US1437229A - Process of treating petroleum - Google Patents

Description

R. CROSS.

PROCESS OF TREATING PETROLEUM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I], ma.

Patented N m. 28, 1922.

I. III-Ill- G) v INVEN TOR.

' WITNESS.

mama Now--28, 1922.

UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROY CROSS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI l, ASSIGNOR TO THE GASOLINE PRODUCTS 5 COMPANY, ING.,-OFNE W YQEK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF N EW.YORK.

vIPIRIOCIE'ISS OF TREATING PETROLEUM.

Application filed January 11, 1918. Serial No. 211,407.

To alZ whom z't-may concern: I

Beit known that I, RoY CRoss, residing in 1 Kansas City, in-the county of Jackson, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful -Improvements 1n Processes. of Treating Petroleum, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process for malt-- r the oil is heated toa sufficient temperature and is not allowed to vaporize, by maintaining o n it, a high pressure, then the residual heat in the oil itself is suflicient to continue the cracking. I find that while the cracking or chemical splitting up of heavy ydrocarbons goes onto some extent at a temperature as low as 570 F. yet the speed of the reaction greatly increases as the temperature is raised though it isnot advisable at any time to allow the oil to reach a temperature greater than 850 F. since at a higher temperature than this, there is a' eater tendency toward the formation 0 undesirable olefins and aromatic compounds. At the higher temperatures, when the oil is confined under high pressure the decomposition or cracking goes on with almostexplosive vid lence. An illustration of this fact is set forth 'in a typicaL test in which j oil was cracked at a maximum pressure of 93 at-i mospheres. The temperature was brought up to 700 F. with a pressure of 16 atmospheres and at 710 F. with apressure of 4:2 atmospheres all tire was removed. The temperature' began to fall and the pressure torise and a final maximum pressure of 64. atmospheres was developed at a temperature of 650 F. The additional reaction much more than counteracted the reduction of'pressure due to the cooling effect. In another instance after the tem perature was brought to 7 20 F. the pressure is a temperature dropped 30 degrees. I find that by maintenance of the temperature and without additional application of heat the pressure will continue to rise if the temperature of the oil is above that at which a reasonable speed of cracking takes place.

- Since this reaction goes on by reason of the V oil being heated above the minimum cracking temperature it is quite important to hold it at that temperature-and thus conserve the capacity of the tubes for heating new oil, by transferring the oil that has. been brought tothis reacting temperature to a container to which no .heat whatever is applied but on which high pressure is maintained. This container preferably holds as much oil as would be treated in 15 minutes to 1 hour according to the temperature used and is thoroughly insulated against the cooling effect of the air. I find that my processmay operate continuously by first bringing the temperature of'the oil up to that which has been found to be necessary to get the hydrocarbons converted and to run this preferably directly and continuously into a re acting container while supplying fresh oil to the heating tubes and withdrawing oil that i i has been held and has undergone the necessary reaction in the reacting chamber.

An important feature of this invention is that in the conversion of heavy petroleum into lighter hydrocarbons such as gasoline, 1

hot oil is passed through tubes in which itis heated. sufficiently to give a. rapid rate of decomposition and is then passed into a reaction chamber which is of sufiicient capacity to allow time for the reaction to further complete itself before it flows out into a refining still. The accompanying drawing shows one of several methods which may tion. containing the oil, (3) is a reactionchamber, (4) is a circulating pump, (5) is a valve, (6)

ressure feed pump, 7) is an oil supply line, (8) is a valve on blow out line, (9) is a thermometer, (10) and (12) are pipes for withdrawing'oil or gas, (11) and (18) are 'valvesfor regulating the outflow of oil and gas, (14) is a pressure gauge, (15) is a thermometer and (16) is an oil or gas burner. In the operation of this process, valve 8 is ,closed, valve 5 is opened, valve 13 is closed and valve 11 is opened. Preferably prerose more than 30 atmospheres although the heated oil is pumped through the line 7 by means of pump 6 until the oil shows in the pipe leading through the valve 11. Pump 6 is stopped, valve is closed, valve 11 is closed and heat is applied in the furnace 1. Circulating. pump 4 is started. When the temperature as indicated by thermometer 15 has reached 800 F. more or less dependent upon the character of the oil under treatment the valve 5 is opened and pump 6 is started, being operated at such a rate as to maintain a constant temperature as indicated by ther-v mometer 15. It will be understood. that the pump 4 is used only for the purpose of recirculating the oil when an apparatus is cold and until the oil has reached a cracking temperature of, say, 800 degs. F. After a supply of oil has been circulated in the cyclic manner and the desired temperature of the apparatus obtained, then the pump 4 is placed out of operation, so as to no longer divert oil flowing to the reacting chamber, and the pump 6 set in operation, whereby a stream of raw oil or a mixture'of raw oil and the like is continuously forced through the heating coil ,and directly into the reacting chamber. It is therefore apparent that 1 the pump 4 is only ,usedwhere a still is becracking temperature, the same being diing placed into operation and a single passage of the oil through the coil is notsufficlent to cause this oil to be raised to 8.

verted and recirculated and then initially transferred to the reacting chamber. Valves 11 and 13 are opened sufficiently to prevent the oil reaching a higher level than that corresponding to the outlet through pipe 10. With proper regulation th'e'oilgoeis through continuously to the chamber 3.- The oil blown out through the pipes 10 and 12o is run into an ordinary crude still where the light hydrocarbons are recovered and the resid uum settles or is otherwise treated and used again as stock oil.

I claim- A process for treating petroleum oils under pressure without substantial distillation, which comprises effecting a cyclic circulation of the oil while in a small stream through a discharging the treated oil in a liquid phase I and gases from the enlarged insulated reacting chamber;

f ROY caoss.

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