WO2012032530A1

WO2012032530A1 - Thermomegasonic deagglomeration process and reactor for the conversion of compounded hydrocarbons to crude oil

Info

Publication number: WO2012032530A1
Application number: PCT/IN2010/000601
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rajah Vijay Kumar; Rajani Bharathimangalam Ramachandran
Original assignee: Rajah Vijay Kumar; Rajani Bharathimangalam Ramachandran
Priority date: 2010-09-09
Filing date: 2010-09-09
Publication date: 2012-03-15

Abstract

This invention relates to a method and device for converting compounded hydrocarbons that are originally produced from petroleum crude oil like commonly used plastics, rubber and other industrial hydrocarbons into a form of crude oil called "ViRa Crude oil", that is similar to petroleum Crude oil by using a novel technique and device called Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration Reactor (TDR). The TDR is a novel process that comprises melting the compounded hydrocarbon at 500 - 1000° C, applying high - intensity megasonic waves to deagglomerate the molten compound and condensing the deagglomerated vapours to obtain the ViRa Crude Oil.

Description

THERMOMEGASO IC DEAGGLOMERATION PROCESS AND REACTOR FOR THE CONVERSION OF COMPOUNDED HYDROCARBONS TO

CRUDE OIL The present invention relates to a method and device for converting compounded hydrocarbons that are originally from petroleum crude oil like commonly used plastics, rubber and other industrial hydrocarbons into a form of crude oil called "ViRa Crude oil", that is similar to petroleum crude oil, by using a novel technique and device called Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration Reactor(TDR).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

Crude oil is a naturally occurring, toxic, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that are found in geologic formation beneath the Earth's surface. Crude oil is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by boiling point differences, into a large number of consumer products, from petrol and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics and pharmaceuticals. Many of these products manufactured from crude oil are thrown away after its use or expected lifetime of usefulness, which we generally refer to Plastic waste, which include many types of Crude oil derived materials. These materials do not disintegrate or decompose for millions of years, posing great environmental danger to the Planet. The plastics waste constitutes two major category of plastics; (a) Thermoplastics and (b) Thermoset plastics. Thermoplastics, constitutes 80% and thermoset constitutes approximately 20% of total post-consumer plastics waste generated in India. The Thermoplastics are recyclable plastics which include; Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Low Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE), Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS) etc that can be reprocessed and remolded. However, a thermoset plastic contains alkyd, epoxy, ester, melamine formaldehyde, phenolic formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde, polyurethane, metalised and multiplayer plastics etc are not easily recycled. The environmental hazards due to mismanagement of plastics waste include the following aspects:

• Littered plastics spoils beauty of the city and choke drains and make important public places filthy,

• Garbage containing plastics, when burnt may cause air pollution by emitting polluting gases;

• Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities and may also cause problems in landfill operations;

• Recycling industries operating in non-conforming areas are posing unhygienic problems to the environment

Currently there are many methods used to convert plastics to useful fuel, either gaseous or liquid, but all of them use very high temperatures in the range of 8500 to 10500 degree temperature (Plasma Pyrolysis Technique) or 2700 to 3200 degree centigrade in the presence of a catalyst (Random Depolymerization method), most of these techniques emit highly toxic substances into the environment and not all compounded hydrocarbons can be handled by any currently used technique.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates to the process of converting compounded hydrocarbon in to crude oil and the reactor to carry out the process called the Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration Reactor. Thermo means heat, Megasonic means sound waves higher than ultrasonic frequency typically between 0.4 MHz to 10 MHz, Deagglomeration means to un-collect or un-gather or remove from a cluster or mass, reactor means a place where this process happens.

The process consists of the following steps; · Melting the compounded hydrocarbon material at about 500 to 1000 degrees centigrade in the reactor. Then applying high-intensity megasonic waves from multiple transducers to cover a spectrum of 0.4 to 10 MHz.

Depending on the size of the reactor and contents, deagglomeration takes place in a few minutes or hours.

The deagglomerated vapors will start leaving the reactor, which is then condensed through a rapid condenser to obtain Vi a Crude oil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

Figure 1 illustrates Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration Reactor.

Figure 2 illustrates block diagram of Central process Computer and instrumentation. Figure 3 illustrates a picture of Feedstock Compounded Hydrocarbon (plastics).

Figure 4 illustrates ViRa crude oil and the solid residue. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS:

Figure 1 shows the various components of the Thermomegasonic deagglomeration Reactor (TDR) as listed below:

1. The Reactor chamber

2. The Megasonic generation and delivery system

3. Megasonic Transducers

4. The heating systems

5. The Purge Pot

6. Rapid Condenser

7. Liquid-Gas phase separator

8. Back flash preventer

9. Gas Storage tanks

10. Safety gas flare

11. ViRa Crude collection and storage tank

12. Process control computer and instrumentation. THE REACTOR CHAMBER: The reactor chamber 1 is made out of high grade 316 stainless steel. It is a cylindrical container whose dimensions are determined by the quantity of feed stock 13, type of feed stock (most predominant plastic type) and the megasonic frequency bandwidth. The chamber has many wrap over type heating elements for resistive heating or an Induction heating system, whose temperature parameters are set by the Central process control computer 12. The reactor has an opening for feeding the raw materials through an airtight one way feeder 14; it is fitted with 3 piles of Megasonic Transducer banks 3a, 3b & 3c. The reactor is fully wired with temperature sensors, heating system. Temperature and pressure control is done dynamically through the algorithm in the central process control computer 12.

THE MAGASONIC GENERATION AND DELIVERY SYSTEM:

The Megasonic Generation and Delivery System consists of the a high frequency variable megasonic signal generator, which produces sonic signals in the range of 400 kHz and 10 MHz and again dynamically controlled by the central process control computer 12. These signals are sent to the megasonic transducer 3 that is fitted onto resonating columns 15, which produce a pure transverse megasonic frequency that is delivered to the molten plastics in the Reactor. MEGASONIC TRANSDUCERS:

These are special piezoelectric crystals that produce high frequency sonic signals at a specified intensity. HEATING SYSTEM: The heating system can be either electrical or Induction. Electrical or Induction heating is preferred because of the ease at which it can be controlled. Temperature sensors pick up the temperature signals from various part of the device as shown in Figure 2 and feed it to the Central Process Control computer 12, which in accordance to preset value and process algorithm sends control signals, to control the quantity of heat that needs to be delivered to sustain the process.

THE PURGE POT:

Purge pot 5 is a cylindrical container that is maintained at a specific temperature. In the rare event that some molten material from the reactor gets into the vapor outlet tubing, it will be trapped in the purge pot and returns back into the reactor 1, thus preventing the rapid condensation system from chocking. RAPED CONDENSER:

Rapid condensation system is a two or three stage process with intercoolers 16. The rapid condenser 6 instantly condenses the hydrocarbon vapors to liquid before heavy molicules, further break down into lighter ones and goes up in gas. The temperatures and pressures are critically controlled by the Central Process Control computer 12 as shown in Figure 2.

LIQUID-GAS PHASE SEPARATOR:

When the hydrocarbon molecules are condensed to liquid, however rapidly, still some amount of vapor may be uncondensible at the temperatures used. These gases collectively called as Petroleum Gases will remain in gaseous form when collected in the Liquid-Gas phase separator 7. These gases are separated and passed through a flash back arrester 8 and collected in a gas storage tank 9 or safety flare 10.

BACK FLASH PREVENTER: Flash back arrester 8 is a part that prevents igniting the Rapid condenser 6 or Reactor 1 in an unfortunate event of a fire in the stored gas.

SAFETY GAS FLARE: The safety flare 10 is used to burn off the gas when the gas storage vessel is full or in the event that the gas is not stored at all.

VIRA CRUDE COLLECTION AND STORAGE TANK:

This is a tank where the final ViRa crude is stored after the process 11. Temperature and pressure in this storage vessel is also monitored as a safety measure.

The following process takes place in the reactor shown in the Figure 1 as follows:

• Melting the compounded hydrocarbon material at about 500 to 1000 degrees

centigrade in the reactor,

• Then applying high-intensity megasonic waves from multiple transducers 3 to cover a spectrum of 0.4 to 10 MHz.

• Depending on the size of the reactor and contents, deagglomeration takes place in a few minutes or hours.

• The deagglomerated vapors will start leaving the reactor, which is then condensed through a rapid condenser to obtain ViRa Crude oil.

MELTING OF COMPOUNDED HYDROCARBONS:

Compounded hydrocarbons in Solid or Liquid forms namely plastics, rubber, used motor oils, and any other materials that is originally made from petroleum crude oil is put into the reactor 1 after chipping cutting where necessary. The reactor is than heated to the melting point of the content in side it, using conventional heating method like resistive, inductive or other flame based heating method. Depending on the nature of heating, the reactor has to be appropriately designed; the reactor acts as a big resonating column at megasonic frequencies. The average melting point of most plastic materials is 463 degrees centigrade, with PEEK (polyether ether ketone) being the highest at 640 and Teflon around 621 degree centigrade, polyethylene (marine grade) being the lowest at around 250 degrees centigrade.

HIGH INTENSITY MEGASONIC WAVE BOMBARDMENT:

When megasonicating liquids at high intensities, the sound waves that propagate into the liquid media result in alternating high-pressure (compression) and low-pressure (rarefaction) cycles, with rates depending on the frequency. During the low-pressure cycle, high-intensity megasonic waves create small vacuum cracks or voids in the liquid. When the cracks attain a volume at which they can no longer absorb energy, they collapse violently during a high-pressure cycle. This phenomenon is termed sonic cavitation. During the implosion very high temperatures (approx. 4800 degree centigrade) and pressures (approx. 703 kg) are reached locally. The implosion of the cavitation cracks also results in liquid jets of up to 1000-km/hr. velocities. These cracks or cavities are created and imploded millions of times each second. This enormous localized and instantaneous energy will start to convert the molten plastics, first it will be formed into a waxy material called intervira, and continued megasonication will deagglomerate the bonds between the carbon and hydrogen atoms in the intervira from complex large molecules formed during their respective manufacturing process, back to the raw materials they were made from. When these molecules are rapidly condensed they form the ViRa Crude oil. The gases liberated from this process like hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc will be approximately equal to these gases originally consumed by these compounded hydrocarbons when they were manufactured. Solid hydrocarbons like petroleum coke and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper and other metals will remain as residues in the reactor.

Megasonic waves are composed of two actions; an expansion cycle during which the liquid molecules are being pulled apart, and a compression cycle, during which the molecules are being compressed. If the expansion cycle of the wave has enough energy to overcome the forces, which hold the molecules of reactor content together, a crack is produced. Immediately following the expansion cycle, the compression cycle follows, rapidly compressing the cracks created. Different hydrocarbon needs different quanta of energy for deagglomeration and there are thousands of these hydrocarbon chains, thus the device have to accurately address the energy needs of each of these hydrocarbons. The megasonic frequency and intensity determines how often cracks are produced per unit of time, the size of the cracks, the distribution of liquid jets, and the force behind the implosion of the cracks. This in turn depends on the molecular weight of the hydrocarbon to be dwelt with during the process. Thus the properties of ViRa crude oil can be varied, for example as heavy and light and or sweet and sour by controlling the megasonification parameters. Movement of the molten plastics during megasonication will drastically reduce megasonic crack formation especially while loading the reactor. The smaller the reactor, the higher the megasonic frequency, or higher the watt litre density of the system, the faster the system can recover from molten plastic movements. Dissolved gasses are a compressible medium, which act as a "shock absorber" to megasonic energy being emitted. Although crakes will be formed, its power is reduced. Fortunately, the megasonic process will automatically degas the molten plastics, the speed of which will be detennined by the volume of the molten plastic itself in the reactor, and the watt/litre power density of the system. Temperature of the molten plastics will also affect megasonic crack formation and implosions. As temperatures increase, the cracks immediately fill with liquid vapor, which cushions the implosive action. Crack formation will degrease at temperatures above 72% of the melting point of the compounded hydrocarbon.

RAPID CONDENSATION:

The levitated hydrocarbon vapors formed inside the reactor are immediately pumped out with a draw pump at the rate at which it is produced and subjected to rapid condensation with the help of a rapid condenser 6. During the rapid condensation process, the hydrocarbon vapors gives up its heat to the surrounding condensate and pipe walls, and changes from a vapor to a liquid state very rapidly. Now as a liquid, the volume formerly occupied by the vapors shrinks by a factor of several hundred to over a thousand, depending on the hydrocarbon vapor's pressure. Likewise, the pressure in the void drops to the vapor pressure of the surrounding condensate, this will pull in more vapors and during this rapid event, random repolymerization occurs resulting in ViRa Crude oil formation. All the heavier hydrocarbons (pentane and above) are obtained in liquid form and the lighter hydrocarbons methane, ethane, propane and butane occur as gases and is separated in a gas liquid separator. For every kg of Plastics in its solid form, approximately two liters of ViRa crude is produced. PROCESS CONTROL COMPUTER AND INSTRUMENTATION:

Process control Computer and Instrumentation system is the heart of the entire process which is shown in Figure 2. A precise process of this nature cannot be controlled without automation. This system acquires all the process inputs like temperature, pressure, flow rates, etc and supervises the process by precisely controlling the output parameters that controls the process. This system consists of an Industrial Computer, programmable logic controllers, Analog to digital converters switch gears and instruments to display critical parameters. It also wired with alarm systems to warn the operators. The legent in the figure 2 is abbreviated as follows:

MT - Megasonic Transducer; PS - Pressure Sensor; TS - Temperature Sensor; FRC - Flow Rate Control; SV - Safety Valve; PG - Pressure Gauge; FI - Flare Ignition; FVC - Flare Valve Control.

FIRST TRIAL OF THE INVENTION:

Figure 3 shows the compounded hydrocarbon in the feedstock which is used to produce the ViRa crude oil. The Invention was implemented at a laboratory scale with a reactor size of 1000 grams of feedstock. The feedstock used was about 265 grams of materials consisting of pieces of plastic pipes, broken buckets, plastic water bottles, plastic carry bags, synthetic rubber pieces etc. Reactor temperature was set at about 450 degrees centigrade to melt all the plastics and rubber. Pressure was at atm. to start with. The melting took approximately about 15 minutes. After complete homogenous molten state was achieved, the Megasonic bombardment was initiated and after 7minutes of bombardment, crude oil started to collect in the Liquid-Gas phase separator, the gas was vented away through the back flash arrester and burnt away.

After a total time of 37 minutes, Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration process was complete, when 325 ml of ViRa crude oil was collected in the collecting tank. A residual black substance consisting of petroleum coke, Asphalt and small pieces of metals (may have gone as impurities in the feed stock) was removed from the reactor, both of which is shown in Figure 4.

The 325 ml of ViRa crude was weighed to be 230 grams and the weight of the reactor residue was about 10 grams. As the total mass of the feedstock was 265 grams and the total output mass was 240 grams, the difference of 25 grams may be the gas that was burnt.

The energy consumed for the process was approximately 1600 watts for a total process time of 37 minutes, equivalent to about 849 kilocalories.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A process of converting compounded hydrocarbons in to crude oil by thermomegasomc deagglomeration comprising the steps of:

(a) Melting the compounded hydrocarbon material at about 500 to 1000 degrees centigrade in the reactor,

(b) Applying high-intensity megasonic waves from multiple transducers to cover a spectrum of 0.4 to 10 MHz to deagglomerate the melted compound,

(c) Condensing the deagglomerated vapors that start leaving the reactor through a rapid condenser to obtain ViRa Crude oil.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1(a) wherein melting is carried out using conventional heating method like resistive, inductive or other flame based heating method.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1(a) wherein application of high intensity megasonic waves creates resonance at mega sonic frequencies.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein the megasonicating liquids at high intensities, the sound waves that propagate into the liquid media result in alternating high-pressure (compression) and low-pressure (rarefaction) cycles, with rates depending on the frequency.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein during the low-pressure cycle, high- intensity mega sonic waves create small vacuum cracks or voids in the liquid.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein when the cracks attain a volume at which they can no longer absorb energy, they collapse violently during a high- pressure cycle and the phenomenon is termed sonic cavitation.

7. The Process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein megasonic waves produce two actions; an expansion cycle during which the liquid molecules are being pulled apart, and a compression cycle, during which the molecules are being compressed. 8. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein different hydrocarbons need different quanta of energy for deagglomeration.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein megasonification parameters such as how often cracks are produced per unit of time, the size of the cracks, the distribution of liquid jets, and the force behind the implosion of the cracks, which in turn depends on the molecular weight of the hydrocarbon to be dwelt with during the process, are being controlled to vary the property of the final product.

10. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein the final product, i.e. ViRa crude oil obtained being either heavy and light and or sweet and sour by controlling the megasonification parameters.

11. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein the dissolved gasses are a compressible medium, which act as a "shock absorber" to megasonic energy being emitted.

12. The process as claimed in claim 1(b) wherein the megasonic process automatically degases the molten plastics, the speed of which being determined by the volume of the molten plastic itself in the reactor, and the watt litre power density of the system. 13. The process as claimed in claim 1(c) wherein the levitated hydrocarbon vapors formed inside the reactor are immediately pumped out with a draw pump at the rate at which it is produced and subjected to rapid condensation with the help of a rapid condenser.

15. The process as claimed in claim 1(c) wherein during the rapid condensation process, the hydrocarbon vapors gives up its heat to the surrounding condensate and pipe walls, and changes from a vapor to a liquid state very rapidly. 16. The process as claimed in claim 1(c) wherein the volume of the liquid formerly occupied by the vapors shrinks by a factor of several hundred to over a thousand, depending on the hydrocarbon vapor's pressure and the pressure in the void drops to the vapor pressure of the surrounding condensate which will pull in more vapors and during this rapid event, random repolymerization occurs resulting in ViRa Crude oil formation.

17. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein all the heavier hydrocarbons (pentane and above) are obtained in liquid form and the lighter hydrocarbons methane, ethane, propane and butane occur as gases and is separated in a gas liquid separator.

18. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein for every kg of Plastics in its solid form, approximately two litres of ViRa crude is produced.

19. The process of conversion as claimed in claim 1 is carried out in a reactor called Thermomegasonic Deagglomeration Reaction.

20. A thermomegasonic deagglomeration reactor comprising a Reactor chamber; a Megasonic generation and delivery system, Megasonic Transducers, heating systems, a Purge Pot, Rapid Condenser, Liquid-Gas phase separator, Back flash preventer,; Gas Storage tanks, Safety gas flare, ViRa Crude collection and storage tank, Process control computer and instrumentation