US342564A - Process of refining crude petroleum-oil - Google Patents

Description

KN'OMQaeI. i Q

v v G. L. BENTON. .v p I PROCESS OF REFINING CRUDE PETROLEUM O'IL- N0. 342,564.- Patented May 25,1886.

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srncrrrcn'rr'onr mm part or Letters Patent no; 342,554, dated my, lass.

, Application Bled rstmaryaziess. sewn n). 156,993! (No modhll 3 .'l'o all whom itjzha y concern.-

Be it known that I, GEOR E L. BnNromof Titusville, in the county of Crawford and State.

of Pennsylvania, have invented cert'ain new:

7 and useful Improvements in Processes of Refihing Crude Petroleum, of which improve;

' ments't-he following is as'peoification My invention relates to animp'roved method of refining crude petroleum that is-extracted 1o vdirectly from the earth in contradistinction to that which has undergone the usual primary distillation before refinement.

'The object of my invention is to confine the; crude petroleum under high heat and press ize simultaneously, forming a homogeneous vapor and containing in its bulk the benzine which has heretofore ordinarily been expelled therefrom and utilized for other than illuminating purposes, and this vapor, when-con-j doused, producing a homogeneous illuminating-oil, such as p n dt a Cru de petroleum 'iszhh'emically defined as homologous hydrocarbons, these hydrocar bons having difl'erent specific gravities, and

.when such petroleum is refined to a certain deg'ree it is called burning i 1- ill i gi v 1 oil. This refined petroleum is still a compound ities, and,this degree of refining being eflected by treating the crude 'oil in stills or apparatus of similar character, the petroleum of com merce is generally designated as a distillate. j- A Y The refining of petroleum as ordinarilycon-I -heat gradually increased at each stage, and

' T the first product is what is designated'as ben-- 45 zine, which, while rich in illnniinat-ingprop erties, is-too volatile to beso used with safety,

and is therefore sold for other applications and at a less price than .the heavier ,distillates.

compounds is vaporized and likewise condensed and conducted to a separate chamber,

- for such purposes, andwlgich includes paraf- Qt'hen drawn ofi. and utilizedjn various W'Vhilethe proportion of benziue'v component parts of the petroleu-m willvapo'rhereinafter more particularly consisting almost entirely of a mixture of isubjectedto-further continuous heat-until an other "and heavier class. of the hydrocarbon this second product of-the distillationbe'ing known as .illuu iu'ating--v oils, and theresiduum which is of too great specific gravity fine 'and other substances, all comprised te'hnica'lly under'the designation of f tar,-,f is

. y after treatment by difl'erentpr crude petroleumit isalwaysconsideiable," and;

"in' some cases reaches as'highaatwelvejp6r" v centgso'that it occasiqnsaseriouslossotthe v- 1 -raw material u'sedtohavthebenzine unavaila- 4 f 7 duced, as alreadymentioned, audit ifs-ca et I the objects offm'yinventionto avoid this Me for illuminating purposes; and its valir'e freand thereby i increasefthdfquantity: and m prove the quality'of the-illuminating-oil produ'cedi'roin iagiven quantity of crude material} My invention consists, essentially, in subjecting the crude pctroluem to high heatand '-'press'iire in a chamber or pipe or vessel, and

.so' regulating the'hea't applied as to raise the temperature oi'the 'crudeliqnid to about 700 h enh t f. h lf' W i TL w D Q i pressure of about ,five'h'undred pounds'per square inch, more or lessz-fl Un'de iftlii's"pressure'the liberation of any vaporiI'min"tluihi ghly-heated crude liquid is preventeduntjlthe heat shall have been continuedjlongenough" vand raised high euoughfto bring'the ,ntire body of the oil confined in "the chamberfor pipe or" vessel to;a uniform-temperature, when it is next discharged in a spray into a vaporf chamber, in which UhgllGVlOllS high temperatnreis' sti1l maintain moved. The difi'ereht-hydroca'rbons will wag;

but the 133. 9% re! porize"simultaneously, forming a homogene j ous'vapor,j (instead of first vaporizing thebe'nzine,' and. then' the nextheaviest hydrocarhens,- as heretofore mentionedJ andth cse-lib- ,eratedyapor's wi'll be ke t homogeneousf -by' the intimate'ehen ical'a nityof thciriconstituents, while anyunvaporizingportions-of the massaccumulating precipitate in this i'n termsdiate' vesseL iiroin-thc bottom' 'of which;

they maybe drawn-off through a suitable pipe and-cock. "The final'step consists in conduct i .ing the homogeneous vapors from this vaporchamber to an ordinary condenser, which may consist of a coil of pipes immersed in water in resented an apparatus such as I have used with practical success in the conduct of my I improved process.

Figure-1 is'a vertical longitudinal section through-the apparatus. Fig. 2 isa horizontal longitudjnalsectionon the line a a of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 isa plan or top view.-.

This apparatus consists of a furnace, A, constructed of brick-work, and provided with a grate, a, an ash-pit, b, a'door, c, a chimney, d, afire-bridge, e, and a chamber space, f, extending from end to end. and from side to sideof the interior of the furnace, as seen in Figs.

1and2...

Inithe chamberspace f is arranged the coiled pipe B, Fig. 2, connected at the rear end i through the furnacewall with the oil-supply,

and' provided'at this end with a pressure-gage,

S, and an overflow pressure-valve, q, of any suitable construction to preventundue increase of pressure in the pipe'B. This pipe extends at the front end through the furnace-- wall, and is provided with a pyrometer, l,

The pipe B'is continued up into the vapor-- chainber'C, as shown, and this end of the'pipe B- is provided with a rose or perforated cap, through which the highly-heated crude oil can 0 bespray'ed into the chamber G. I prefer to connect with the pipe B, outside of. the furnace, a waste-pipe, a, with a stop-cock, k, for

' apurpose to be presently described.

The vapor-chamber ()is an inclosed metallic 5 vessel of suitable strength .and madeair-tight. It is fitted intot'hetop of the furnace, as shown, and has a dished bottom, which is exposed to the'heat of theft 'rnace or chamber f, aiid it has ."an outlet-pipe, h, leading off 5o throughthefurnace to the outside. 'Undrheaththetop of this VaporchamberC, and above the spray-pipe B, is a deflecting-hood, m, extending out toward the sides of the chamber, but having an annularspace between the 5 edge of the. hood andthe side of the vapor-. chamber. In the top-Lot theviipor-chamber is' a pipe which leads ofl preferably to. the "manit'oId H,which 'isa condensing-box of the ordinary construction, and thence by pipes'to the condenser- D, orth-ervapor may pass directly from'the chamber 0 to the condenserD; and at the'lower end'ot' this condenser an airpump may be attached, as shown in thedrawings, and for a purpose to be hereinatter specifled. A stop-cock, g, is so arranged as to be operated from the outside of the'vapor-chamher, and to be opened or shut, asit is desired,

to regulate the discharge of the highly-heated oil from the pipe B into the chamber 0, or to confine it to the pipe B.

In this apparatus the operation is conducted as follows: The stop-cock y beingshut and the opened, a tire is started on the grate a, and the crude oil is let in from the supply to the coilpipe B and allowed to flow out through the waste-pipe i, (from which itis led back to the supply.) while the pipe]; and the chamber f gattain the proper temperature,which will be ascertained by the observation of the workman in charge. :Whcn he'finds that the furnace has attaine'dfthe proper temperature, he shuts the waste-cock In and the stop-cock 9 being already shut thus confines the oil in the pipe B under the pressure of the supply or of .a pump, T, which feeds the oil to the pipes.

pyrometer indicates that it has attained a temperature sufliciently high to have had the latent vaporizing eifect upon the oil, (in practice I have found this temperature to range from 700 to 1,000 Fahrenheit.) when the stopcock gis opened andthe released vaporized oil rushes out through the rose in the end of pipe B and strikes on the under side of the hood m, from which it is deflected downward, and then rises through the annular space between the hood and the wall of the chamber 0, and passes into the pipe which leads di- H, and thence by pipes to thevcondenser D, and through this condenser into a. receivingtank ,of any ordinary construction. It will be understood that the chamber 0 will have p'orized oil into'it, and that its temperature is maintained by the furnace to correspond substantially with that of the spray escaping into it from the coiled pipe B, through which the passage oi the crude oil is now kept up .cou tinually,under the regulated pressureat's'u'ch velocity as to provide time for itsrequiredincrease of temperature while passing through the furnace.

an ordinary air-pump with the lower end of the coil D at d, and thus facilitate the operaoil is raised to and maintained'at a sufliciently isrele'ased from the pressure under which it leased, it is preventedby the pressure from vaporizing at all, and, consequently, when itis C itbursts into vapor, and this vapor is entirely "homogeneous, so that, after being deflected in the chamber G and then rising again to pass oft into the condenser D, it-passes off he homogeneous volume, while depositing in the bottom of the chamberO such heavy orpon-volatilizedimpurities as may have been To promote the passage of the vapor from 'the chamber 0 to the condenser D, I connect tion. By this process I have found that the Q.

iis confined in the .pipe B, while, until so rewaste-pipe z',-connected with the pipe B, being The oil with whichthe pipe B is thus filled is v kept in the pipe under this pressure until the rectly' to the condenser D or to the manifold 10' becomeheatedbefore the admission of the'va- 9 high temperature to vaporize it as soon as it permitted to escape into the heated chamber a in the crude petroleum. These accumulating impurities are drawn ofl through the pipe h in the bottom of the chamber 0. Y a

My improved apparatus, such as I have hereinabove' described and havensed with.

practical success inthe conduct of this in proved process, forms the subject-matter of a Separate application for a patent (Serial No. 165,3l0)'under date of May 13, 1885.

In the conduct of this improved process I ,do not confine myself to the degrees of high temperature, nor to the amount of high pressu're hereinbefore mentioned,'as both require to be changed, or their propontions relativelyhave to be varied to determine either the quality of the illuminating-oil to be made from 100 to 330 Fahrenheit, to cause the-separation of the lighter gases from the heavier oils on the removal 'of' the pressure, and I therefore do not wish to claim any such process;-v

but

What I do claim as my inventiomanddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The process oflrefining crude petroleum, which consists in heating the oil to atemperatur'e ranging from abont 'i00 to 1,0009Fahrenheit,' and under a. pressure of about five hnndred'pounds, or more, to the square inch, then causing the heated oil, to expand into a chamber of approximately the same temperature, and finally conducting. it into 'an ordinary apparatus wherein it is condensed, substantially as described.

. GIJORGHL.- BENTON.

Witnesses:

'0. W. BURTIs,

J. L, Mean.

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