US1735421A - Process of blending oils - Google Patents

Description

Patented Nov. 12 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS cox; or OAKLAND, AND MARK L. REQUA, on PIEDMONT, cnnrronnrn, AND

I ALEXANDER S. KNOWLES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. .SAID COX AND SAID KNOWLES .AS-

SIGNORS T0 SAID REQUA rnoonss or ZBLENDING OILS No Drawing.

This invention relates to a process of physically and chemically combining or blending oils of the same or different bases.

It is Well known that serious difficulties are experienced in the mixing of oils to obtain permanent blends. This is true of oils from the same general source and particularly true of oils from different sources, such as petroleum oils and coal tar oils. In some cases it is difficult to prevent the separation of two oils having different boiling points or different gravity, even though they are deriv ed from the same source.

\Ve have discovered that permanent blends may be obtained by mixing the oil to be blended with finely crushed bituminous coal, subjecting this mixture to a coking process in an oven heated from below, and condensing the vapors liberated during the coking process. In order that the general principle of this process may be brought out more clearly, reference will be made to the type of coke.

oven disclosed in the patent to B. Zwillinger', issued September12, 1922, No. 1,428,621, as an oven of this character, or in other words, an oven heated from the bottom only is essential to the successful operation of the process forming the subject matter of the present application.

Before proceeding with the description of the oven and the actual operation of the process, it should be understood that one of the oils to be blended is in all instances a coal tar oil, and that this coal tar oil is obtained durin the o eration of the rocess of cokin a coal; further that while the present application is more or less limited in its description to the blending of a petroleum oil or tar with the coal tar oil, it should be understood that oils or tars from other sources may be blended with the coal tar oil.

The oven disclosed in the Zwillinger patent referred to is constructed of a suitable refractory material, It is approximately thirty feet long and six feet wide. The side walls are approximately thirty inches high and support an arch which is alsoconstructed of suitable refractorymaterial. The ends of the oven are provided withdoors and the arch Wit-h charging openings, these openings to- Application filed August 10,1925. Serial No. 49,216.

gether with the doors being sealed during the coking and distilling operation to prevent admission of air. The oven is heated from below only and coking accordingly takes place from the bottom upwardly.

In processes of this character it is impossible to specifically give examples of predetermined proportions of coal and oil. The reasons therefor are: First of all, different grades of coal will produce distillates of dif ferent gravity, secondly difierent grades or varieties of oil will give distillates of differv ent gravity. Hence, if a request is made for a blended oil having a certain specific gravity, it is essential to do certain experimental work before such an order can be filled. Ap-

plicants, who have done most of their work in California, have carried on most-of this work with so-called Utah soft coal, and they have mixed with it California asphaltic base crude oils. I-Ience, when working with these mateobtain a blended oil consisting of creosote and crude oil and having a gravity of 1.02 it would be necessary to make another test of another 100 assay ton load of the same coal, and to this add a small amountfor instance 18 grav-. ity crude oil, for instance 2% by weight. The oil and coal would be thoroughly mixed and then retorted, and the resulting blended oil obtained would be tested, and the test might,

indicate that approximatel 4% by weight of crude oil wasnecessary. third test would then be run in the experimental retort. The same amount of coal, plus 4% by weight of 18 gravity crude oil would be added to the coal, the whole mixture would be retorted and the blended oil would then be tested for gravity,

and if it proved to be 1.02 theexact proportion of coal and oil would be known and ed oil desired is to be of the gravity 1.02. To

'90 for instance, show 1.06 gravity. This would I large batches of the proportions specified would then be run through the oven.

In actual operation, the coal from which the coal tar oil is obtained is crushed to a suitable fineness. The coal is deposited through he charging openings and is spread over the bottom to form a bed of suitable thickness, usually from five to twelve inches. The oven is provided with a series of spray pipes, and the oil to be blended with the coal tar oil is delivered to these pipes and sprayed over the coal mass, the amount sprayed being determined so that the final blended oil ob tained will contain a certain percentage of coal tar oil and the other oil to be blended.

In this instance we will assume that the oil to be blended is petroleum oil and that it is sprayed over a finely crushed coal bed in such quantities that a predetermined mixture of coal and oil will be obtainec. An examination shows that every particle 01" ceal is covered completely with a film of oil, and an intimate mixture is therefore obtained which is of great importance and which will hereinafter appear. The coking and blending action begin as soon as the coal is charged the oil applied. The vapors liberated both from the coal and the oil filter through the overhead coal where a part of the vapors condense. The condensed oils move upwardly as the cokingproceeds and such concentration results in a continuous production of oil and gas for several hours, the quality of both being high until about the last hour of distillat-ion. The vapors liberated are delivered to a standard form of condensing apparatus where the vapors are condensed and the blended oil obtained.

The by-products and oils produced in this process from a mixture of coil and petroleum oil or tar are different in character from oils obtained from the usual methods of blending and distillation. The blended oil produced is comparatively free from heavy pitchy material and is of considerable economic value, as it permits cheaper production and produces by-products of greater value.

In actual practice, we believe that the type of even here described and heated from below only will produce the best results when a bottom temperature or 800 to 1300 G. is maintained. This results in the production of high temperature coke but comparatively lowtemperature distillation products. This is due to the fact that the temperature in and above the coal mass remains comparatively low; The oils remain liquid at atmosaheric temperature. r

The oil may be employed for creosoting purposes as recovered, or it may be distilled and the fractions treated by the usual standard methods to produce motor fuel, crecte oil. cresylic acid, flotation oil, disinfectants, and several other marketable products. The point of particular importance is that apermanently blended oil is obtained and that the blending takes place in the coke oven and in the coalbed while the oils areinavaporizedstate. In other words, as the oil is so intimately fully mixed with the fine coal particles, an intimate physical mixture of the gases and vapors is obtained during their nascent state. They are thus permitted to combine chemically and physically and it is for this reason that a permanent blend is obtained when the vapors and gases are finally condensed.

?ractically any petroleum oil or tar may be blended with a coal tar oil in this manner, and tars and oils from other sources may be similarly blended by mixing with the crushed coal as already described. A commercial coke is obtained in each instance, and this obviously forms a valuable lay-product.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat cnt is:

A process of producing a creosote oil of undetermined gravity, which consists in "nixing a predetermined proportion ofpetroemn oil intimately with a predetermined proion of finely crushed coal, coking the mixfrom below and upwardly under a temerature sufficiently low to chemically blend and liberate a maximum amount of vapors d minimum of gas, and ccndensing the V947 ore and gases liberated.

THOMAS COX. MARK L. REQUA. ALEXANDER S. KNOWLES.