WO2007001706A2

WO2007001706A2 - Bitumen production-upgrade with common or different solvents

Info

Publication number: WO2007001706A2
Application number: PCT/US2006/020396
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rashid Iqbal; Anshumali; Raymond H. Floyd
Original assignee: Kellogg Brown & Root, Llc
Priority date: 2005-06-21
Filing date: 2006-05-25
Publication date: 2007-01-04
Also published as: BRPI0607426A2; RU2403275C2; RU2008102069A; EP2166063A1; MX2007009259A; CN101203586A; BRPI0607426B1; WO2007001706A3; CA2592392C; EP1844124A4; CA2592392A1; US20060283776A1; EP2762550A1; US7749378B2; EP2166063B1; EP1844124A2; CN101203586B

Abstract

Disclosed is a process for the upgrading of heavy oils and bitumens, where the total feed to the process can include heavy oil or bitumen, water, and diluent. The process can include the steps of solvent deasphalting (110) the total feed (105) to recover an asphaltene fraction (116), a deasphalted oil fraction (118) essentially free of asphaltenes, a water fraction (112), and a solvent fraction (114). The process allows removal of salts from the heavy oils and bitumens either into the aqueous products or with the asphaltene product.

Description

BITUMEN PRODUCTION-UPGRADE WITH COMMON OR

DIFFERENT SOLVENTS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[oooi] The present invention generally relates to the upgrading of heavy

oils and bitumens. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process

for the upgrading of heavy oils and bitumens including one or more of the steps

of production, desalting, dewatering, fractionation, solvent extraction, delayed

coking, thermal cracking, fluid catalytic cracking and hydrotreating and / or

hydrocracking to produce synthetic crude and/or naphtha, distillate and gas oil

streams.

[0002] Refiners continue to seek improved methods for processing and

converting heavy crude oil resources into more useful oils and end products.

The heavier crudes, which can include bitumens, bitumens from tar sands, and

other heavy oils, pose processing problems due to the presence of salts, metals,

and organic acids. Bitumens and heavy oils are extremely viscous, resulting in

problems in transporting the raw materials by traditional means. Heavy oils and

bitumens often must be maintained at elevated temperatures to remain flowable,

and/or mixed with a lighter hydrocarbon diluent for pipeline transportation. The

diluent can be expensive and additional cost is normally incurred in transporting

it to the location where production is occurring. [0003] Additionally, natural occurring water in the oils, commonly known

as produced water, contains salts. This water is in some processes vaporized to

meet pipeline specifications for water content. Salts are thus left in the oil and

then transported with the heavy oil or bitumen or with the solvent diluted heavy

oil or bitumen.

[0004] Fig. 1 illustrates one of the process schemes for the processing of

heavy oil or bitumen to convert into and recover useful hydrocarbon products.

A heavy crude oil or bitumen feed 10 produced from a well, by an in-situ

production method such as steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) or by a

mining operation, can be mixed with a diluent to keep the mixture viscosity in a

desired range for transport to a refinery or other facility for processing, and can

also include water, salts, metals, silt, etc. Total feed 10 is ideally first processed

to remove the water and salt from the hydrocarbons in desalter 12; the water and

salt can be recovered via stream 14.

[0005] The hydrocarbons can be recovered in stream 16 and fed to crude

or atmospheric distillation unit 18 to recover the diluent 20 and to obtain

straight run naphtha, distillates, gas oil, and the like, recovered in stream 22.

Diluent 20 can be recovered and returned to heavy oil or bitumen production or

mining facilities via a pipeline. The atmospheric tower bottoms (ATB) residue

24 is usually further processed to increase the yield of the more valuable

products, e.g. naphtha, distillates and gas oil. The ATB residue 24 may contain

a large proportion of hydrocarbons boiling above 565°C (1050⁰F), as well as nitrogen, sulfur, and organometallic compounds, and Conradson carbon residue

(CCR), and can be difficult to process. Frequently, a vacuum distillation tower

26 is employed to recover additional vacuum gas oil 28 from the ATB residue

24. The vacuum tower bottoms (VTB) residue 30 is even more concentrated in

high-boiling hydrocarbons, e.g. normally boiling at greater than 565°C

(1050⁰F), as well as CCR, sulfur, nitrogen and organometallic compounds.

[0006] In typical refinery processing with a vacuum distillation tower 26,

the VTB residue 30 (and/or the ATB residue 24) can be fed to solvent

deasphalting 32 (SDA). The solvent deasphalting 32 contacts the residue with

propane, butane, pentane, hexane, or a combination thereof, or a like solvent (at

either subcritical or supercritical conditions, e.g. residuum oil supercritical

extraction or ROSE®; other SDA processes can include DEMEX and

SOLVAHL, or conventional solvent deasphalting) to separate the asphaltenes

34 from deasphalted oil (DAO) 36 (and/or resins). The DAO 36 has lower

levels of CCR, sulfur, nitrogen, and metals than the atmospheric resid/vacuum

resid feed since these constituents are disproportionately retained with the

asphaltenes 34.

[0007] The products 22, 28 obtained from the atmospheric tower 18 and

vacuum tower 26, as well as DAO 36 from the solvent deasphalting 32, can be

combined to form distillate stream 38. Distillate stream 38 or the individual

product streams 22, 28, 36 are usually further processed to upgrade the

hydrocarbons and remove additional nitrogen and sulfur in order to facilitate processing in catalytic cracking units, hydrotreating and hydrocracking units of

any type, and the like, without prematurely poisoning their catalysts.

[0008] The typical Fig. 1 process for the separation and upgrading of

heavy oil or bitumen feed into useful products involves several processing steps

and can require a substantial capital investment. Additionally, the bitumen or

heavy oil feed can include acidic species. Any acid in the bitumen or heavy oil

feed can also require the use of expensive metallurgy in fractionation equipment

usually operating above 232⁰C (450⁰F).

[0009] In U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,998, Rendall discloses the extraction of

bitumen oils from tar-sands with hot water. Other water or solvent extraction

processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,160,718 to Rendall; 4,347,118 to

Funk, et al.; 3,925,189 to Wicks, III; and 4,424,112 to Rendall.

[ooio] Other representative references directed to the production of crude

petroleum from tar sands include Canadian Patent Application 2,069,515 by

Kovalsky; US Patent 5,046,559 to Glandt; US Patent 5,318, 124 to Ong et al; US

Patent 5,215,146 to Sanchez; and Good, "Shell/Aostra Peace River Horizontal

Well Demonstration Project," 6^th UNITAR Conference on Heavy Crude and Tar

Sands (1995).

[ooii] Solvent extraction of the residuum oil has been known since the

1930's, as previously described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,920, to Garwin. Other

representative solvent deasphalting techniques using supercritical solvent

conditions are described, for example, in publications such as Northup et al., "Advances in Solvent Deasphalting Technology," presented at the 1996 NPRA

Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, March 17-19, 1996, and Nelson et al,

"ROSE®: The Energy-Efficient, Bottom-of-the-Barrel Alternative," presented

at the 1985 Spring AIChE Meeting, Houston, Texas, March 24-25, 1985, all of

5 which are incorporated herein by reference. Improved techniques in solvent

extraction have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,303 to Ganeshan. U.S.

Pat. No. 6,357,526 discloses a process and system which integrates on-site

heavy oil or bitumen upgrading and energy recovery for steam production with

steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) production of the heavy oil or bitumen

10 which is maintained at elevated temperature for pumping to the upgrading unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The process of the present invention can decrease the capital

investment required, decrease operating expenses, improve operating reliability

and can greatly simplify the processing steps needed to process a total feed from

15. heavy oil or bitumen from mining or SAGD, or other in-situ production

methods. The invention can use a diluent to transport the heavy oil or bitumen

to a solvent deasphalting unit, which can conveniently use the diluent as the

deasphalted oil (DAO) extraction solvent. Solvent recovered within the

deasphalting unit is then returned to the heavy oil or bitumen production site for

20 use as a diluent. Alternately the invention can use a blend of solvents for

. deasphalting oil, for example where one of the blend components can be the

diluent used to transport the heavy oil or bitumen. The solvent can, when needed, be fractionated to recover diluent for return to the production site. The

present invention can process the total heavy oil or bitumen feed, thus

eliminating the need for front-end desalting and fractionation. Desalting and

water separation in one embodiment can be effected in a modified solvent

deasphalting operation.

[0013] In one embodiment, the present invention provides an integrated

process for transporting and upgrading heavy oil or bitumen, comprising:

diluting the heavy oil or bitumen with a diluent comprising a hydrocarbon

having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms primarily for the purpose of forming a

pumpable mixture, e.g. at ambient pipeline temperature conditions; transporting

the mixture, e.g. via pipeline, to a solvent deasphalting unit that can be at a

remote location; solvent deasphalting the mixture to recover an asphaltene

fraction, a deasphalted oil fraction essentially free of asphaltenes, and a solvent

fraction comprising said diluent; recycling where required a portion of the

recovered solvent as the diluent for the heavy oil or bitumen.

[0014] The heavy oil or bitumen can have an API gravity from 2 to 15.

The heavy oil or bitumen can have a total acid number of between 0.5 and 6.

The heavy oil or bitumen can have a basic sediment and water (BS&W) content

from 0.1 to 6 weight percent. The heavy oil or bitumen can contain more than

1.4 g chloride salt per m3 (0.5 g per 1000 42-gallon barrels of crude), or more

than 2.85 g/m3 chloride salt (1 g per 1000 42-gallon barrels of crude) in another

embodiment. [0015] As used herein, "essentially free of a component means having

less than 0.1 weight percent of that component, or less than 0.01 weight percent

in another embodiment. For example, "essentially free of water" means less

than 0.1 weight percent water, or less than 0.01 weight percent.

[0016] The heavy oil or bitumen can contain water, and the solvent

deasphalting can include sour water recovery wherein the deasphalted oil

fraction is essentially free of water. The heavy oil or bitumen can also contain

chloride salts, and the solvent deasphalting can include desalting downstream

from an asphaltene separator wherein the deasphalted oil fraction is essentially

free of chloride salts. In one embodiment, the process can comprise injecting

water into the mixture at or upstream from the solvent deasphalting to facilitate

the desalting.

[0017] In one embodiment the asphaltene separation, the deasphalted oil

separator, and solvent stripping of deasphalted oil during the solvent

deasphalting can occur at a temperature of 232⁰C (45O⁰F) or less, decreasing

organic acid attack and minimizing the need for high alloy metals in the solvent

deasphalting equipment.

[ooi8] The diluted heavy oil or bitumen can have a ratio of from 1 to 10

parts by weight diluent per part by weight heavy oil or bitumen. The solvent

deasphalting can have a ratio of from 1 to 10 parts by weight solvent per part by

weight heavy oil or bitumen. [0019] The solvent can be a hydrocarbon having 3 to 8 carbon atoms or a

combination thereof. In another embodiment, the solvent can be a hydrocarbon

having 4 to 7 carbon atoms or a combination thereof, e.g. naphtha. In another

embodiment, the solvent can be a hydrocarbon having 5 or 6 carbon atoms or a

combination thereof. The process of the present invention can operate without

desalting the heavy oil or bitumen upstream from the solvent deasphalting. The

solvent deasphalting can operate on total heavy oil or bitumen feed without any

pretreatment.

[0020] In another embodiment, the present invention provides a process

for upgrading a total feed comprising heavy oil or bitumen with solvent and

water, comprising: supplying the total feed to an asphaltene separator at

asphaltene separation conditions to produce an asphaltene-rich stream and an

asphaltene-lean stream; stripping solvent from the asphaltene-rich stream to

form an asphaltene fraction essentially free of water and recover a first solvent

stream to a solvent recovery system; separating the asphaltene-lean stream in a

deasphalted oil separator to form a deasphalted oil stream and recover a second

solvent stream to the solvent recovery system; stripping solvent from the

deasphalted oil stream to form a deasphalted oil fraction essentially free of

water and recover a third solvent stream to the solvent recovery system;

separating water from the solvent recovery system; and recovering water from

the deasphalted oil separator, the deasphalted oil stream, or a combination

thereof. [0021] The total feed can comprise heavy oil or bitumen with an API

gravity from 2 to 15 on a solvent free basis. The total feed can have a total acid

number between 0.5 and 6 on a solvent free basis. The total feed can have a

basic sediment and water content from 0.1 to 6 weight percent on a solvent free

basis. The total feed can comprise chloride salts.

[0022] The water recovery can include cooling the deasphalted oil stream

and recovering an aqueous phase prior to the solvent stripping of the

deasphalted oil stream. In another embodiment, the chloride salts are removed

with the recovered aqueous phase. In another embodiment, chloride salts are

recovered with the asphaltene fraction.

[0023] The process of the present invention can include recycling solvent

from the solvent recovery system through a solvent recycle line to the

asphaltene separator. The solvent recovery system can include a solvent return

line from the second solvent stream, through a cross-exchanger for heating the

asphaltene-lean stream, and to the solvent recycle line.

[0024] The water recovery can include cooling solvent in the solvent

return line and recovering a water stream by phase separation upstream from the

solvent recycle line. The process of the present invention can include

recovering a water-rich stream from the deasphalted oil separator.

[0025] The solvent stripping from the asphaltene-rich stream and the

deasphalted oil stream can comprise steam stripping. The total feed can include hydrogen sulfide, and the recovered water, separated water or both can include

hydrogen sulfide.

[0026] The process of the present invention can further include the steps

of pipelining solvent from the solvent recovery system to heavy oil or bitumen

production at a remote location, diluting the heavy oil or bitumen with the

excess solvent to form the total feed, and pipelining the total feed to the

asphaltene separator.

[0027] The process can include adding water into the total feed upstream

from the asphaltene separator. The solvent can be a hydrocarbon having from 3

to 8 carbon atoms or a combination thereof. In other embodiments, the solvent

can be a hydrocarbon having 4 to7 carbon atoms, or 5 to 6 carbon atoms, or a

combination thereof.

[0028] The present invention also provides an apparatus for upgrading a

total feed comprising heavy oil or bitumen with solvent and water, comprising:

means for supplying the total feed to an asphaltene separator at asphaltene

separation conditions to produce an asphaltene-rich stream and an asphaltene-

lean stream; means for stripping solvent from the asphaltene-rich stream to form

an asphaltene fraction essentially free of water and recover a first solvent stream

to a solvent recovery system; means for separating the asphaltene-lean stream in

a deasphalted oil separator to form a deasphalted oil stream and recover a

second solvent stream to the solvent recovery system; means for stripping

solvent from the deasphalted oil stream to form a deasphalted oil fraction essentially free of water and recover a third solvent stream to the solvent

recovery system; means for separating water from the solvent recovery system;

and means for recovering water from the deasphalted oil separator, the

deasphalted oil stream, or a combination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] For a more detailed description of the illustrated embodiments of

the present invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying

drawings, wherein:

[0030] Fig. 1 illustrates a typical prior art process flow diagram for

processing bitumen and heavy oil.

[0031] Fig. 2 shows a process according to one embodiment of the

invention for the partial upgrading of heavy oil or bitumen feedstock utilizing a

modified ROSE® process to process the total feed.

[0032] Fig. 3 shows a simplified flow diagram of the modified ROSE®

process of Fig. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] The process of the present invention can decrease the required

capital investment, decrease operating expenses, and greatly simplify the

processing steps needed to process a total feed from heavy oil or bitumen

mining or production, as will be readily ascertained by the following

description. The process of the present invention can eliminate the desalter, atmospheric and vacuum distillation units, thus simplifying the overall

processing scheme and reducing the capital required when constructing a plant.

[0034] The produced oil, heavy oil or bitumen, can be mixed with a

diluent to produce easily transportable oil, where the diluent is also suitable as a

solvent for solvent deasphalting. The diluent can be a hydrocarbon having 3 to

8 carbon atoms, or a combination thereof. The diluted heavy oil or bitumen can

have a ratio of from 3 to 10 parts by weight diluent per part by weight heavy oil

or bitumen.

[0035] In certain embodiments, the heavy oil or bitumen can have a basic

sediment and water content (BS&W) from 0 to 6 weight percent or more, on a

diluent free basis. In other embodiments, the heavy oil or bitumen can include

salts, some of which are chloride salts, where the salt content of the heavy oil or

bitumen is greater than 0.23 kg (0.5 pounds) of salt per 159 m3 (1000 barrels) of

heavy oil or bitumen, on a diluent free basis. In other embodiments, the heavy

oil or bitumen can include hydrogen sulfide.

[0036] Referring to Fig. 2, in one embodiment of the process 100 of the

present invention, a total feed 105 (including the produced oil, diluent, and any

water, silt, and salts) can be fed directly to a solvent deasphalting unit 110.

[0037] Deasphalting unit 110 can separate the total feed 105 into water

fraction 112, diluent fraction 114, asphaltene fraction 116, and deasphalted oil

fraction 118. Solvent deasphalting unit 110 can operate at moderate

temperatures (mostly less than 232⁰C (450⁰F), for example) and can effectively reduce the need for high metallurgy. The solvent deasphalting unit 110 can be

conventional, employing equipment and methodologies for solvent deasphalting

which are widely available in the art, for example, under the trade designations

ROSE®, SOLVAHL, DEMEX, or the like, or can be a modified ROSE®

process as described below with reference to Fig. 3.

[0038] Asphaltene fraction 116 can be forwarded to a process 120 where

the asphaltene can be upgraded or otherwise advantageously used for energy

generation. For example, asphaltenes 116 can be pelletized, used to produce

asphalt, processed in a coker, gasification process, or combusted to produce

steam, or made into asphalt for road pavement. Deasphalted oil fraction 118

can be forwarded to other upgrading processes (122) such as hydrotreating,

hydrocracking fluid catalytic cracking units, visbreaking and thermal cracking

processes, etc., or could simply be blended into fuel oil or other product

streams. For a total feed 105 having a high metal content, the DAO can be

supplied to an FCC unit having a low conversion activity catalyst for the

removal of metals (see, for example, US Serial No. 10/711,176, filed August 30,

2004 by Iqbal et al.).

[0039] Fig. 3 illustrates a simplified flow diagram of one embodiment of

the modified solvent deasphalting unit 110. The total feed 105 is supplied to

asphaltene separator 140. Additional diluent or solvent, if necessary, can be

introduced via lines 142 and 144 into feed line 105 and asphaltene separator

140, respectively. If desired, all or part of the solvent can be introduced into the feed line 105 via line 142. If desired, a conventional mixing element 146 can be

employed to mix in the solvent introduced from line 142.

The asphaltene separator 140 contains conventional contacting elements

such as bubble trays, packing elements such as rings or saddles, structural

packing such as that available under the trade designation ROSEMAX, or the

like. In the asphaltene separator 140, the total feed 105 separates into a

solvent/deasphalted oil (DAO) phase, and an asphaltene phase. The lighter

solvent/DAO phase passes upwardly while the heavier asphaltene phase travels

downwardly through separator 140. The asphaltene phase is collected from the

bottom of the asphaltene separator 140 via line 148, heated in heat exchanger

150 and fed to flash tower or asphaltene stripper 152. The asphaltene phase is

stripped of solvent in asphaltene stripper 152. The asphaltene is recovered as a

bottoms product in line 116, and solvent vapor overhead in line 156.

The asphaltene separator 140 is maintained at an elevated temperature

and pressure sufficient to effect a separation of the petroleum residuum and

solvent mixture into a solvent/DAO phase and an asphaltene phase. Typically,

asphaltene separator 140 can be maintained at a sub-critical temperature of the

solvent and a pressure level at least equal to the critical pressure of the solvent.

The solvent/DAO phase can be collected overhead from the asphaltene

separator 140 via line 158 and conventionally heated via heat exchanger 160,

which can integrate heat recovery and conventional heat exchange as required.

The heated solvent/DAO phase can be next supplied to DAO separator 162. As is well known, the temperature and pressure of the solvent/DAO phase

is manipulated to cause a DAO phase to separate from a solvent phase. The

DAO separator 162 is maintained at an elevated temperature and pressure

sufficient to effect a separation of the solvent/DAO mixture into solvent and

DAO-rich phases. In the DAO separator 162, the heavier DAO phase passes

downwardly while the lighter solvent phase passes upwardly. The DAO-rich

phase is collected from the bottom of the DAO separator 162 via line 164. The

DAO-rich phase is fed to flash tower or DAO stripper 166 where it is stripped to

obtain a DAO product via bottoms line 118 and solvent vapor in overhead line

168. Solvent is recovered overhead from DAO separator 162 via line 170. A

portion of the diluent recovered in line 170 can be fed to heat exchangers 160

via line 172 and cooled in heat exchangers 160, 173 for recirculation via pump

174 and lines 142, 144. The remaining diluent recovered in line 170 and the

diluent recovered from vapor lines 156 and 168 can be condensed in heat

exchanger 176, accumulated in surge drum 178 and recycled via pump 180 and

line 182. Any excess diluent can be recovered via line 114 and can be returned

to heavy oil or bitumen production or mining facilities via a pipeline.

[0040] The DAO separator 162 typically is maintained at a temperature

higher than the temperature in the asphaltene separator 140. The pressure level

in DAO separator 162 is maintained at least equal to the critical pressure of the

solvent when maintained at a temperature equal to or above the critical temperature of the solvent. Particularly, the temperature level in DAO separator

162 is maintained above the critical temperature of the solvent.

[0041] Any water and salt entering with the total feed 105 can be

processed in the asphaltene separator 140. Water will be proportioned into

streams 148 and 158 based upon solubility of the water in the respective

fractions (as a function of temperature, pressure, diluent type, and others).

Water in asphaltene separator 140 bottoms stream 148 can be flashed overhead

in asphaltene stripper 152 and collected in overhead stream 156 along with any

steam supplied to stripper 152 via line 184.

[0042] Water in asphaltene separator 140 overhead stream 158 can be

processed in DAO separator 162, and will be proportioned into streams 170,

164 based upon solubility of the water in the respective diluent and DAO

fractions. If diluent recycle can result in a sufficient water concentration such

that a water phase can form, water can be recovered via line 185 from the DAO

separator 162; a water phase can also form in the diluent recycle system (lines

172, 170), or in the DAO bottoms stream.

[0043] If necessary, the portion of the water remaining with DAO

separator bottoms stream 164 can be separated from the DAO in water separator

186 and recovered via line 187 prior to feeding the DAO separator 162 bottoms

to the DAO stripper 166. For example, water separator 186 can be a flash

separator or can be a liquid-liquid separator wherein the DAO separator bottoms

stream 164 is cooled in heat exchanger 188 and phase separated in water separator 186 to recover water and chloride salts, if present, from the DAO via

line 187. Water can also be flashed overhead in the DAO stripper 166,

combined with any steam injected via line 189 into the DAO stripper 166, and

recovered via line 168.

[0044] Any water produced overhead in DAO separator 162 can be

collected in streams 170, 172. Stream 172 can be cooled in heat exchangers

160, 173, and, if necessary or desired, the water can be separated from the

diluent in water separator 190 and recovered via line 191 prior to recycling the

water via pump 174. Water in streams 156, 168, 170 can be removed in surge

drum 178, with the water recovered via stream 192.

[0045] Foul water streams 185, 187, 191, 192 can be combined to form

foul water fraction 112 (see Fig. 2). Water fraction 112can include salts and

hydrogen sulfide in total feed 105, as well as other components, such as a small

amount of soluble hydrocarbons, for example.

[0046] Often, water is removed from the bitumen or heavy oil prior to

transport in pipelines, with substantial salt remaining with the bitumen or heavy

oil. If required, seed water stream 194 can be combined with a bitumen or

heavy oil feed to form total feed stream 105, facilitating salt removal.

Optionally, seed water stream 194 can be used to add additional water to total

feed stream 105 to improve the water and salt separations achieved in water

separators 186, 190. [0047] As mentioned above, the produced oil can be mixed with a diluent

to produce easily transportable oil, where the diluent is also suitable as a solvent

for the solvent deasphalting process 110. If required, an initial charge or

makeup solvent can be added to SDA 110 via line 196. Where the diluent

supplied with the produced oil varies in composition or ratio from the solvent

used in deasphalting process 110, the diluent can be replaced or its quality

adjusted by blending with other hydrocarbons upstream or within the

deasphalting process 110 and the ratio adjusted by including an internal solvent

recycle stream within the deasphalting unit..

[0048] As an example of the process as described in Fig. 3, where stream

172 and related equipment are not included, a total feed 105, at a rate of 15,500

m /day (130,000 barrels (U.S., liquid) per day), contains 1 weight percent water,

27.5 weight percent asphaltene,^' and 71.5 weight percent DAO. The required

solvent to oil ratio for proper deasphalting can be achieved by mixing the feed

with recycle solvent streams 142 and 144, comprising 2.3 weight percent water

and 97.7 weight percent C5's. The combined stream, having 5.4 weight percent

asphaltene, 14.1 weight percent DAO, 78.4 weight percent diluent, and 2 weight

percent water, can be fed to asphaltene separator 140, operating at a temperature

range of between 149 - 204⁰C (300 - 400⁰F) and a pressure of between 2 - 7

MPa (290 - 1015 psia), resulting in asphaltene-rich stream 148 and DAO-rich

stream 158. Asphaltene-rich stream 148 can have approximately 73.8 weight

percent asphaltene, 0.007 weight percent water, and 25.5 weight percent diluent. DAO-rich stream 158 can have approximately 15.3 weight percent DAO₅ 2.1

weight percent water, and 82.5 weight percent diluent.

[0049] Asphaltene-rich stream 148 can be fed to asphaltene stripper 152,

operating at a temperature range of between 176 - 288⁰C (350 - 55O⁰F) and a

pressure of between 0.05 - 0.2 MPa (7 - 29 psia), resulting in asphaltene

stripper overhead stream 156, having approximately 2.6 weight percent water

and 97.4 weight percent diluent, exclusive of any steam used in the stripping

process; the asphaltene can be recovered in stream 116 essentially free of

diluent and water.

[0050] DAO rich stream 158 can be heated in heat exchanger 160 and fed

to DAO separator 162, operating at a temperature range of between 176 -

26O⁰C (350 - 500⁰F) and a pressure of between 2 - 7 MPa (290 - 1015 psia),

resulting in DAO separator bottoms stream 164, having approximately 71.7

weight percent DAO, 27.6 weight percent diluent, and 0.7 weight percent water.

DAO separator overhead stream 170 can comprise approximately 2.5 weight

percent water and 97.5 weight percent diluent. Stream 164 can be fed to DAO

stripper 166, operating at a temperature range of between 176 - 260⁰C (350 -

550⁰F) and a pressure of between 0.05 - 0.2 MPa (7 - 29 psia), resulting in

DAO stripper overhead stream 168, having approximately 2.5 weight percent

water and 97.5 weight percent diluent, exclusive of any steam used in the

stripping process; the DAO can be recovered in stream 118 essentially free of

diluent and water. [0051] Solvent-rich streams 156, 168, 170 can be collected and cooled in

heat exchanger 176. The resulting stream can be received in water separator

178, where a fraction of the water can be recovered, and the remaining water

and solvent recycled in stream 142.

[0052] AU patents, patent applications, and other documents referred to

herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for purposes of U.S.

patent practice and other jurisdictions where permitted.

[0053] Numerous embodiments and alternatives thereof have been

disclosed. While the above disclosure includes the best mode belief in carrying

out the invention as contemplated by the inventors, not all possible alternatives

have been disclosed. For that reason, the scope and limitation of the present

invention is not to be restricted to the above disclosure, but is instead to be

defined and construed by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated process for transporting and upgrading heavy oil or bitumen,

comprising:

diluting the heavy oil or bitumen with a diluent comprising a hydrocarbon

having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms to form a mixture;

transporting the mixture to a solvent deasphalting unit;

solvent deasphalting the mixture to recover an asphaltene fraction, a

deasphalted oil fraction essentially free of asphaltenes, and a solvent

fraction comprising said diluent;

recycling at least a portion of the recovered solvent as the diluent to the

heavy oil or bitumen dilution.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen has an API gravity

from 2 to 15.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen has a total acid

number between 0.5 and 6.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen has a basic

sediment and water content from 0.1 to 6 weight percent.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen contains water, and

the solvent deasphalting includes sour water recovery wherein the

deasphalted oil fraction is essentially free of water.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen contains chloride

salts, and the solvent deasphalting includes desalting downstream from an

asphaltene separator wherein the deasphalted oil fraction is essentially free

of chloride salts.

7. The process of claim 6 comprising injecting water into the mixture at or

upstream from the solvent deasphalting to facilitate said desalting.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein asphaltene separation conditions, a

deasphalted oil separator and solvent stripping of deasphalted oil in the

solvent deasphalting comprise a temperature of 232⁰C (45O⁰F) or less.

9. The process of claim 1 wherein the dilution of the heavy oil or bitumen

comprise a ratio of from 1 to 10 parts by weight diluent per part by weight

heavy oil or bitumen.

lO.The process of claim 1 wherein the solvent deasphalting is at a ratio of from

1 to 10 parts by weight solvent per part by weight heavy oil or bitumen.

11. The process of claim 1 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon having

3 to 8 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

12. The process of claim 1 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon having

4 to 7 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

13. The process of claim 1 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon having

5 or 6 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

14. The process of claim 1 wherein the heavy oil or bitumen is free of desalting

upstream from the solvent deasphalting.

15.A process for upgrading a total feed comprising heavy oil or bitumen with

solvent and water, comprising:

supplying the total feed to an asphaltene separator at asphaltene

separation conditions to produce an asphaltene-rich stream and an

asphaltene-lean stream;

stripping solvent from the asphaltene-rich stream to form an asphaltene

fraction essentially free of water and recover a first solvent stream to a

solvent recovery system;

separating the asphaltene-lean stream in a deasphalted oil separator to

form a deasphalted oil stream and recover a second solvent stream to

the solvent recovery system;

stripping solvent from the deasphalted oil stream to form a deasphalted

oil fraction essentially free of water and recover a third solvent stream

to the solvent recovery system;

separating water from the solvent recovery system; and

recovering water from the deasphalted oil separator, the deasphalted oil

stream, or a combination thereof.

16. The process of claim 15 wherein the total feed comprises heavy oil or

bitumen with an API gravity from 2 to 15 on a solvent free basis.

17. The process of claim 15 wherein the total feed has a total acid number

between 0.5 and 6 on a solvent free basis.

18. The process of claim 15 wherein the total feed has a basic sediment and

water content from 0.1 to 6 weight percent on a solvent free basis.

19. The process of claim 15 wherein the water recovery comprises cooling the

deasphalted oil stream and recovering an aqueous phase prior to the solvent

stripping of the deasphalted oil stream.

20. The process of claim 19 wherein the total feed comprises chloride salts.

21. The process of claim 20 wherein chloride salts are removed with the

recovered aqueous phase.

22. The process of claim 20 wherein chloride salts are recovered with the

asphaltene fraction.

23. The process of claim 17 wherein the asphaltene separation conditions, the

deasphalted oil separator and the solvent stripping of the deasphalted oil

comprise a temperature of 232⁰C (45O⁰F) or less.

24.The process of claim 15 comprising recycling solvent from the solvent

recovery system through a solvent recycle line to the asphaltene separator.

25. The process of claim 24 wherein the solvent recovery system includes a

solvent return line from the second solvent stream, through a cross-

exchanger for heating the asphaltene-lean stream, and to the solvent recycle

line.

26. The process of claim 25 wherein the water recovery comprises cooling

solvent in the solvent return line and recovering a water stream by phase

separation upstream from the solvent recycle line.

27. The process of claim 15 comprising recovering a water-rich stream from the

deasphalted oil separator.

28. The process of claim 15 wherein the solvent stripping from the asphaltene-

rich stream and the deasphalted oil stream comprises steam stripping.

29. The process of claim 15 wherein the total feed comprises hydrogen sulfide,

and the recovered water, separated water or both include hydrogen sulfide.

30. The process of claim 15 further comprising the steps of pipelining excess

solvent from the solvent recovery system to heavy oil or bitumen production

at a remote location, diluting the heavy oil or bitumen with the excess

solvent to form the total feed, and pipelining the total feed to the asphaltene

separator.

31. The process of claim 15 comprising adding water into the total feed

upstream from the asphaltene separator.

32. The process of claim 15 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon

having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

33. The process of claim 15 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon

having 4 to 7 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

34. The process of claim 15 wherein the solvent comprises a hydrocarbon

having 5 or 6 carbon atoms or a combination thereof.

35. Apparatus for upgrading a total feed comprising heavy oil or bitumen with

solvent and water, comprising: means for supplying the total feed to an asphaltene separator at

asphaltene separation conditions to produce an asphaltene-rich stream

and an asphaltene-lean stream;

means for stripping solvent from the asphaltene-rich stream to form an

asphaltene fraction essentially free of water and recover a first solvent

stream to a solvent recovery system;

means for separating the asphaltene-lean stream in a deasphalted oil

separator to form a deasphalted oil stream and recover a second

solvent stream to the solvent recovery system;

means for stripping solvent from the deasphalted oil stream to form a

deasphalted oil fraction essentially free of water and recover a third

solvent stream to the solvent recovery system;

means for separating water from the solvent recovery system; and

means for recovering water from the deasphalted oil separator, the

deasphalted oil stream, or a combination thereof.