US1485083A - Apparatus for cracking hydrocarbons and recovering gasoline - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 26, 19249 m smaa M. H. KOTZEBUE ET AL.

APPARATUS FOR CRACKING HYDROCARBONS AND RECOVERING GASOLINE Filed May 5. 1921 will be 'sa Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

HM'EEE stares Estates raiser castes.

mmimaim H. KOTZEBUE AND LEVI M. BOWMAN, or TULSA, oxnanom Application filed May 5,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, 'MEINHARD H. Ko'rzn- Bun and LEVI M. BOWMAN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Tulsa,'in

the county of Tulsa. and State of Oklahoma,

and apparatus for cracking petroleum hydrocarbons and recovering gasoline from gases. 1 V I One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus permitting of cracking high boiling petroleum distillates and other hydrocarbon oils and their distillates and the derivatives in order to produce the large yield of light hydrocarbon liquids suitable for use in internal combustion engines and a further object is the provision of an apparatus which e, efficient, and free from the trouble of accumulation of carbon and the losses experienced'in apparatus of this charcter now in use.

Y Another object is the provision of a method and apparatus permitting of the blending cracked hydrocarbon vapors with gas containing pentane, and other forms of -wild gasoline vapors, as well as the coinpressing and cooling of the cracked vapors and gases together in such way that a light gasoline substitute will-be produced of a nature super or to blended products now obtained, without the losses usually experienced in its manufacture.

Other objects" and advantages will be obions from the specification and from; the

fact that we 'ropose to take heavy hydro carbon oil or eavy petroleum distillate and conduct it to highly heated cracking tubes having means by which the fluids are vaporized before they reach the cracking chamber of the tube or tubes and are subsequently cracked by virtue of being under the proper pressure and heated to the'propertemperature in the cracking chambers of the tubes. The vapors are then released from the cracking tubes through orifices whose size determines the pressure and rate of operation. The cracked vapors are then collected and from this point may be handled according APPARATUS FOR CRACKING HYDROCARBONS AND RECOVERI'NG GASOLDTE.

1921. Serial No. 466,978.

to the practice noW in use although our invention contemplates the conduction of the cracked vapors to a chamber where they are mixed with cold casinghead gases. The sudden cooling thus brought about in the mixing chamber will cause the heavier hydrocarbons, mostly of the paraffin series, to condense and the gasoline vapors in the gas to blend with the remaining cracked vapors which are conducted in their blended state to a knockout tower or dephlegmator. In the course of the passage of the blended vapors to this tower, steam is injected into the same for the purpose of washing the vapors so that the final product will have a good odor and color, as well as for the purpose and in section for better identification and understanding,

Figure 2 1s an enlarged horizontal sectionthrough the apparatus along the axial line of one of the cracking tubes, and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section through another portion of. the apparatus adjacent to the point of injection of the steam. A

Referring now to these figures we have shown an elevated storage'tank' 10 which feeds through a line 11, although any suitable pump may be substituted for t e elevated tank. In the line 11 is a pressure regulator 12, and beyond the pressure regulator' is a'cut ofi valve 13. With the 'va 13 open and the pressure regulator properly set, the desired feed of heavy hydrocarbon or heavy petroleum distillate takes; place into a header 1 1 withwhich the feed line 11 connects, this header being connected by a series of flanged unionsas at 15,- with the receiving ends of a series of cracking tubes 16 within a furnace or other heater, J

In each of the cracking tubes 16, one of which is shown in detail in Figure 2 we form an equalization point between the liquid hydrocarbons and the vapors thereof, located at one side of the furnace or other heater 17, by means of wads of steel wool 18 unions 22 between which a discharge plate 23 is secured having a discharge orifice 24 aXIiJally of the discharge end of the cracking tu e.

Extending inwardly through stufing boxes 25 at vertically spaced points of the discharge header 21 in axial alinement with the several discharge orifices 24, are lengthwise shiftable cleaning rods 26, preferably having outer angular ends 27 forming handles and inner pointed ends 28 which may be shifted inwardly through the orifices 24 for cleaning the latter.

From the header 21 the crackedvapors are in further accordance with our invention led through a pipe 29 to a mixing chamber 30, although they may from this point be handled in a manner similar to that usually employed in handling cracked vapors in the ordinary gasoline forming rocesses.

According to our invention the mixing chamber 30 has a gas feed line 31 connected therewith by means of which casing head and like gases containing gasoline may be fed to the mixing chamber. I-ntermixing of the cracked vapors and the cold gas is assured by the provision of baflles 32 in the chamber and by virtue of this fact the heavier hydrocarbons, mostly of the paralfin series, are

7 condensed and drained fromthe lower portion of the mixing chamber through a drain pipe 33.

The remaining lighter and intimately mixed hydrocarbons are discharged from the mixing chamber through a plpe 34, to a knockout tower or dephle ator 35, ipe 34 being preferably in sections dispose at an angle with respect to one another as seen particularly in Figure3, and connected by a T-coupling 36, one leg of which is closed by a plug 37 carried by the inwardly projecting nozzle 38 of a steam feed ipe 39. Steam is thus introduced whereby its force increases the pressure in the knockout tower 35, the further function of the steam being the thorough cleaning of the blended vapors to insure good odor and color.

The knockout tower 35 has lower and upper chambers 40 and 41 connected by a pipe reac es 42 forming a means of communication therethrough and extending axially of the tower from its intermediate vertically spaced chambers 43 and 44, with the former of which the pipe 34 communicates. Chamber 43 is separated from the lower chamber 40 by an imperforate partition 45, immediately above the blended vapors taken into chamber '43 pass upwardly through the chambers 43 and 44, the latter of which is filled with steel shavings, broken tilin or some similar material. The vapors, minus such condensation as is drained ofi through pipe 46, pass upwardly into the upper chamber 41 and from this chamber downwardly to the lower chamber 40-, it being observed that little loss of heat need be experienced in this air passage in view of the fact of location of communicating pipe 42 axially of and within the tower 35.

The blended vapors and gas pass from the lower chamber 40, minus condensation withdrawn from the drain pipe 47, to a compressor 50 of any suita handling wet vapors and gas, and the compressed vapors and gas are forced through cooling coils 51 to an accumulator tank 52 where the gas separates from the liquid and passes outwardly through a gas discharge pipe 53 leading from the upper end of the accumulator. The condensed steam is withdrawn through a pipe 54 at the lower portion of the accumulator and the liquid hydrocarbon is carried by a pipe 55 to a filter 56 having any suitable filtering means therein. The filtered hydrocarbon finally passes from the filter 56 through a pipe 57 to any suita' ble point of storage.

This apparatus while adapted to the carrying out of our improved method in an eifective eificient manner may be varied to a considerable extent and it is to be understood that any suitable apparatus is contemplated by our invention. As the apparatus is dew scribed, we utilize the same in the carrying out of our improved method by supplyingheavy h drocarbon products such as are obtained rom the treatment of crude petroleum, especially such inexpensive hydrocarbons that have a boiling point higher than 350 F., to the receiving header 14 under pressure. This pressure may range from 5 to 150 pounds per square inch, depending on the product utilized and the result desired. The header 14 distributes the liquid hydrocarbon to the equalization or vaporizing points of the several cracking tubes as Is type capable of memes previously described, where the liquid hyseveral tubes holding back the liquids to such an extent that only the vapors ass through the cracking chambers'of the tu es. For this purpose the discharge orifices 24 of the cracking tubes find an important function and to insure any congestion of these orifices, the cleaning rods 26 should be thrust inwardly through the orifices at least once in every twenty-four hours of continuous operation. In view of the fact that the vapors only are exposed to the high cracking temperatures, only a very small amount of carbon is formed and this is in the nature of a dust which passes out freely with the vapors through the discharge orifices. The vapors are collected in the discharge header 21 and have at this point a temperature ranging from 550 to 900 F- The intensely heated vapors meet the cold gas in the mixing chamber 30, and the sudden cooling of the vapors causes the heavier hydrocarbons, mostl of the paraffin series, to condense, these being drawn off from time to time through the drain pipe 33. The vapors and gases pass from the mixing chamber and after the injection of steam for the purpose of cleaning and increasing the pressure, these gases and vapors enter the knockout tower and pass outwardly through the steel shavings or other material 44. This tower is air cooled and the shavings of similar material absorb the heat from the vapors and cause the high boiling hydrocarbons to condense, these being drawn oil through the drain pipe 46. The light vapors accumulate in the upper chamber 41 and pass downwardly to the lower chamber 40, but little loss of temperature being occasioned by thisrtransfer due to the construction of the parts including the articular arrangement of the ipe 42 as previously described. Any condensation during this transfer and also any condensation in the drocarbon 1s vaporized, the pressures in the l ower chamber 40, may be withdrawn through the drain pipe 47, and the products from this drain pipe as well as the drain pipe 46 can of course be rerun or, to some extent at least blended with the final product.

' The compressor 50 receives the vapors and to 75 B., we maintain a pressure of about 10 pounds and a temperature of 250 F. in the chamber 40 and operate the compressor 50 so as to maintain a pressure of 200 to 250 pounds in the cooling coils 28.

In the accumulator tank 52, the residue gas passes out through the upper pipe 53, the condensed steam is withdrawn through drain pipe 54, and the light hydrocarbons pass out through filter 56 and from there to storage.

We claim:

In an apparatus of the character described, a heater, a cracking tube extending through the heater, spaced sections of steel wool'within said tube adjacent to its intake end and at one side of the heater, gravel between said sections of steel wool, reticulate disks within the tube to confine said .steel wool and gravel in place, said tube having an apertured outlet plate therein adjacent to its outlet end and having an otherwise unobstructed internal passage within and across the heater.

mJrNHARn H. KOTZEBUE. LEVI M. BOWMAN.

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