US1447118A - Process and apparatus for refining petroleum oil - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 27, 1923.

` J. C. BLACK PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REFININC- PETROLEUM OIL if ...o Ew:

Filed June 20,

Feb. 27, 1923.

J. C. BLACK PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REFINING PETROLEUM OIL Filed June 20, 1922 2 sheets-sheet ..50 m. .QZ

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Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES JOHN C. BLACK, OF, DESTREHAN, LOUISIANA, AASSIGNOR F ONE-.HALF WEIR, OF'FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA. i

`:PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REFINING PETRLEUH OIL.

l 1,447,118 PATE-Nr or-r-lci-z. l

.Application led June 20, l1922. Serial'No. 569,751@

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, J oHN C. BLACK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Destrehan, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for Rcfining Petroleum Oil, of which the follow- 'ingis a specification.

-This invention relates to the art of refining petroleum oil and to an apparatus for practicing the same, more particularly to the separation or fractionation of the distillates therefrom. v

To illustrate the novel features of my invention, I show in Figure l of my drawing a part elevation part section ofmy fractionating apparatus and in Fig. 2 a modiication thereof, which together with my specification will disclose the principle of operation and the method of application to a particular case but which fairly represents thev process. It is to ,be understood, however, that my invention is of much wider scope than the single application shown, as I have employed it for the fractionation of all grades of distillates from the lightest gasolines to the heaviest grades of so-called paraiine distillate having a range of boiling points under 100 F. tol

over 600 F.

The disclosure is susceptible of considerable modification to suit particular requirements, but the underlying principle of operation is the same.

It has sometimes been customary heretofore in fractionating oils to distil the crude oil and pass the vaporsthrougha tower or tank having cooling tubes extended therethrough. These tubes were usually kept cool by passing air through them. The cooling tubes would cool down the distilled vapors in the tower or tank and liquefy those having the highest boiling points. leaving the vapors of the low boiling point oils to pass out the. upper part of the tower -In this previous process it was. diiiicult to regulate the temperature ofthe cooling tubes and hence the amount of vaporized oil fractions that leave-'the tower. Moreover this fraction took over with it various impurities which ohjectionalbly discolored the oil fraction when finally condensed. I have discovered that a much more efficient control and a distillate of better quality can be secured by what I conveniently denominate my'wash method. if

I prefer to use as a wash oil in this process hydrocarbons of similar physical properties to those I wish to separate from the vapors to be treated, fortwo reasons, rst

by so doing the effluent from the washing section of the tower willje of substantially constant quality and can be used in a cycle of wash operations without material change 1n the properties of the wash oil, and second, oils of similar properties act in a. more eiicient manner as solvents for each other, and their mixtures. or. solutions .are more stable than oils of dissimilar properties.`

' Furthermore by washing and condensing out the heavier or higher boiling point fractions, particularly the heavy paraffine distillates, at the high temperature prevailing in `the washV chamber, the steam or water "apor will remain in the vapor form and condense with the light or low 4boiling fraction from which it will readily separate, thereby obviating the troublesome emulsions when the heavy distillates arecondensed with the water in them. if there are no light distillates then the water will condense out as a separate condensate. i

To more particularly describe my process and show itsv application in a simple form, reference is made to the drawing in ,which it will be seen 1 represents an evaporatoror vaporizing chamber but which is not es' sentlal to the lnvention as any source of vapor such asa still. would be equally suitable.. but is merely shown for illustratlve purposes, 2 is a vapor line. connecting the evaporator to thel fractionating tower 3; 4

is a vaporline connecting the upper part of the tower wth the washing section of the tower 5; 6 is a vapor line connecting the aipper portionof the washing section of the tower with the vaporV condenser 7,- and Ythrough proper piping to the light oil tank 37 8 and 8 are draw-off lines connected -with the bottom of the wash section 5 and" the upper section 10,'the wash section 5 and the upper section 10 are separated by a diasyphon breaker in the riser-15; 16 is a line leading to the observation or look box 1 7 and 18" is a connection to the tank 19; 20 1s a connection from the tank'19 to the pump 21; 22 is a discharge line/from the pump to the sprinkler head- 23 and is fitted with a control valveA 24; 25 is a suction line from tank 19 to the pump 26 which in turn is connected to the discharge line 27 and to the storage tank 28; 29 are wash plates or preferably spiral tiles; 30 are bafile plates 1n the upper section of the tower; 31 are perforated trays in the evaporator. and 32 is a steam spray line. 34 is a gas vent in line 33 connecting the condensing coil 7 through pipe 36 to the Light Oil Tank 37. 38 is a water separatingtrap vin the pipe 33 d1scharging into sewer 39.

I will now describe the operation of the apparatus in carrying out my process of fractionation, it being assumed that the tower is operating on vapors from a continuous source of supply and are of substantially uniform constitution and also that tank 19 is supplied with sufficient wash oil to start the operation.

The hydrocarbon vapors mixed more or less with water vapor or steam pass out of the still or evaporator 1 through the vapor line 2 into the lower portion of the separator 10, which is fitted with baffle plates 30 to catch any entrained heavy oil that might be in the vapor stream, this separated oil is drained away through the drain line 8 and is either run into line`8 and to the cooler coil 12 or back to the source of vapor supply through the line 9 by the proper manipulation of the valves 8" and 9. From the separating chamber 10 the vapors now pass through pipe 4 to the lower portion of the washing chamber 5. Here the vapors in ascending to the outlet pipe 6 meet with a washing operation in which the higher boiling point hydrocarbons are separated from the lower boiling constituents of the vapor by condensation and absorption brought about by the cooling and absorption effect of the same or similar oil injected or sprayed into the washing chamber through the spray pipe 23 supplied from the pump 21 through line 22 and control valve 24, the pump in turn taking suction through line 20 to tank 19 which in turn takes its supply from the oil drained away from the tower through line 8 and cooler 12. The spray oil or wash oil is sprayed over the wash tiles wetting their surface with a cooling medium and offering a large wetted surface for the condensation and absorption of the high boiling hydrocarbons similar in physical properties to the wash oil which after draining away through line 8 and cooler 12 and tank 19 may be returned to the tower as the washing oil, this operation being a continuous one, the excess accumulation of oil in tank mamie to the tower is under complete control of the operator by regulation of the control valve 24 and by such contrcl he can regulate the cooling, condensing and absorption etfec-t of the tower and by so doing he can obtain any desired vaporization product through line 6 and condenser 7 that he desires within the limits of the apparatus, or it may be advanta eous to so regulate the wash oil as to con ense or absorb the "fractions desired irrespective of the vapor passing out of the tower or to another wash compartment.

It is not essential to the successful operationfof the apparatus to have the separator chamber on top of the wash chamber but .may be reversed and be underneath as shown in Fig. 2, and in some respects it will sim-` plify the construction to be so assembled, or the separator may be a separate chamber altogether and may be connected to the wash chamber by pipe connections only. Furthermore, the washing chamber may be multiplied to any number desired, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, each chamber yielding a different fraction, each'chamber being sprayed lwith wash oil previously 0btained from the same chamber, cooled and returned thereto. In this way the various fractions do not become contaminated with other fractions having diierent physical characteristics.

It is to be understood that each washing chamber will have its independent draw-olf and independent cooler, look box, tank, pump and lines to accomplish the result above stated, the corresponding numbers in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show similar' elements of the apparatus.

In my application 569757 for the fractionation of crackedhydrocarbons, I show a fractionating tower embodying the above described principle of operation in which form separate fractions are produced, each having differentv boiling points, gravity, volatility and other physical properties.

From the storage tank 28 which is the storage for the excess accumulation from tank 19 is a connection 44 and valve 43 leading t'o the pump 45 which in turn discharges into the still 46; connected to the still is the vapor line 47 running through the cooler 48 to the look box 49, and pipe 50 to the tank marked Heavy lNaphtha. Connected to the Heavy Naphtha tank and the Light Oil Tank 37 is a pump 52 which draws the collected hydrocarbons through pipes 51 and valve 51 and pipe 53 and valve 53 respectively. Pump 52 dis- Residue connected tothe evaporator 1 by the pipe 41, valve 41 and valve 40.

The operation that takes place in the above apparatus is as follows: The excess .wash oil and condensate from the tower and accumulated' in tank 19 is pumped to tank 28 by the pump 26. The oil in tank 28 contains certail of the heavy fractions from the vapors passing throughl the wash tower and also some of the lighter intermediate fractions. To separa-te these fractions and rccover the more valuable light fractions they are pumped Vinto the still 46 wherein the light fractions are distilled off and condensed and run to the Heavy Naphthaf tank and the residue .in the still is run to the Gas Oil Tank through the lines 60 and 62 and pump 61 to be disposed of as a separate commodity. The heavy naphtha collected in the Heavy Naphtha tank is now blendedwith the lighter naphtha in tank 3:? by the operationof the pump 52 taking from each tank the proper percentage of each in the proportion in which they are produced to make the blend or mixture in tank 56. The oil in tank 56 is the finished product of this particular process.

The residue .in the still or evaporator 1 is stored in tank 42 and is usually disposed of as fuel oil. One of the objects of this invention is to extract a larger amount of the light or more volatile fractions of the oil under treatment thereby giving the residue a higher flash point than heretofore and also to increase the yield of the lighter fractions by more thorough fractionation and separation of the vaporized hydrocarbons. Y

Another object of this invention is to make an improved finished naphtha, that is to say, I am enabledto obtain a cleaner, water-free and better colored naphtha than Iheretofore and also to greatly improve the boiling points of the naphtha to the end that it makes a more valuable product for the production of gasoline.

Having now described my'process of fractionation and apparatus for carrying itinto effect, what I claim as new and desired'to secure bylLetters Patent is the following:

1. The process of fractionally separating mixed-oil vapo'rs obtained by distillation of oil comprising continuously circulating from a-'source of supply to a mixing compartnent a liquid hydrocarbon of approximately the same composition as the oil fraction which it is desired to separate out and bringing it into intimate contactwith the mixed oil vapors to liquefy and separate from vthe residual vapors the fraction having substantially the same composition as the circulated hydrocarbon.

2. The process of fractionally se arating mixed oil vapors comprising ycontinuously circulating,T a liquid hydrocarbon of a proximately the -same composition as t e oil fraction which it is desired to separate out and bringing it into intimate contact with the mixed oil vapors to liquefy and separate from the residual vapors, the fraction having substantially the same composition as the circulated hydrocarbon and condensing the residual vapors.

3. A process of fractionating mixed hydrocarbons of different physical properties consisting in washing, cooling, absorbing and separating fractions from a vapor containing them with washing, cooling and absorbing hydrocarbons of similar physical properties, conduct-ing away the solvent and its dissolved hydrocarbons, cooling them,`

and returning a portion of the cooled hydrocarbons to the chamber from which they were withdrawn to be used again as a washing, cooling 'and absorbing medium for the hydrocarbons of similar physical properties, and condensing the residual vapors. l

4. The process of, separating 4from a mixed vapor obtained by distillation of oil, hydrocarbons of certain properties contained therein, which consists in washing, cooling, condensing and absorbing the fraction of the hydrocarbon vapor having Said properties by a cooled hydrocarbon having the same properties, conducting the condensate to a storagecompartment and drawing from the storage compartment the condensate and again bringing it into contact with fresh supplies ofthe mixed oil vapors to wash, cool, condense and absorb that fraction of the mixed vapor having the ysame roperties as the condensate, conducting tie condensate again to the same storagecompartment and repeating the cycle of operation as set forth. y

5. The process of separating mixed hydrocarbons having different boiling points comprising vaporizing the hydrocarbons and washing the vapors with a hydrocarbon having substantially the same boiling point and other physical characteristics as the hydrocarbons desired to be separated out to thus liquefy the hydrocarbon and then liquefying other liquefiable vapors of the remaining mixed hydrocarbons.

6. The process of fractionating mixed hydrocarbons which are normally liquefied at atmospheric temperatures, but which have different boiling points, comprising vaporizing the hydrocarbons, washing the vapors with a liquid hydrocarbon of substantially the same composition and boiling point as the fractions to be separated in order to liquefy and absorb the same, conducting the condensate to a storage compartment, then bringing the condensate from the storage compartment and passing it into lntlmate contact with fresh supplies of the mixed hydrocarbon vapors to condense that fraction of the vapors having the same properties as the condensa-te and in turn conducting the condensate to the storage compartment and continuously repeating this cycle of operation as described.

'i'. The process ofrfractionating mixed hydrocarbons normally liquefied at atmospheric temperatures but having different boiling points, comprising vaporizing the hydrocarbons and washing the vapor with a spray of liquid hydrocarbons simllar in boiling point and other physical characteristics of the fraction to be separated and separating the unliquefied vapors and the liquefied hydrocarbon fraction as described.

8. The process offractionating mixed hydrocarbons normally liquefied at atmospheric temperature, but having different boiling points comprising Vaporizing'the hydrocarbons, washing the vapors liquefying' and separating therefrom a fraction With a lipuid hydrocarbon having similar boiling points and other physical characteristics as those of the fraction separated, separating the remaining vapors and liquefied fractions by conducting the liquefied fractions to a storage compartment and continuously drawing from the storage compartment fresh supplies of the liquefied fractions and using the liquefied fractions as a wash oil to liquefy other vapors being treated, as described.

9. |The process of fractionating mixed hydrocarbons of different boiling points coniprising vaporizing the hydrocarbons and spraying the vapors with a liquid hydrocarbon having substantially the same boiling points and other physical characteristics as the fraction desired to be separated, separating the residual vapors and the liquefied fraction together with the admixed wash oil,v conducting the liquefied fraction` together with the admixed wash oil to a storage compartment, continuously returning a portion of the liquefied fraction and wash oil, and using the admixed liquefied fraction and wash oil to liquefy and condense other vapors containing fractions having substantially the Same properties.

l0. The process of ractionating hydrocarbons having different boiling points and other physical characteristics consisting in washing the hydrocarbons while in a vapor form with a liquid hydrocarbon having subdensing effect will be such Lacalle stantially the same boiling point andother physlcal characteristics as the fraction to be separated, .regulating the supply of liquid hydrocarbon in the washing step whereby the washin and liquefying effect Will be such as to hquefy and separate from the vaporfthe hydrocarbons having substantially the same boiling point and other similar physical characteristics to those'of the wash hydrocarbon' so that the wash hydrocarbon together with the admixed condensate will have a similar boiling point and other physical characteristics to the original Wash hydrocarbon and afte cooling may be again used as the wash hydrocarbon ina cycle of washing operations without material change 1n lts Washing and liquefying effect, and then condensing the residual washed and liquefied vapors. I

11. A process of treating rhydrocarbons consisting in subjecting the hydrocarbons while in a vapor form yto a Washing2 coollng and condensing action by a liquid hydrocarbon wash oil, regulating the supply of liquid hydrocarbon inthe Washing compartment whereby the washing, cooling and conand separate from the vapor the hydrocarbons having similar physical properties to those of the wash oil so that the wash oil together with the admixed condensate will'v have similar physical properties to the original wash oil and after cooling may be again used las the wash oil in a cycle of Washing operations Without material change in its Washing, cooling and condensing effect, then passingvthe uncondensed vapors to a similar washing, cooling and condensing compartment wherein another fraction is condensed and separated, but having a lower specific gravity corresponding to the lower specific gravit-y of the wash oil, and separately condensing the residual vapor.v

12. An apparatus for treating hydrocarbons comprising a tower2 means. for supplying hydrocarbon va )ors to said tower, a source of supply of liquid hydrocarbons, means to circulate the hydrocarbons from the .supply source through the tower back to the supply source, a cooler to cause the liquid and vapor forms of hydrocarbons to come into intimate contact whereby some of the hydrocarbon vapors are liquefied and absorbed by the liquid hydrocarbons, a condenser and an outlet. tube extending from the tower t0 the condenser to condense the remaining unliquefied vapors.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

- JOHN 'C. BLACK.

as to condense i

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