrasonic waves to a mixture of heavy oil and water mixed in the mixer 2 is provided. Although described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, for example, a configuration may be adopted in which heavy oil is mixed while being dispersed in water using a porous membrane or the like. In this case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment, heavy oil is dispersed in water as oil droplets having a radius A (refer to FIG. 3) set in advance by the ultrasonic disperser 3, and the asphaltene component is dispersed by the precipitation separator 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, but has been described by taking as an example a case where a light oil component comprising a saturated component, an aromatic component, and a resin component is obtained by the centrifuge 6. That is, for example, heavy oil may be dispersed in water as oil droplets having a radius B of submicron order set in advance by the ultrasonic disperser 3 (see FIG. 3 described above, for example, about 10 μm). In this case, not only the asphaltene component but also the resin component can be separated and removed by the precipitation separator 5, and a light oil component consisting of a saturated component and an aromatic component can be obtained by the centrifugal separator 6. Further, the size of the oil droplets dispersed in water may be set in the range of submicron order to nano order (in other words, for example, about 1 nm to 10 μm). In such a case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the light oil obtained by the centrifugal separator 6 is used as the fuel of the gas turbine device 9 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, for example, it may be used as fuel for marine diesel engines. In such a case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment is an embodiment in which heating means for heating heavy oil and water under the condition below the boiling point of water is provided in the configuration of the first embodiment before the heavy oil is dispersed in water with a disperser.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the heavy oil impurity separation device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, parts that are the same as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and illustration and description thereof are omitted as appropriate.

  In this embodiment, the heavy oil heater 16 and the water heater 17 which respectively heat the heavy oil and water supplied to the mixer 2 on the conditions below the boiling point of water (for example, about 70 to 99 degreeC under normal pressure) are provided. Yes. Thereby, since the viscosity of heavy oil reduces, heavy oil can be efficiently disperse | distributed in water with the ultrasonic generator 3. FIG.

  In this embodiment as well, the light oil component can be generated while reducing the equipment cost as in the first embodiment.

  A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment is an embodiment in which a pressurizing unit that pressurizes heavy oil and water is provided in the configuration of the second embodiment.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the heavy oil impurity separation device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 5, parts that are the same as those in the first and second embodiments are given the same reference numerals, and illustration and description thereof are omitted as appropriate.

  In the present embodiment, a heavy oil pump 18 that pressurizes heavy oil supplied to the heavy oil heater 16 and a water pump 19 that pressurizes water supplied to the water heater 17 are provided. Thereby, compared with the said 2nd Embodiment, the boiling point of water can be raised and the heating temperature of the heavy oil heater 16 and the water heater 17 can be raised. Therefore, since the viscosity of heavy oil can be further reduced (for example, at about 150 ° C., the viscosity can be reduced to light oil-like viscosity), the ultrasonic generator 3 can more efficiently disperse heavy oil in water. .

  In this embodiment as well, a light oil component can be generated while reducing the equipment cost as in the first and second embodiments.

It is the schematic showing the structure of 1st Embodiment of the impurity separation apparatus of the heavy oil of this invention with a gas turbine apparatus. It is a characteristic view showing the critical radius of a heavy oil component. It is a figure showing the state of an oil droplet smaller than a critical radius, and a figure showing the state of an oil droplet larger than a critical radius. It is the schematic showing the structure of 2nd Embodiment of the impurity separation apparatus of the heavy oil of this invention. It is the schematic showing the structure of 3rd Embodiment of the impurity separation apparatus of the heavy oil of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1,1A, 1B Impurity separation device 3 Ultrasonic disperser 5 Precipitation separator (first separator)
6 Centrifuge (second separator)
8 Supply system 9 Gas turbine device 10 Combustor 16 Heavy oil heater (heating means)
17 Water heater (heating means)
18 Heavy oil pump (pressurizing means)
19 Water pump (pressurizing means)

Claims (5)

A heavy oil impurity separation device for removing asphaltenes contained in heavy oil,
A disperser that disperses heavy oil in water as oil droplets having a predetermined size in a range of submicron order to nano order so as to be larger than a critical radius of asphaltene;
First separation for separating a separated oil phase formed by coalescence of oil droplets larger than the critical radius dispersed by the disperser and an emulsion phase composed of oil droplets smaller than the critical radius and water dispersed by the disperser And
An apparatus for separating heavy oil impurities, comprising: a second separator for separating oil and water contained in the emulsion separated by the first separator.   2. The heavy oil impurity separation device according to claim 1, wherein the disperser is an ultrasonic disperser that disperses heavy oil in water by transmitting ultrasonic waves through a mixture of heavy oil and water. Impurity separator.   The heavy oil impurity separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein heating means for heating the heavy oil and water under conditions below the boiling point of water is provided before the heavy oil is dispersed in water by the disperser. Separation device.   2. The heavy oil impurity separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressurizing means for pressurizing the heavy oil and water, and the heavy oil and water pressurized by the pressurizing means before the heavy oil is dispersed in water by the disperser. A heavy oil impurity separation device comprising a heating means for heating under conditions below the boiling point.   The heavy oil impurity separation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a supply system for supplying the oil component separated by the second separator to a combustor of the gas turbine device. Heavy oil impurity separator.

Images