NZ755174B2

NZ755174B2 - Pressure reduction in high pressure processing system

Info

Publication number: NZ755174B2
Application number: NZ755174A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Henrik Egholm; Steen Brummerstedt Iversen
Original assignee: Steeper Energy Aps
Priority date: 2017-02-08
Filing date: 2018-02-08
Publication date: 2022-02-01

Abstract

The invention relates to a pressure reduction unit for use in processing equipment handling high pressure fluid, where the pressure reduction unit comprises at least one inlet and an outlet, the pressure reduction unit being adapted to receive a pressurized fluid at process pressure level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the upstream process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still isolated towards the upstream process. The unit increases the reliability of the pressure reduction system and the reliability of the process system into which it is implemented et, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the upstream process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still isolated towards the upstream process. The unit increases the reliability of the pressure reduction system and the reliability of the process system into which it is implemented

Description

Title Pressure reduction in high re processing system Field of the invention The present invention relates to the area of pressure reduction systems, in ular pressure reduction systems for use in high-pressure continuous sing systems, where a need for ion of the high process pressure to a lower pressure is present. ound of the invention Numerous applications of high-pressure continuous processes exist or are under development or in early stages of commercialization. Examples of such processes are hydrothermal and solvothermal processes eg. for production of hydrocarbons such as transportation fuels, lubricants, speciality chemicals, gases, carbonized ts and nanomaterials.

In connection with continuously operating such high-pressure process systems the high pressure must be relieved at the end of the process and for this purpose a number of solutions have been suggested.

Normally when operating high pressure processing systems, a re reduction may be carried out using a number of pressure reduction valves and/or orifices/nozzles, arranged in series and/or in parallel. However, whereas such control valves andfor es are commonly used for smaller AP and often clean fluids. A disadvantage limiting such s is that they are two-dimensional. If used in higher AP applications the velocities either gets very high and the pressure let down system is worn out very quickly due to erosion even when using hard ceramic coatings such as tungsten carbide or gets excessively expensive due to multiple steps required for such two- dimensional pressure let down systems. Further when used in a process where an abrasive substance is processed, it result in an even faster wear of the valve sealing surfaces, resulting in frequent requirement for refurbishing or changing of the .

Other conventional systems for pressure let down include lock hopper systems, where a receiving vessel, or lock hopper, is equalized in pressure with e.g. r by opening a shut off valve. The receiving vessel is then shut off from the reactor and depressurized into one or more uent s. At least two parallel receiving vessel lines are needed so that one can be loaded while the others are unloaded. The disadvantage of such systems is that the pressure loss in the first stage needs to be relatively small in order to not fluctuating the process re and that the shut off valves must be operated frequently and incur rapid wear, particularly at high pressure when cycles are short. Further such type of device does not operate in a truly continuous manner.

Another known method involves pressure reduction by running the processed substance through a number of tubular members and optionally a control valve for fine tuning en, W02014/181,283). This system is three dimensional as it also uses the length dimension, and therefore allow for lower velocities through the pressure let down system and hence are more resistant to wear.

Common for high pressure process ent using these known methods and equipment is that the wear may still be significant due to the content of abrasive material in the g liquid and since the flow velocity over the pressure reduction devices is significant. As a result the known pressure reduction systems may be unreliable and hence making the entire high pressure processing system unreliable.

Objective of the invention The object of the t invention is to ore provide for a pressure reduction unit, a pressure reduction arrangement as well as a method of operating such units and arrangements that increases the reliability of the pressure reduction system and hence the ility of the process system into which it is implemented. ption of the invention According to one aspect of the present invention the objective of the invention is achieved through a pressure reduction unit for use in processing equipment handling high pressure fluid, where the pressure reduction unit comprises at least one inlet and an outlet, the pressure reduction unit being adapted to e a pressurized fluid at process re level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the am process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still ed towards the upstream process.

By applying a pressure reduction device in the manner defined it is le to achieve a reduced flow velocity and hence reduce the wear of the parts, resulting in a more reliable pressure reduction system and a more reliable overall processing system.

In an embodiment the pressure reduction unit comprises an actuated valve at the inlet and an actuated valve at the outlet and between the inlet valve and the outlet valve a de-pressurization device. The use of actuated valves is enabled by using a depressurization device having a low stroke speed (large stroke volume).

Preferably means are provided for measuring the pressure upstream the inlet valve, between the inlet valve and the outlet valve and downstream the outlet valve.

In one embodiment a position indicator is provided ting the cycle position of the pressure reduction device and being adapted to provide a control signal for opening or closing at least one valve in the pressure reduction system.

In an embodiment the pressure reduction unit comprises a pressure reduction device comprising a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder.

In a further embodiment the pressure reduction unit may further comprise a l system, where the control system is d to allow opening of the valves when a certain maximum pressure ence is present on either side of the valve to be opened.

Advantageously the pressure reduction system is capable of operating in a manner where the inlet valve after having allowed inflow of a feed stream is closed for a period before the outlet valve is opened, hereby allowing the pressure to be reduced in the pressure reduction device.

Advantageously the pressure reduction system is capable of operating in a manner where the outlet valve is closed for a period before the inlet valve is opened, hereby allowing pressure to be generated in the pressure ion Hereby the p of closed inlet and outlet valves may correspond to between 5 and 30 % of the g cycle, preferably between 10 and 20 % of the working cycle.

The ion relates in a further aspect to a pressure ion arrangement sing two or more pressure reduction units ing to any of the preceding claims, the pressure ion devices being arranged in parallel and/or in series.

Hereby the working cycles of the pressure reduction units are preferably distributed evenly corresponding to the number of pressure reduction units.

Advantageously a position indicator is provided for a pressure reduction device, ting the cycle position in the device and being adapted to e a control signal for controlling the distribution of the pressure reduction unit cycles.

In a further aspect of the invention a method is foreseen where the method comprises entering a volume of pressurized fluid into a pressure reduction device closing the entry of pressurized fluid and expanding the entered volume to a desired pressure level by increasing the pressure reduction device volume, removing the fluid at the desired pressure level from the pressure reduction device by reducing the pressure reduction device volume.

Hereby the speed of the pump is preferably in the range 5-50 cycles per , preferably 5-25, most preferred 5-15 cycles per minute.

In an embodiment the pressure reduction unit or arrangement further comprises an energy reservoir, where the pressure reduction device is operatively connected to the reservoir and where at least part of the energy absorbed by the pressure reduction device is ted and transferred to the reservoir for successive utilization.

Hereby the energy reservoir may drive a pressurization pump adapted to rize the fluid on the input side of the sing equipment or the energy reservoir may drive a low pressure turbine connected to a generator generating electrical energy.

Due to loss in the system a further pressurization pump may be provided for supplying additional pressure to the input side of the processing equipment in order to compensate for loss of pressure energy in the system Advantageously the pressure reduction unit or the pressure reduction arrangement may include a cooling device for at least part of the pressure reduction devices, in particular for g areas of the pressure reduction Brief description of the drawings The invention will in the following be described with reference to one embodiment illustrated in the drawings where: shows a schematic overview of a first embodiment of a pressure reduction system according to the invention; shows a tic ew of an embodiment of a pressurization system to be used in a system incorporating a pressure reduction system according to the invention; shows a schematic overview of a further embodiment of a pressure reduction system according to the invention; and shows a schematic overview of a double action pressure reduction/pressurizing system according to the invention. shows tically a coupling of an energy oir to a generator; FIG 6 shows schematically a single pressure reduction device/pressuring device; shows tically a double action pressurization system and a double action pressure reduction ; shows schematically the opening and closing of inlet and outlet valves during a cycle of a pressure reduction pump; shows schematically the opening and closing of inlet and outlet valves during a cycle of a pressurization pump; shows a schematic overview of a pump piston with cooling; shows a schematic overview of an embodiment of the present invention for continuous high pressure s for sion of carbonaceous materials such as biomass to renewable oil; and shows an advantageous embodiment of a continuous high pressure process for hydrothermal transformation of carbonaceous materials such as biomass in to renewable fuels according to the present invention; Description of an embodiment From a first arrangement according to the invention is shown. The pressure reduction arrangement comprises three pumps 3, each with a high pressure inlet 1and a lower pressure outlet 2 for a process stream. The inlet 2O and the outlet are controlled by valves 4,5. The pump 3 as such is a piston pump with a certain stroke. The piston in the main cylinder is connected to an actuator cylinder capable of exercising a re on the piston or conveying the pressure from the high pressure process stream into storage 6. re supply to operate the pump for part of its operation is supplied h 8 and lled by valve 9. The recovered energy may be conveyed through conduit 7. Further a position indicator 35 is shown, which will be able to indicate the position of the piston, and which again may be used to calculate the cylinder volume at a given position. Pressure transducers are provided upstream, between and ream the valves 4,5 and are connected to a controller that will be able to provide control signals to the valves 4,5 regarding g and closing of these based on the input from the pressure transducers and a predetermined control strategy.

From a rization pump arrangement is shown. The pump ement comprises three pumps 3’adapted to receive a feed stream 1’ of material to be processed at a relatively low pressure and successively pressurizing the feed stream to a significantly higher process pressure feed stream 2’. The inlet and outlet to and from the pressurization pump 3’are controlled by actuated valves 4’,5’. Pressure is supplied through supply lines 7’,8’ through control valves 9’.

The pressurization pumps 3’ may be driven entirely by a force generated by hydraulic pumps or by electrical motors. Alternatively or as a supplement, energy absorbed from the pressure reduction s described above in connection with may be used to provide for at least part 7’ of the pressurization of the feed . r a position indicator 35 is shown, which will be able to indicate the position of the piston, and which again may be used to calculate the cylinder volume at a given on. Pressure transducers are provided upstream, n and downstream the valves 4’,5’ and are connected to a controller that will be able to provide control signals to the valves 4’,5’ regarding opening and closing of these based on the input from the re transducers and a predetermined control strategy.

From a single unit de-pressurization pump appears. The unit comprises a pump cylinder 3, a servo cylinder 11 and a control cylinder 13.

The servo cylinder at the piston 12 in this is driven by pressure from energy recovery and the l cylinder 13 with its piston 14 is driven by pressure from a high pressure hydraulic pump. Pressure is supplied and recovered through supply lines 15,16,17,18 controlled by valves 19,20.

From a combined unit is shown where the high pressure inlet pump and the pressure reduction pump are connected. Only a single unit 3,3’ is shown however typically two or more units are present. The reason for providing are for example that a certain redundancy is needed for allowing repair or maintenance on a single unit t interrupting the process operation and further the presence of two or more pump units will reduce pressure fluctuations and hence provide for less pressure caused stress in the system. The slower the system is operating, i.e. the lower the number of s per minute of the pumps, the less the size of the pressure fluctuations will be. Any need for supplying additional pressure will take place through control valve 22 to the servo cylinder 21. schematically shows the coupling of an energy oir 6 to a generator 23. A low pressure turbine will typically be the driving means for the generator; however for the sake of city this has not been ed. schematically shows a cylinder-piston 3,3’,26 arrangement capable of acting as a pressure reduction device or as a pressurization . The inlet and outlet valves 4,4’,5,5’ appear in connection with the re reduction/pressurization cylinder 33’ and further the control cylinder 25 for providing a hydraulic control of the movement of the piston 26 is shown. The control cylinder comprises a piston 27 and control pressure fluid inlets/outlets 29,30. An additional inlet/outlet is shown in connection with main cylinder 3,3’.

From a system appears where in connection with the HTL (hydrothermal liquefaction) process a pressurization unit 3’,11’,13’,19’,20’,2’ as well as a re reduction device 3,4,11,13,19,20 has been introduced.

The pressurization and the pressure reduction s are double acting devices where in connection with the pressure reduction device the additional cylinder—piston arrangement serves the e of recovering energy from the pressure reduction process and where the additional cylinder piston arrangement in connection with the pressurization device serves the purpose of utilizing the recovered energy from the pressure ion process.

Additional pressure may be applied to the pressurization device due to loss in the system.

From shows the opening and closing of inlet and outlet valves of a pressure reduction device in a view where the stroke of a piston in a cylinder is ed as well. Three cycles are depicted for two parallel pressure reduction units. It appears that the cylinder is filled as the piston moves downwards and the valve V1 is open. Valve V1 closes shortly before the piston reaches the bottom position. As the piston moves further towards the bottom position the pressure is reduced. As the piston moves upwards the valve V2 is opened and the fluid in the cylinder volume is forced out of the cylinder through let outlet. Shortly before reaching the top on for the piston the valve V2 closes and the remaining fluid in the cylinder is pressurized to the pressure ng on the process side of valve V1. When the piston reaches its top position the pressure difference between the cylinder and the process area are essentially identical and the valve V1 can open for an additional cycle.

Same procedure is shown for an additional re reduction device operating aneous with the one described above. Valves V3 and V4 carries out the same tasks as described above, however the entire cycle is displaced corresponding to a half cycle in order to minimise pressure fluctuations in the system. shows the opening and closing of inlet and outlet valves of a pressurization device in a view where the stroke of a piston in a cylinder is depicted as well. Three cycles are depicted for two parallel pressurization units. It appears that the cylinder is filled with slurry as the piston moves rds and the valve V5 is open. Valve V5 closes shortly before the piston reaches the bottom position. As the piston moves upwards the slurry is pressurized and when valve V6 is opened and the fluid in the cylinder volume is forced out of the cylinder through the outlet and into the HTL process.

Shortly before reaching the top on for the piston the valve V6 closes and the ing fluid in the cylinder is de-pressurized to the pressure existing on the s side of valve V5. When the piston has moved slightly from its top position the pressure difference between the cylinder and upstream area are ially identical and the valve V5 can open for an additional cycle.

Same procedure is shown for an additional pressure reduction device operating simultaneous with the one described above. Valves V7 and V8 carries out the same tasks as described above, however the entire cycle is displaced corresponding to a half cycle in order to se pressure fluctuations in the system. shows a cylinder-piston arrangement 3,26, where in a piston rod 31 conduits or channels 32,33 for supplying and removing a cooling fluid are provided. The cooling fluid is supplied to the piston 26 through channel 32 and flowing inside the piston in a ring channel 34 before being removed through l 33. This may be a measure that ensures higher reliability at high temperature and high pressure. and shows HTL processes that are further explained in the following.

Pressure reduction unit: The pressure reduction unit can consist of two or more piston pumps, that can be controlled in a way that use any number of pumps however preferably at least two pumps. A piston pump comprises a cylinder with a piston and valves for inlet and outlet as well as driving means for applying a force or receiving a force to/from the piston.

The pumps are designed as a hydraulic pressure amplifier with a ratio that meets operating conditions. The amplification is achieved through the dimensioning of the pressurized surface area of the pistons. |n negative amplification (an attenuation or damping) may be achieved through an opposite variation of the rized surface areas.

Pumps are designed in a way that allows cleaning of the pump interior.

Reducing dead space at maximum stroke ensures this.

By minimizing obstructions such as valves and guide channels non-active volume on top of piston at maximum piston stroke is eliminated.

Too much dead space at full stroke leaves more residual feed material in cylinder.

When not having dead volume at maximum piston stroke there is limited space for residual s, which makes cleaning much easier since almost no feed material is left behind after each stroke.

Another advantage by reducing dead space is to prevent build-up of unprocessed feed material inside the pump unit.

Pump control: In order to determine the piston position in a er, positioners are built in to the piston rod, so that the piston position is known at any given moment.

This helps controlling pressure and flow in cylinder. re is measured by built in pressure itters. Pressure itters are built in to top of each cylinder so pump ions are always monitored.

If pressure transmitters are not built in to the cylinder top and built into the following tubing after control valves, it is impossible to ensure 0 bar Ap over l valves.

Minimum Ap over control valves ensure minimum wear from possible ves in feed as well as minimum mechanical wear else caused by high physical pressure towards valve seats.

Installing position sensors in cylinder piston rods makes it possible to measure flow through cylinder by aid of mathematical functions that takes piston frequency, piston area and length of piston stroke in to account.

Being able to manage piston position reduces pressure pulsations as control valves and piston position can be controlled very accurately making it le to pressurize remaining t in er in order to eliminate Ap over control valves and therefore also no pressure drop when opening control .

Ap VALVES: Control of cylinders by use of positioner so Ap across inlet/outlet valves is reduced as much as possible in order to reduce wear of valve seats.

Ap is reduced as much as possible by monitoring pressure on both sides of the control valves by pressure transmitters while either compressing or decompressing media in cylinder to meet common pressure g.

Position sensors are used in the control loop for timing the control valves, in a way that ensures enough feed material in cylinder to compress to process pressure in filling mode and leave enough piston stroke to ensure decompression before emptying the cylinder Pressure de-amplifier: Hydraulic energy can be recovered at different pressures when using lic pressure lifiers. The energy absorbed as a result of the pressure reduction may be stored as pressurised fluid or may be utilised directly for g e.g. an electrical generator.

Flow measurement: By use of incorporated positioners the piston position may be determined and hence a measure for the sed flow through the pressure reduction unit.

Inlet/outlet valves: Valves used for lling inlet and outlet of pressure reduction unit are typically of a controlled ball valve type. An actuator is used to control the movement of the valves.

Fillinglemptying of re reduction unit: During g first pressure ion unit, counter pressure is held in the hydraulic cylinder during entire stroke to maintain a constant pressure in the pressure reduction unit.

Before first pressure reduction unit has reached the end of its stroke a second pressure reduction unit has prepared by compressing remaining fluid to operating re before opening inlet valve and taking over from first pressure reduction unit.

First pressure reduction unit can now decompress contents by expanding cylinder to the end of stroke and empty cylinder content by means of the hydraulic cylinder leaving enough in pressure reduction unit to compress media to operating pressure.

Maintenance: Main pressure ion arrangement comprising a number of pressure reduction units, is constructed in a way that allows replacement of a pressure reduction unit segment during operation. Means for safe separation of a re reduction unit segment is a total separation from the operation of the unit in question through appropriate valve arrangements. Further the remaining units may be reconfigured during a maintenance operation to be distributed over the working cycle of the pressure reduction arrangement in order to avoid pressure fluctuations.

Seals: When ary, hydraulic seals are cooled in order to withstand operating conditions.

Function of Pressure let everse pump Reverse pump cylinder 1 is filled through V1 until cylinder has reached a given stroke that allows media to decompress by moving er piston further towards end of stroke. Before moving piston to end of stroke, V1 closes.

After decompression V2 opens and the hydraulic cylinder presses the ressed fluid out of the cylinder to phase separation. Cylinder 1 does not empty completely as it is necessary to withhold enough fluid to pressurize to process pressure by compression with V2 .

The reason is to avoid pressure drop across V1, when it is time to reopen for next filling.

Similarly when V1 closes V3 opens. Before V3 can open, the remaining fluid from the latter stroke is pressurized to prevent excessive wear of valve seats by avoiding high re drop.

Fig. 10 shows an embodiment of a continuous high re production process for conversion of carbonaceous materials such as biomass to renewable 0“ comprising pumping means and pressurization means according to the t invention.

As shown on figure 10, the carbonaceous material is first subjected to a feed mixture preparation step. The feed mixture preparation step transforms the carbonaceous material into a pumpable feed mixture and generally includes means for size reduction of the carbonaceous and slurrying the carbonaceous material with other ingredients such as water, catalysts and other additives such as organics in the feed mixture.

The second step is a rization step where the feed mixture is pressurized by g means to a pressure of at least 150 bar and up to about 400 bar.

An advantageous pumping means according to an ment of the present invention are where the rization unit comprises at least one inlet and an outlet, the pressurization unit being adapted to receive a feed fluid at a feed pressure level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received feed fluid from the inlet and from the outlet and being adapted to increase the pressure of the fluid to a higher predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet into the high pressure process while still ed towards the inlet.

The pressurization unit preferably comprises an actuated valve at the inlet and a actuated valve at the outlet and further a pressurization device between the inlet valve and the outlet valve. This is preferably achieved by a pressurization device comprising a pump unit having a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder.

In one embodiment a position indicator is provided ting the cycle position of the pressure reduction device and being adapted to e a control signal for opening or closing at least one valve in the pressure reduction system.

WO 46195 In an embodiment the pressure reduction unit comprises a pressure ion device sing a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder.

In a further embodiment the pressure reduction unit may further comprise a control system, where the control system is adapted to allow opening of the valves when a certain maximum pressure difference is present on either side of the valve to be opened.

The pressurized feed mixture is subsequently heated to a reaction temperature in the range from about 300 and up to about 450 °C.

The feed mixture is generally maintained at these conditions in sufficient time for conversion of the carbonaceous material e.g. for a period of 2 to 30 minutes, such as in the range 3 to 20 minutes; and ably in the range 5 to 15 minutes, before it is cooled and the pressure is reduced.

The product mixture comprising liquid hydrocarbon product, water with water soluble organics and dissolved salts, gas comprising carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and e as well as suspended particles from said converted carbonaceous material is subsequently cooled to a ature in the range 80 °C to 250 °C such as in the range 120 to 170 °C; The cooled product mixture thereafter enters a pressure reducing device according to the present ion, where the pressure reduction unit ses at least one inlet and an outlet, the pressure reduction unit being adapted to receive a pressurized fluid at process pressure level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the upstream process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still isolated s the upstream process.

In general Pressure reduction unit comprises an actuated valve at the inlet and an actuated valve at the outlet and between the inlet valve and the outlet valve a pressurization device. Further a pressure reduction unit according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises means for ing the pressure upstream the inlet valve, between the inlet valve and the outlet valve and downstream the outlet valve.

The pressure reduction unit according to the present invention may further comprise a pump unit having a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder. Advantageously the pressure reduction unit further comprises a on indicator indicating the cycle on of the pressure reduction device and being adapted to provide a control signal for g or closing at least one valve in the pressure reduction system.

In one embodiment the pressure ion unit further comprises a control , where the control system is adapted to allow opening of the valves when a certain maximum pressure difference is present on either side of the valve to be opened.

Often the pressure reduction system is operated so that the inlet valve after having allowed inflow of a feed stream is closed for a period before the outlet valve is opened, hereby allowing the re to be reduced in pressure reduction device.

In order to minimize the pressure loss over the inlet valve and y the wear, the outlet valve may be closed for a period before the inlet valve is opened, hereby allowing pressure to be ted in the pressure reduction device in a predefined way. The overlap of closed inlet and outlet valves corresponds to between 5 and 30 % of the working cycle, preferably between 10 and 20 % of the working cycle.

A pressure reduction arrangement according to the present invention, typically comprises two or more pressure reduction units being arranged in parallel and/or in series. The working cycles of the individual pressure reduction units of the pressure reduction arrangement be evenly distributed corresponding to the number of re reduction units.

Further the pressure reduction arrangement may include a position indicator each pressure reduction device, indicating the cycle position in the device and being adapted to provide a control signal for controlling the distribution of the pressure ion unit cycles.

In general, the pressure in the high pressure processing system is reduced sing entering a volume of pressurized fluid into a pressure reduction device g the entry of pressurized fluid and expanding the entered volume to a desired re level by increasing the pressure ion device , removing the fluid at the desired pressure level from the pressure reduction device by reducing the pressure reduction device volume.

The speed of the pump is in many applications of the present invention in the in the range 5-50 cycles per minute, preferably 5-25, most preferred 5-15 cycles per minute.

An advantageous embodiment of a pressure reduction device according to the present invention is where the pressure reduction pump is connected to a further pump that drives a pressurization of the energy absorption reservoir.

For e the pressure reduction device further comprising an energy reservoir, where the pump is operatively connected to the reservoir and where the energy ed by the pump is ted and transferred to the reservoir for successive utilization. In a preferred embodiment a a rization pump is provided for supplying additional pressure to the input side of the pressurization equipment in order to sate for loss of pressure energy in the system.

In a preferred embodiment, the energy reservoir drives a pressurization pump adapted to pressurize the feed mixture in the pressurization step (step 2 above) of the high pressure process. In one embodiment of the present ion, this is performed by a low pressure turbine connected to a generator generating electrical energy, and the electricity ted reduces the energy required to drive the pressurization pump in the rization step.

The converted feed mixture is further separated into at least a gas phase, a renewable crude oil phase, a water phase with water e organic compounds as well as ved salts and eventually suspended particles.

The separation may be performed by gravimetric phase separation or other suitable means such as centrifugation.

The renewable crude oil may further be subjected to upgrading the process where it is pressurized to a pressure in the range from about 20 bar to about 200 bars such as a pressure in the range 50 to 120 bar, before being heated to a ature in the range 300 to 400 0C in one or more steps and contacted with hydrogen and heterogeneous catalyst(s) contained in one or more reaction zones, and eventually fractionated into different boiling point fractions. 2O Fig. 12 shows an advantageous ment of a high pressure s for hydrothermal transformation of carbonaceous material such as biomass in to renewable transportation fuels, lubricants and/or fine chemicals comprising pressurization and a pressure let down system according to the present invenﬁon. 1. Preparation of feed mixture The first step of the process is to prepare a feed e in the form of a pumpable slurry of the carbonaceous material. This generally includes means for size ion and slurrying such as dispersing the organic matter with other ingredients such as water, catalysts and other additives such as organics in the feed mixture, A carbonaceous material according to the present ion may be in a solid form or may have a solid appearance, but may also be in the form of a sludge or a . Further the carbonaceous material(-s) may be contained in one or more input streams.

Non limiting examples of carbonaceous feedstock according to the present invention include biomass such as woody biomass and residues such as wood chips, saw dust, forestry thinnings, road cuttings, bark, es, garden and park wastes & weeds, energy crops like coppice, willow, miscanthus, and giant reed; agricultural and byproducts such as grasses, straw, stems, stover, husk, cobs and shells from e.g. wheat, rye, corn rice, sunflowers; empty fruit bunches from palm oil production, palm oil manufacturers effluent (POME), residues from sugar production such as bagasse, vinasses, molasses, greenhouse wastes; energy crops like miscanthus, switch grass, sorghum, jatropha; c biomass such as macroalgae, microalgae, cyano bacteria; animal beddings and manures such as the fibre fraction from livestock production; municipal and rial waste streams such as black liquor, paper sludges, off spec fibres from paper production; residues and byproducts from food production such as juice or wine production; vegetable oil production, sorted municipal solid waste, source sorted house wastes, rant wastes, slaughter house waste, sewage sludge and combinations f.

Many aceous als according to the present invention are related to lignocellulose materials such as woody biomass and agricultural residues.

Such carbonaceous materials generally comprise lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a carbonaceous material having a lignin content in the range 1.0 to 60 wt % such as lignin content in the range 10 to 55 % wt %. Preferably the lignin content of the carbonaceous material is in the range 15 to 40 wt % such as 20-40 wt %.

The cellulose content of the carbonaceous material is preferably in the range to 60 wt % such as cellulose content in the range 15 to 45 % wt %.

Preferably the ose content of the carbonaceous material is in the range to 40 wt % such as 30-40 wt %.

The hemicellulose content of the aceous material is ably in the range 10 to 60 wt % such as cellulose content in the range 15 to 45 % wt %.

Preferably the cellulose content of the carbonaceous material is in the range to 40 wt % such as 30-40 wt %.

Depending on the specific organic matter being transformed and how it is ed, the size reduction may be conducted in one or more steps eg. the carbonaceous material may be d as is and subsequently mixed with other ingredients in the same step or it may pre-grinded to a size suitable for r processing and size reduction in the mixing step. Often the carbonaceous material is size reduced to a particle size less than 10 mm such as a le size of less than 5 mm the pre-grinding step; preferably to a particle size of less than 3 mm such as less than 2 mm.

The pre-grinding may according to an embodiment of the present invention be performed using a shredder, cutting mill, hammer mill, pan grinder, impeller mill or a combination thereof.

Advantageously the pre-grinding step may further comprise means for removal of impurities such as metals, stones, dirt like sand, and/or to te off spec fibres from the carbonaceous material with particle size with said maximum size. Such means may comprise magnetic separation, washing, density separation such as flotation, vibration , ic separators, sieving and combinations thereof. Said means may be present prior to the pre-grinding step and/or after the pre-grinding step.

The aceous material is subsequently mixed with other ingredients of the feed mixture. Other ingredients may include: 1. Recycled oil (hydrocarbons) produced by the process or a fraction of the oil (hydrocarbon ed by the process; preferably in a weight ratio to dry ash free organic matter in the range 0.5 to 1.5 such as a ratio 0.8 to 1.2; 2. Recycled concentrate of the water phase from the process comprising recovered homogeneous catalyst and water soluble organics such as one or more components selected from a. Ketones such as e, propanones, butanones, penthanones, penthenones, cyclopentanones such as 2,5 dimethyl cyclopentanone, cyclopentenones, hexanones and cyclohexanones such as 3- methyl hexanone, quionones etc. b. Alcohols and poly ls such as methanol. ethanol, propane’s (incl isopropanol), buthanols, penthanols, ls, heptanols, octanols such as 2-butyloctanol, hydroquinones etc 0. Phenols, alkylated phenols, poly-phenols, monomeric and oligomeric phenols, l, thymol, alkoxy phenols, p-coumaryl alcohol, ryl l, sinapyl alcohol, flavenols, catechols d. Carboxylic acids such as formic acid, acetic acid and phenolic acids like ferric acid, benzoic acids, coumarin acid, cinnamic acid, abietic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmetic acid, steric acid e. Furans such as THF etc f. Alkanes, alkenes,toluene, cumene etc. and combinations thereof.

In general the water e organics constitute a complex e of the above and the feed mixture may comprise such water soluble cs in a concentration from about 1 % by weight to about 10 % by weight such as in the range from about 2 % by weight to about 5 % by weight. 3. Make up homogeneous catalyst in form a potassium carbonate and/or potassium hydroxide and/or potassium acetate; preferably added in the form of an aqueous solution and added in an amount so that the total concentration of potassium in the resulting feed mixture is at least 0.5 % by weight such as a concentration in the feed mixture of at least 1.0 % by weight; preferably the concentration of potassium is at least 1.5 % by weight such as at least 2.0 % by weight; 4. Make up base for pH adjustment. Preferably sodium hydroxide is added to the feed mixture in an amount so as the pH measured in the ed water phase is above 7 and preferably in the range 8.0 to 12.0 such as in the range 8.0 to 10.0.

The ingredients 1.-4. are preferably all on a liquid form and may ageously be premixed and optionally preheated, before being mixed with the organic matter to produce said feed mixture. Premixing and/or preheating may reduce loading time and g time required in the mixer.

The mixing of the carbonaceous material and other ingredients are mixed so as to form a homogeneous slurry or paste. Said mixer may according to the present invention be a d vessel equipped with means for efficiently mixing, sing and homogenizing viscous materials such as a planetary mixer, Kneader or Banbury mixer. The mixer is preferably further equipped with means for heating said feed mixture to a temperature in the range 80 to 220 °C, preferably in the range 130 to 200 °C and more preferably in the range 150 to 180 °C, at sufficient pressure to avoid boiling such as a pressure in the range 1-30 bars, preferably in the range 4—20 bars such as in the range 5- 10 bars. Heating the feed mixture to temperatures in the above ranges results in a ing and/or at least partly dissolution of the aceous thereby making the feed mixture easier to size reduce and homogenize. Preferred means for heating said feed mixture during the preparation according to the present invention include a g jacket. In a preferred embodiment the heat for ting said feed mixture is obtained from the cooling of the converted carbonaceous material comprising liquid hydrocarbon product e.g. by heat ge with this process stream. Hereby the energy efficiency of the s may be further enhanced. The mixer may further be equipped with a re-circulation loop, where material is withdrawn from said mixer and at least partly re-circulated in an internal or external loop and re-introduced into said mixer so as to control the feed mixture characteristics e.g. rheological ties such as viscosity and/or particle size to a predefined level. The external loop may further comprise one or more size reduction and/or homogenization device(-s) such as a macerator and/or a colloidal mill and/or a cone mill or a combination thereof in a series and/or parallel arrangement. The feed mixture produced may be fed to a holding tank before entering the pressurization step of the process.

Preferably, the carbonaceous material is fed to the mixer gradually rather than at once to control the ity of the feed mixture and that feed mixture s pumpable, while being size reduced and homogenized. The control of the viscosity may be performed by measuring the power consumption of the mixer and/or dal mill and adding organic matter to the feed mixture according to a predefined power consumption. It is further advantageous not to empty the mixer completely between batches as the prepared feed mixture acts as a texturing agent for the next batch and thereby assists in homogenizing the next batch by making it more pumpable, and thereby the carbonaceous material may be added faster.

Other preferred means for thoroughly mixing and nizing the ients in the feed mixture include inline mixers. Such inline mixers may further introduce a cutting and/or a scissoring and/or a self—cleaning action. A preferred embodiment on such inline device include one or more extruders.

Typically the dry content of carbonaceous material in the feed mixture according to the present ion is in the range 10 to 40 % by weight, preferably in the range 15 to 35 % and more preferably in the range 20 to 35 % by weight.

The process ing to the present invention requires water to be present in said feed mixture. Typically the water t in said feed mixture is at least 30 % by weight and in the range 30 to 80 % by weight and preferably in the range 40 to 60 %. 2. Pressurization The second step of an advantageous embodiment of a high pressure process ing to the present invention is pressurization to the desired pressure for said conversion process. According to the present invention said pressurization to the desired reaction pressure is essentially performed before heating from entry temperature from the feed e to the reaction temperature is initiated.

Typicaly the feed mixture is pressurized to an operating pressure during said heating and conversion of at least 150 bars such as 180 bars, ably said operating pressure is at least 221 bars such as at least 250 bars and more preferably said operating pressure during conversion is at least 300 bars.

Even more preferably the operating pressure is in the range of 300—400 bars such as in the range 300-350 bars.

Many embodiments ing to the present ion relates to processing of feed es with a high t of carbonaceous material as described above. Such feed mixtures typically have densities in the range 1050 to 1200 kg/m3, and typically behaves as a homogeneous pseudoplastic paste rather than a suspension of discrete les (liquid). The viscosity of such pastes may vary widely with shear rate due to the pseudoplastic (shear thinning) behavior and may be in the 103 to 107 cP depending of the specific shear rate and carbonaceous material being treated.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a pressurization system for pressurizing such highly viscous pseudoplastic feed mixtures. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pressurization system comprises two or more re amplifiers each comprising cylinders with a piston equipped with driving means for ng and/or receiving a force to the piston such as shown and described in connection with Fig. 2-9.

Advantageous driving means for the pistons in the cylinders according to the present invention include hydraulically driven means.

The surface area of the pistons according to the present invention is typically ioned so as to amplify the pressure i.e. the surface area of each end of the piston is dimensioned so as to obtain a predefined pressure ratio on each side of the . The ratio of surface area on the low pressure side of the piston to the surface area on the high pressure side of the piston may according to an embodiment of the present invention be in the range 1 to 20 such as in the range 1 to 10. Preferably the ratio of surface area on the low pressure side of the piston to the surface area on the high pressure side of the piston is in the range 1 to 3 such as in the range 1 to 2.

The pressure amplifiers according to the present invention are typically designed for low stroke speeds (large stroke volume) y allowing for the use of actuated valves for filling and emptying of the cylinders rather than 2018/053179 check valves. Preferred actuated valves according to the present invention include gate valves and ball valves or a combination thereof.

The stroke speed of the pistons according to an embodiment of the present invention may be from about 1 stroke per minute up to about 150 strokes per minute such as from about 5 strokes per minute up to about 100 strokes per minute. Preferably the stroke speed of the s are from about 10 to about 80 strokes per minute such as a stroke speed of the piston in the range 20 strokes per minute to about 60 strokes per minute. Besides allowing for the use of actuated valves the low stroke speed of the piston reduces the wear on s, seals and valve seats.

Often the pressure iers according to the present invention are further designed as double acting pistons as shown in Fig. 1.

The pressure amplifiers according to an embodiment of the present invention are further designed so as to maximize the cleaning effect of the piston by minimization of the dead space in the cylinder. Pumps are designed in a way that allows cleaning of the pump interior. Reducing dead space at maximum stroke ensures this. The may be performed by zing obstructions such as valves and guide channels and thereby non-active volume on top of piston at maximum piston stroke is eliminated. Too much dead space at full stroke leaves more al feed material in cylinder. When not having dead volume at maximum piston stroke there is limited space for residual biomass, which makes cleaning much easier since almost no feed al is left behind after each stroke.Another advantage by ng dead space is to prevent build- up of unprocessed feed material inside the pump unit.

Still further the pressure amplifiers may be equipped with positioners to monitor and control the position of the piston at any given moment. The piston positioners are preferably incorporated into the cylinder rod. The positioners are used to control the position of the piston. The positioners of the re cylinders may also be used to extract a flow measurement of media being pressurized by the both individual cylinder and the pressurization system i.e. the volumetric flow rate of the dual er is given by the stroke volume multiplied by the number of strokes over a given time al, and the same total volumetric flow rate may be extracted as the sum of the volumetric flow measurements of the individual cylinders.

The positioner(—s) according to the t invention may further be used for synchronization of the strokes of the individual pressure amplifiers eg. when the feed in a cylinder is being pressurized, another cylinder(s) is being charged with feed mixture. After the cylinder has been charged, the er is essurized to a pre-defined level by initiating the stroke with the valve towards the process closed. When the first cylinder has reached a certain stroke length, the actuated valve towards the process is closed and the equivalent valve towards the process for the next cylinder with pre-charged and pre-pressurized feed mixture to be pressurized is opened. By ng such sequence according to an embodiment of the present ion the pressure drop over the actuated valve towards the process and consequentially valve wear and pressure fluctuations are zed.

In order to determine the piston position in a cylinder, positioners are built in to the piston rod, so that the piston position is known at any given moment.

This helps controlling pressure and flow in cylinder.

Pressure is measured by built in pressure transmitters. Pressure transmitters are built in to top of each cylinder so pump conditions are always monitored.

If pressure transmitters are not built in to the cylinder top it and only built into the following tubing before and after control valves it is impossible to ensure 0 bar Ap over control valves.

Minimum Ap over control valves ensure minimum wear from possible abrasives in feed as well as minimum mechanical wear else caused by high al re towards valve seats.

Installing on sensors in cylinder piston rods makes it possible to measure flow through cylinder by aid of mathematical functions that takes piston frequency, piston area and length of piston stroke in to account.

Being able to manage piston on reduces pressure ions as control valves and piston position can be controlled very accurately making it possible to pressurize remaining content in cylinder in order to eliminate Ap over control valves and therefore also no pressure drop when opening control valves.

Control cylinders by use of positioner so Ap across inlet/outlet valves is reduced as much as possible in order to reduce wear of valve seats.

Ap is reduced as much as possible by monitoring re on both sides of the control valves by re transmitters while either compressing or decompressing media in er to meet common pressure setting.

Position sensors are used in the control loop for timing the control valves, in a way that ensures enough feed material in cylinder to compress to process pressure in filling mode and leave enough piston stroke to ensure decompression before emptying the cylinder.

The re fluctuations may be further reduced by the use of at least 2 and preferably 3 or more pressure amplifiers in a parallel arrangement according to a preferred embodiment of the t invention. The control of the individual pressure amplifiers may be adapted so they are operated in a tial manner to damp and minimize pressure fluctuation when switching from one pressure amplifier to the next.

For many embodiments of the present invention, where 3 or more cylinders are present these are equipped with sealing means such as double valves so that an individual cylinder can be sealed off and safely exchange an individual cylinder, while other cylinders are kept operating. A more robust, easy to maintain pressurization ement having a high bility is hereby ed.

A pressurization arrangement according to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention includes withdrawing the feed mixture from the feed mixture preparation step 1. described above, often via a holding tank, and transferring the feed mixture to the pressurization step by a pre-charging pump. The pre-pressurization pump or the pre-charging of the pressurization step is preferably a ve displacement pump such as a piston pump progressive cavity pump, lobe pump, rotary gear pump, auger pump, or screw pump. Due to the shear thinning characteristics of the feed es according to many embodiments of the present invention, the holding tank may be equipped with agitation means in order to induce shear on the feed mixture and thereby reduce the viscosity before being charged to re amplifying cylinders. The shear and agitation of the holding tank may also be at least partly introduced by culation of part of the feed mixture being withdrawn from the holding tank by the pre-charging pump.

The inlet temperature to the re amplifying cylinders is generally in the range from about 10 °C to about 250 °C such as from about 20 °C to about 220 °C; preferably the inlet temperature to the pressure amplifying cylinders is in the range from about 50 °C to about 210 °C such as from about 80 °C to about 200 °C; even more preferably the inlet temperature to the pressure amplifying cylinders is in the range from about 100 °C to about 180 °C such as from about 120 °C to about 170 °C.

For applications according to the present invention, where the temperature s about 120 °C such as about 140 °C, the cylinders may further be equipped with means for cooling the seals of piston in order to withstand the operating conditions as shown and described in connection with FIG 9 above.

In an advantageous embodiment pressure energy is recovered in the pressure reduction step described below under step 6. Pressure reduction, and transferred to an energy absorption reservoir, where the energy ed by the pressure reducing device is transferred to the reservoir for successive utilization in e.g. the pressurization step. Thereby a very energy efficient high pressure process is obtained. 3. Heating The pressurized feed mixture is subsequently heated to a reaction temperature in the range 300 to 450 °C such as in the range 350 to 430 °C, preferably in the range 370 to 430 °C such as in the range 390 to 430 °C, more preferred in the range 400 to 420 °C such as in the range 405 to 415 According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention said heating is performed in one or more heat exchangers. ably said g is at least partly performed by recovery of heat from one or more process streams.

In a preferred embodiment, the heating is performed by indirect heat exchange with a heat transfer medium such as supercritical water. By use of such heat transfer medium it is obtained that both the feed mixture and the t mixture may flow inside tubes thereby ng for easier cleaning.

By said heat recovery it is obtained that the process becomes very energy efficient as most of the heat required is recovered. In many embodiments of the present invention at least 40 % of the energy required to heat the feed mixture to the desired reaction temperature is being red such as at least 50 % of the energy ed to heat the feed mixture to the desired on temperature is being recovered. Preferably, at least 60 % required to heat the feed mixture to the desired on temperature is recovered such as at least 70 % of the energy required being recovered. 4. Reaction Subsequent to heating to reaction temperature said pressurized and heated feed mixture is maintained at the desired pressure and temperature in a reaction zone c. for a predefined time. The feed characteristics and/or the combination of pressure and temperature according to the t invention generally allow for shorter reaction times and/or a more reacted liquid hydrocarbon product than in the prior art t sacrificing the yield and/or quality of the desired product. The ined time in said reaction zone may according to an embodiment of the present invention be in the range 1 to 60 minutes such as 2 to 45 minutes, preferably said predefined time in said reaction zone is in the range 3 to 30 minutes such as in the range 3 to 25 minutes, more preferred in the range 4 to 20 s such as 5 to 15 minutes.

. Cooling The outlet stream from the reactor comprising liquid hydrocarbon product, water with water soluble organics and dissolved salts, gas comprising carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane as well as suspended les from said converted carbonaceous material is subsequently cooled to a temperature in the range 80 °C to 250 °C such as in the range 100 to 200 °C; preferably the outlet stream from the reactor is cooled to a temperature in the range 120 °C to 180°C such as to a temperature in the range 130 °C to 170 °C by heat exchange with the ng feed mixture in the heat exchangers.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is where said heat exchange is performed by indirect heat transfer via a heat transfer medium such as supercritical water, hot oil or molten salt. By use of such indirect heat transfer via a heat transfer medium it is obtained that both the feed mixture and the product mixture can flow inside tubes thereby ng for easier cleaning. The heat transfer medium may optionally be further heated and/or be further cooled so as to allow for added controllability and flexibility of the heating and cooling. Said heat transfer medium may also be used for transfer of heat to/from other unit operations of the process such as e.g. the pre- treatment 1 and/or the upgrading part of a process according to the present invenﬁon. 6. re ion According to a red embodiment of the present invention, the rization system comprises two or more pressure de—amplifiers each comprising cylinders with a piston equipped with driving means for receiving a force to the piston such as shown and described in connection with Fig. 2- 9. Advantageous driving means for the pistons in the cylinders according to the present invention include lically driven means.

The cooled product mixture thereafter enters a pressure reducing device according to the present invention, where the pressure reduction unit comprises at least one inlet and an outlet, the pressure ion unit being adapted to receive a pressurized fluid at s pressure level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the upstream process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower predetermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still ed towards the upstream process.

In general pressure reduction unit comprises an actuated valve at the inlet and an actuated valve at the outlet and between the inlet valve and the outlet valve a de—pressurization device. Further a pressure reduction unit ing to an embodiment of the present invention comprises means for measuring 2018/053179 the pressure upstream the inlet valve, between the inlet valve and the outlet valve and downstream the outlet valve.

The pressure reduction unit according to the present invention may further comprise a pump unit having a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder. ageously the pressure reduction unit further comprises a position indicator indicating the cycle position of the pressure reduction device and being adapted to provide a control signal for opening or closing at least one valve in the pressure reduction .

In one embodiment the pressure reduction unit further ses a control system, where the control system is adapted to allow opening of the valves when a certain maximum pressure difference is present on either side of the valve to be opened.

Often the pressure reduction system is operated so that the inlet valve after having allowed inflow of a feed stream is closed for a period before the outlet valve is opened, hereby allowing the pressure to be reduced in pressure ion device.

In order to minimize the pressure loss over the inlet valve and thereby the wear, the outlet valve may be closed for a period before the inlet valve is opened, hereby allowing pressure to be ted in the pressure reduction device in a predefined way. The overlap of closed inlet and outlet valves corresponds to between 5 and 30 % of the working cycle, preferably n and 20 % of the working cycle.

A pressure reduction ement ing to the present invention, typically comprises two or more pressure reduction units being arranged in parallel and/or in series. The working cycles of the individual pressure reduction units of the pressure reduction ement be evenly distributed corresponding to the number of pressure reduction units.

Further the pressure ion arrangement may include a position indicator each pressure reduction device, indicating the cycle position in the device and being adapted to provide a control signal for lling the distribution of the pressure reduction unit cycles.

In general, the pressure in the high pressure processing system is reduced comprising entering a volume of pressurized fluid into a pressure reduction device closing the entry of pressurized fluid and expanding the entered volume to a d pressure level by sing the pressure reduction device volume, removing the fluid at the desired pressure level from the pressure ion device by reducing the pressure reduction device volume.

For example the pressure reduction device further comprising an energy reservoir, where the pump is operatively connected to the reservoir and where the energy absorbed by the pump is converted and transferred to the reservoir for successive utilization. In a red ment a a pressurization pump is provided for supplying additional pressure to the input side of the rization equipment in order to compensate for loss of pressure energy in the system.

In a preferred embodiment, the energy reservoir drives a pressurization pump adapted to pressurize the feed mixture in the pressurization step (step 2 above) of the high pressure process. In one embodiment of the present invention, this is performed by a low pressure e connected to a generator generating electrical energy, and the electricity generated reduces the energy required to drive the pressurization pump in the pressurization step.

The surface area of the pistons according to the present ion is lly dimensioned so as to amplify the pressure i.e. the surface area of each end of the piston is dimensioned so as to obtain a ined pressure ratio on each side of the piston. The ratio of surface area on the low pressure side of the piston to the surface area on the high pressure side of the piston may according to an embodiment of the present invention be in the range 1 to 20 such as in the range 1 to 10. Preferably the ratio of surface area on the low pressure side of the piston to the surface area on the high pressure side of the piston is in the range 1 to 3 such as in the range 1 to 2.

The pressure reducing device according to the present ion are lly designed for low stroke speeds (large stroke volume) y allowing for the use of actuated valves for filling and emptying of the cylinders rather than check valves. Preferred actuated valves according to the present invention include gate valves and ball valves or a combination thereof.

The stroke speed of the pistons according to an embodiment of the present invention may be from about 1 stroke per minute up to about 150 strokes per minute such as from about 5 strokes per minute up to about 100 strokes per . Preferably the stroke speed of the pistons are from about 10 to about 80 strokes per minute such as a stroke speed of the piston in the range 20 strokes per minute to about 60 s per minute. Besides allowing for the use of actuated valves the low stroke speed of the piston reduces the wear on pistons, seals and valve seats.

Often the pressure amplifiers according to the present invention are further designed as double acting pistons as shown in Fig. 1.

The pressure ng unit according to an embodiment of the present invention are further designed so as to maximize the ng effect of the piston by minimization of the dead space in the er.

Still further the re amplifiers may be equipped with positioners to monitor and control the position of the piston at any given moment. The piston positioners are preferably incorporated into the er rod. The positioners are used to control the position of the piston. The positioners of the pressure cylinders may also be used to extract a flow measurement of media being pressurized by the both individual cylinder and the pressurization system i.e. the volumetric flow rate of the individual cylinder is given by the stroke volume multiplied by the number of strokes over a given time interval, and the same total volumetric flow rate may be extracted as the sum of the volumetric flow measurements of the individual cylinders.

The positioner(—s) according to the present invention may further be used for synchronization of the strokes of the individual pressure lifiers e.g. when the product in a cylinder is being de-pressurized, another cylinder(s) is being d with product mixture. After the cylinder has been charged, the cylinder is essurized to a pre-defined level by initiating the stroke with the valve towards the process closed. When the first er has reached a certain stroke length, the actuated valve s the s is closed and the equivalent valve towards the process for the next cylinder with pressurized product mixture to be de-pressurized is opened. By applying such sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention the pressure drop over the actuated valve towards the process and consequentially valve wear and re fluctuations are zed.

The pressure ations may be r reduced by the use of at least 2 and ably 3 or more pressure reducing units in a parallel arrangement according to a red embodiment of the present invention. The control of the individual pressure reducing units may be adapted so they are operated in a sequential manner to damp and minimize pressure fluctuation when switching from one pressure de-amplifier to the next.

For many embodiments of the present invention, where 3 or more cylinders are present these are equipped with sealing means such as double valves so that an individual cylinder can be sealed off and safely exchange an individual cylinder, while other cylinders are kept operating. A more robust, easy to maintain pressurization arrangement having a high availability is hereby obtained.

Reverse pump cylinder 1 is filled through V1 until cylinder has reached a given stroke that allows media to decompress by moving cylinder piston further towards end of stroke. Before moving piston to end of stroke, V1 closes.

After decompression V2 opens and the hydraulic cylinder presses the decompressed fluid out of the cylinder to phase separation. Cylinder 1 does not empty completely as it is necessary to withhold enough fluid to rize to process pressure by compression with V2 closed.

The reason is to avoid re drop across V1 when it is time to reopen for next g.

Similarly when V1 closes, V3 opens. Before V3 can open the remaining fluid from the latter stroke is pressurized to prevent excessive wear of valve seats.

The inlet temperature to the pressure de-amplifying cylinders is generally in the range from about 10 °C to about 250 °C such as from about 20 °C to about 220 °C; ably the inlet ature to the pressure de-amplifying cylinders is in the range from about 50 °C to about 210 °C such as from about 80 °C to about 200 °C; even more preferably the inlet temperature to the pressure amplifying cylinders is in the range from about 100 °C to about 180 °C such as from about 120 °C to about 170 °C.

For applications according to the present invention, where the temperature s about 120 °C such as about 140 °C, the cylinders may further be equipped with means for cooling the seals of piston in order to and the operating conditions as shown and described in connection with FIG 9 above. 7. Separation The surized mixture from said pressure reduction containing liquid hydrocarbon product is subsequently lead to separation. The separation may according to the present invention comprise means for separating gas from said mixture. Said separation means may comprise a flash separator or degasser, wherein gas is withdrawn from the top. According to an embodiment of the present invention said gas may be used to produce heat for heating in the process to the process as shown in the figure and further described above. The gas may optionally be cooled to condense compounds such as eg. water prior to said use to produce heat for heating in the process.

A particularly preferred embodiment according to the t invention includes a system where the converted feed mixture/product mixture is first cooled to a temperature of 60 to 250 °C, expanded to a pressure in the range from about 15 to about 150 bars such as in the range from about 50 to about 120 bars and led to a phase tor/degasser for tion of the product mixture into at least a gas phase and residual phase. Preferably the ted gas phase is first cooled to a temperature in the range 80 to about 200 °C, expanded to a pressure in the range 60 to 110 bars such as in the range 70 to 100 bars and led to a phase tor/degasser for separation of the converted feed mixture/product mixture into at least a gas phase and a residual phase.

As further exemplified below, the gas phase often comprises carbon dioxide, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, ethane, ethane, propane, iso- propane, butane, iso-butane, water, methanol, ethanol, acetone.

An advantageous embodiment of the present invention includes extracting/separating hydrogen from the separated gas phase and ucing it into said process for upgrading of the hydrocarbons (optional step 8) An embodiment of the present ion comprises extracting/separating hydrogen from the separated gas phase by a membrane gas separation technique. Another embodiment of the t invention comprises extracting/separating hydrogen using a pressure swing adsorption technique.

A further embodiment of the present invention comprises extracting/separating hydrogen from said separated gas phase by the steps - separating the converted feed e/product mixture into a gas phase and a residual phase - cooling the ted gas to a temperature in the range from about 31 to 50 °C and separating the cooled gas phase into a condensed phase substantially free of hydrogen and a residual gas phase enriched in hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a phase separator, - further cooling the separated gas phase to a ature in the range from about 10 up to about 31°C and separating the cooled residual gas phase into a liquid phase comprising 002 and a residual gas phase enriched in en in a separator. - introducing the hydrogen ed gas in the upgrading process after the pressurization step.

The separating means may further provide at least a coarse separation of the degassed e into a liquid hydrocarbon rich stream and al water rich stream e.g. by gravimetric separation in a 3-phase separator.

The water rich stream comprising water soluble organics, ded particles and ved salts may be at least partly withdrawn from said gravimetric separator, and fed to a recovery unit, optionally after further separation by gravimetric means filtering and/or centrifugation to remove ded particles.

The degassed mixture or optionally the liquid hydrocarbon rich stream, is withdrawn from said gas ting means, and may be further separated e.g. the liquid hydrocarbon rich stream may be required to be efficiently dehydrated and/or desalted/deashed before being introduced into the upgrading part of the process.

In many aspects of the present invention said further separation comprises one or more gravimetric separation step(-s) optionally equipped with means for coalescing oil or water droplets such as one or more electrostatic coalescing steps. In other aspects of the present invention said further separation may include separation in one or more centrifugation step(-s) such as separation inone or more 3-phase centrifuges such as one or more high speed disc bowl centrifuges and/or one or more decanter centrifuges.

Often the operating temperature of the further tion is selected so as to obtain a dynamic viscosity of the liquid hydrocarbon product in the range from about 1 to about 30 centipoise during said further separation such as in the range from about 1 to about 25 centipoise during said further separation, preferably the temperature of the tion is selected so as to obtain a dynamic viscosity in the range from about 1 to about 20 centipoise such as in the range 5 to 15 centipoise.

The operating ature of said further separation may according to an embodiment of the t invention be in the range 80 to 250 °C such as in the range 120 to 200 °C, ably at least the first of said further separation is operating at a ature in the range 130 to 180 °C such as a temperature in the range 150-170 °C.

The operating pressure of said further separation may according to an aspect of the present invention be in the range 10 to 120 bar, such as in the range 15-80 bars, preferably said further separation is operating at a pressure in the range 25 to 50 bar, such as in the range 30-50 bars.

Many aspects of the present invention relates to the use of one or more phase separators, where the residence time in each of the phase separators is in the range 1-30 minutes such as in the range 1 to 20 minutes, ably the nce time in each of the separators are in the range 2 to 15 minutes.

In a further aspect of the present invention a viscosity reducing agent may be added to the converted feed mixture before and/or during the further separation. The viscosity reducing agent may often be an organic solvent having a boiling point below 200 °C such as below 150 °C, preferably below 140 00 such as below 130 °C.

The weight ratio of the viscosity reducing agent added to the amount of 3O renewable oil may according to many embodiments of the present invention be in the range 0.01 to 2 such as in the range 0.05 to 1, preferably the weight ratio of the viscosity reducing agent added to the amount of low sulphur oxygen containing renewable oil is in the range 0.1 to 0.5 such as in the range 0.1 to 0.4. More preferably the weight ratio of the viscosity reducing agent added to the amount of low sulphur oxygen containing renewable oil is in the range 0.2 to 0.4 such as in the range 0.2 to 0.35.

A particularly preferred embodiment is where the viscosity ng agent comprises at least one ketone such as Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) and/or 2- heptanone and/or 2,5 dimethyl-cyclo-pentanone or a combination thereof.

Advantageously the viscosity reducing agent ses a fraction of the low oil and is recovered down stream of said further separation step and prior to ing the low sulphur oxygen containing renewable oil to said optional upgrading step.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the viscosity reducing agent is recovered in an evaporation step operating at a temperature in the range 100-200 °C such as in the range 100—160 °C, ably the viscosity reducing agent is recovered in an evaporation step operating at a temperature in the range 100-150 °C such as in the range 100—130 °C.

A ular preferred embodiment of the present invention is where the viscosity ng agent is substantially recovered in one or more flash distillation step(-s) producing a low sulphur containing oil phase and a late phase, and where the flash temperature is in the range 100-200 °C such as in the range 100-160 °C, ably the viscosity reducing agent is recovered in the flash distillation step producing a low sulphur containing oil phase and a distillate phase, where the flash temperature is in the range 100- 3O 150 °C such as in the range 100-130 °C.

A washing agent sing water may according to another aspect of the present invention be added to the liquid arbon t before or during said further phase separation step in order to further control the salt/ash content of the oil before being introduced to the upgrading step according to the present ion. The washing agent comprising water may ing to the present invention be uced in several steps.

The weight ratio of the washing agent comprising water to oil may advantageously be in the range 0.05 to 5.0 such as a weight ratio of the washing agent comprising water to the oil is in the range 0.05 to 3.0, preferably the of the washing agent comprising water to the oil is in the range 0.1 to 2.0 such as a weight ratio in the range 0.1 -1 .0.

The washing agent comprising water may according to an embodiment further comprise an acidification agent such as acetic acid or citric acid. The acidification agent may be added so as to obtain a pH of the water phase after tion of the washing agent comprising water in the range 2 to 7 such as a pH in the range 2.5 to 6.5, preferably the acidification agent is added so as to obtain a pH of the water phase after separation of the washing agent comprising water in the range 2.75 to 6 such as a pH in the range 3 to 5.5.

The further separation may according to an embodiment of the present invention further comprise one or more filtration step(—s) of the liquid hydrocarbon product. The filtration step may according to some preferred aspects of the present invention comprise the first step of the further separation and/or the filtration step may be a final step before optionally introducing the oil to an upgrading process ing to an embodiment of the present invention.

WO 46195 8. Recovery The water phases from the gas ting means, and further separation means are fed to a recovery device, where liquid organic compounds in the form of water soluble organics and/or homogeneous catalysts are recovered in a concentrated form, and recycled to into the feed mixture preparation device 1. As mentioned above under 1. Preparation the water soluble organics present in said water phase comprise a complex mixture of hundreds of different compounds including one or more compounds of ketones, alcohols and poly alcohols, phenols and ted phenols, carboxylic acids, furans, alkanes, alkenes, toluene, cumene etc.

Preferably said recovery device, comprises one or more evaporation step(—s), wherein water is evaporated from said combined water phases, and thereby providing a distillate and a concentrate. The degree of concentrating is selected so as to provide a distillate amount that corresponds to the amount of water added with the carbonaceous al, homogeneous catalyst and make up base in the pre-treatment. lly the ratio of concentrate to the combined water phases entering the recovery unit is typically in the range from about 0.1 to about 0.9 such as in the range 0.2 to 0.8. Often the ratio of concentrate to the combined water phases entering the recovery unit is in the range from about 0.25 to about 0.7 such as in the range 0.3 to 0.6. In other ments of the present invention the ratio of concentrate to the ed water phases entering the recovery unit is typically in the range from about 0.25 to about 0.6 such as in the range 0.3 to 0.6.

The combined water phases may be preheated to a temperature of e.g. 70- 130 °C such as a ature in the range 80 to 115 °C before entering into said evaporator. The heat for said preheating is preferably provided by heat recovery from a s stream and/or from the outgoing distillate stream before entering into the evaporator. In the evaporator, water is evaporated from said mixture comprising water soluble organics and dissolved salts at a 2018/053179 temperature from about 100 to about 115 °C. In these cases the heat ry from said process stream may be performed via a heat transfer medium such as a hot oil.

The pH of the combined water phase entering the recovery is according to the present invention preferably maintained at alkaline conditions such as in the range 7 to 14 such as a pH in the range 8 to 12, preferably the pH of the water phase to the recovery unit is maintained in the range 8 to 11. Operating at such inlet pH to the recovery unit has the advantage of reducing the amount of phenolics in the distillate.

An embodiment of said recovery step according to the present invention is where the recovery step comprises one or more flash step(—s).

A preferred embodiment of said recovery step according to the present invention is where the recovery step comprises evaporation in two or more steps operating at a sing pressure and temperature and each being heated with the evaporated vapor from the foregoing step to minimize the heat required for the evaporation.

The evaporator may advantageously further comprise sing said evaporated vapor in two or more condensation steps, where the condensation temperatures in said condensation steps are decreasing so as to obtain a fractionation of the evaporated fraction Le. a fraction comprising water and eventually higher boiling compounds, and a fraction where nds having a boiling point ature lower than water are trated.

Preferably said evaporated vapor passes a demister and/or a foam breaker prior to sation of said evaporated fraction by cooling. Advantageously the evaporator may according to the present invention further be equipped with a cer an absorber, where the evaporated fraction is contacted with an absorbent. Said absorbent comprises in a ularly preferred embodiment a base such as sodium hydroxide.

The ator ing to the present invention may in some embodiments include increasing the condensation temperature of said evaporated water by increasing the pressure by a blower, compressor (Mechanical Vapor Recompression) or a steam jet ejector (Thermal Vapor Recompression) or a combination thereof. Thereby the evaporated water vapor can be used as a heating medium for the evaporation in said evaporator, and said evaporator becomes very energy efficient as the latent heat of evaporation does not need to be supplied to said evaporation step.

It should be noted that said condensers according to the present invention may comprise heat exchangers where the media to be concentrated are evaporated on the other side, but in general said evaporation step according to the present invention comprises at least one additional ser ed to the number of evaporation steps.

The fraction comprising evaporated water (“distillate”) may further be cooled to a temperature suitable for discharge in a cooler. Hereby, it is obtained that said evaporator besides recovering said liquid organic compounds and/or homogenous catalysts also cleans and purifies the water phase in an efficient manner, and can produce a water phase that may be reused or discharged to a recipient. ally the “distillate” may be subjected to one or more polishing steps. Said polishing steps may e a lation and/or a stripping and/or an absorber and/or adsorber and/or a coalescing step and/or a ne system such as reverse osmosis and/or a biological treatment system such as a bioreactor.

The on being concentrated with compounds having a boiling point lower than water may be mixed with the concentrate from said evaporator, and recycled to the feed mixture preparation step 1.

In many applications according to the present invention a bleed or purge stream is awn from said concentrated water phase prior to recycling to the feed mixture preparation step 1 to prevent buildup of compounds such as chloride. The bleed stream may according to an embodiment of the present invention comprise up to about 40 % by weight of the concentrated water phase from the recovery unit such as up to about 25 % by weight of the concentrated water phase from the recovery unit. Preferably the bleed stream comprises up to about 20 % by weight of he concentrated water phase from the recovery unit such as up to about 15 % by weight of the concentrated water phase from the recovery unit. More preferably the the bleed stream comprises up to about 10 % by weight of the concentrated water phase from the recovery unit such as up to about 5 "/0 by weight of the concentrated water phase from the recovery unit. The bleed stream may be disposed off. However, in many applications according to the present invention the bleed stream is r d.

The concentrated water phase from the recovery unit typically has a ve heating value.

A preferred application according to the present invention comprises further treating the bleed stream by combustion and/or co-combustion in a boiler or rator. Optionally the bleed stream is further trated prior to said combustion and/or co-combustion.

A particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises r treating the bleed stream in an ion exchange step. The concentrated WO 46195 water phase from the recovery unit may be filtered to remove eventual solids prior to entering said ion exchange step according to the present invention.

The ion exchange step may according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprise one or more ion exchange steps such as one or more ion exchange resin(-s) contained in one or more fixed beds. Said one or more ion exchange steps may be arranged with one or more fixed bed(-s) in parallel and/or one or more fixed bed(-s) in .

An advantageous ment of the present invention ses further treating the bleed stream comprises at least two fixed bed(—s), each containing a chloride ive ion exchange resin capable of selectively adsorbing chloride from said concentrated water phase from said recovery unit and arranged valves in a parallel ement so that at least one ion exchange bed is online and at least one ion exchange bed is offline. Hereby continuous operation is ensured and chloride removal can be continued in the ion exchange bed(-s) being online while ion exchange ) being offline can be cleaned. Said cleaning may according to an embodiment of the t invention be performed by a back flow or back flushing of the ion exchange bed(—s) by demineralized water such as distillate water from the recovery unit. The present invention includes a valve arrangement and/or control system allowing for such cleaning or regeneration by back flow or back flush with demineralized water.

Typically the chloride l in said ion exchange step ing to the present invention is at least 50 % of the chlorides in the concentrated water phase entering said ion exchange step such as a chloride removal of at least 60 %. In many embodiments according to the present invention the chloride removal in said ion exchange step according to the present invention is at least 70 % of the chlorides in the concentrated water phase entering said ion exchange step such as at least 80 %. The de depleted stream from said chloride ion exchange step is preferably ed to the feed mixture preparation step 1.

Further, in many embodiments according to the present invention the amount of homogeneous catalyst(-s) in the form of ium and/or sodium such as being retained in said chloride depleted outlet stream from said de ion exchange step is at least 70 % by weight of the amount entering said chloride ion ge step such as at least 80 % by weight. Preferably, the amount of homogeneous catalyst(-s) in the form of potassium and/or sodium such as being retained in said chloride depleted outlet stream from said chloride ion exchange step is at least 85 % by weight of the amount ng said chloride ion exchange step such as at least 90 % by weight. Hereby, less make up homogeneous catalyst is required to be added in the pretreatment step 1, and a more economical process is obtained for providing crude oil to the upgrading process according to the present invention, and thereby an overall more efficient and economical process is obtained. 9. Upgrading (optional) The crude oil produced in step 1 may be optionally be further ted to an upgrading step to finished transportation fuels, lubricants and/or finished fuels.

Claims

1. Pressure reduction unit for use in processing equipment ng high pressure fluid, where the pressure reduction unit comprises at least one inlet (1) and an outlet (2), the pressure reduction unit being adapted to receive a pressurized fluid at process pressure level at the inlet, being adapted to isolate the received pressurized fluid from the upstream process and from the outlet and being adapted to reduce the pressure of the fluid to a lower ermined level and further being adapted to output the fluid through the outlet while still isolated towards the upstream s, where the unit comprises a valve at the inlet and a valve at the outlet and between the inlet valve (4) and the outlet valve (5) a de-pressurization device (3), where means are provided for measuring the pressure upstream the inlet valve (4), between the inlet valve (4) and the outlet valve (5) and downstream the outlet valve (5), and further comprising a l system (CONTROL), where the control system is adapted to allow g of the valves (4,5) when a certain maximum pressure difference is t on either side of the valve (4,5) to be opened.

2. Pressure reduction unit according to claim 1, where a position tor (35) is provided ting the cycle position of the pressure ion device and being adapted to provide a control signal for opening or closing at least one valve (4,5) in the pressure reduction unit.

3. Pressure reduction unit according to any of the preceding claims, where the unit comprises a de-pressurization device comprising a pump unit (3) having a cylinder and a piston as well as means for driving the piston inside the cylinder.

4. Pressure reduction unit according to claim 3, where channels or conduits for cooling fluid are provided in the piston and being adapted to keep the temperature of the piston at a suitable level, preferably below 120 °C at the sealing region of the piston.

5. Pressure reduction unit according to any of the preceding claims, where the inlet valve (4) after having allowed inflow of a feed stream is closed for a period before the outlet valve (5) is opened, hereby allowing the re to be reduced in pressure reduction device (3).

6. Pressure reduction unit according to any of the preceding claims, where the outlet valve (5) is closed for a period before the inlet valve (4) is opened, hereby allowing pressure to be generated in the re reduction device.

7. Pressure reduction unit according to claim 5 or 6, where the overlap of closed inlet and outlet valves (4,5) corresponds to n 5 and 30 % of the working cycle, preferably n 10 and 20 % of the working cycle.

8. Pressure reduction ement comprising two or more pressure reduction units according to any of the preceding claims, the pressure reduction s being arranged in parallel and/or in series.

9. Pressure ion arrangement according to claim 8, where the working cycles of the pressure reduction units are distributed evenly corresponding to the number of pressure reduction units.

10. Pressure reduction arrangement according to any of claims 8 or 9, where a position indicator (35) is provided for a pressure reduction , indicating the cycle position in the device and being adapted to provide a control signal for controlling the distribution of the pressure reduction unit cycles.

11. Pressure reduction arrangement according to any of claims 8 to 10, r comprising an energy reservoir (6), where the re reduction device is operatively connected to the reservoir (6) and where the energy absorbed by the re reduction device is converted and transferred to the reservoir (6) for successive utilization.

12. Pressure reduction arrangement according to claim 11, where the energy reservoir (6) is a pressurized fluid chamber, e.g. a gas chamber, that drives a pressurization device adapted to pressurize the fluid on the input side of the processing equipment.

13. Pressure reduction ement according to any of claims 11 or 12, where the energy reservoir (6) drives a low pressure turbine connected to a generator generating electrical energy.

14. Pressure reduction ement according to claim 12, where a pressurization pump (3) is provided for supplying additional re to the input side of the processing equipment in order to compensate for loss of pressure energy in the system.

15. A method for reducing the pressure in a high pressure processing system by using a pressure reduction unit according to claim 1, the method comprising entering a volume of rized fluid into a pressure reduction device, closing the entry of pressurized fluid and expanding the entered volume to a desired pressure level by increasing the pressure reduction device volume, removing the fluid at the desired pressure level from the pressure reduction device by reducing the re reduction device volume.

16. A method according to the preceding claim, where the speed of the pump is in the range 5-50 cycles per minute, preferably 5-25, most preferred 5-15 cycles per .

17. A high pressure processing equipment characterized in comprising a pressure reduction unit according to claim 1 or a pressure reduction arrangement according to claim 8.