US1488325A - Process for treating petroleum - Google Patents

Description

C. F. DUBBS PROCESS FOR TREATING PETROLEUM Filed June 2l 1919 March 25 1924.

Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

rrED STATES MWZS y CARBON P. DUBBS, 0F WILMETT, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

PROCESS FOR TREATING- PETROLEUM.

Application led June 21, 1919. Serial No. 305,793.

whereby petroleum is passed through a heat-5 i'ng zone, thence through a vaporizing or converting chamber whereln vaporous products are released and the heavier residual material isdrawn off; a process in which the vapors liberated in the vaporizing zone are passed through a series of pools of liquid oil subjecting the vapors to a dephlegmating action; a process in which the circulation of the vapors may be controlled bya pump interposed in the vapor line; a process which utilizes the raw oil as a reflux condensing agent, the condensate combining with the raw oil prior to its being introduced to the heating zone; a process whereby an increased amount of the heat generated is utilized in the system; a process in which the raw oil is caused to circulate down through successivo pools maintained in the dephlegmator, subjecting the vapors bubbling therethrough to a reliuxing action, the'raw oil and condensate being drawn ofi' from the bottom of the dephlegmator; a process whereby the oil under treatment is heated in one stage and such heat treatment so controlled and regulated as to prevent any substantial deposition of carbon in such `zone;` a process in which lthe oil to be treated is fed continuously or intermittently by passing it 'through succeeeding pools of oil before being passed to the cracking tubes, such oil being freed of that portion having the desired low boiling points while dephlegmating the vapors in said pools.

The invention and apparatus reside in such features of construction and su'chprocess and method features as will more fully be hereinafter described. 4

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic side elevation in section of an apparatus, by which my process can be carried out.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the Vaporizing chambers and the immediate piping.

Fig. 3 isa top cross sectional view of that section of Fig. 1, in which the pools of oil are shown.` This is a cross section taken on the line 3-1-3 of Fig. l.

In describing the attached drawing, and operation of t-he process, the oil to be treated is drawn from a source (not shown), and is forced into the apparatus through valve marked K1, through line K, through the line K2, which section is perforated that extends across the bottom of the top vpool'of oil in the chamber marked LX. The portion vaporizing as said oil percolates up through this pool of oil is passed of through vapor line L, through the pressure regulating valve L1, through gooseneck L2, through condensing coil lL4 positioned in condensing tank L7, through line L4l into tank M, along with the incondensable gases.1 Water is fed to tank L7 through line L5 and travels out of said tank through line L. The condensate collected in tank M is drawn off through line M1 having positioned thereon pressure regulating valve M2, while the incondensable gas is drawn olf through line M8 through pressure regulating valve M* and on this tank is a liquid level gauge M6 and apressure gauge M5.. Tanks M and L7 rest on the supports marked X.

The level of thetop ool of oil in the chamber L is maintains at approximately J and any surplus Aflows through pipe J1 into the pool of oil directly" thereunder, the level of this pool being maintained at point marked J. Any excess travels through line J3 into the bottom of the pool of oil immediately thereunder, the level of this pool being maintained at point J and any excess travelling throu h the line J2 into the pool of oil immediate y thereunder and this pool is maintained at a level marked J and any excess travels through lineJ, havlng positioned on its valve J 5. At the bottom of line J the cross sectional area is reduced as shown at J 1, the larger sized. pipe used in J t being for the purpose of allowing the oil to be, more or less, freed of any vapors contained therein, such vapors passing back up through said pipe into the bottom of the chamber L". The remaining liquid passes through line J11 into header A, and passes through lines B into header A1. In each of these headers opposite each end of the tubes B are positioned plugs A3, for the purpose of allowing entr-y to said tubes for cleaning same and oppositethese plugs are furnace doors A* and A5, which by opening give ready access to said plugs.

The tubes B and headers A and A1 are positioned in the furnace A1. As the oil passes through these tubes B from header A to header A1, it is subjected to heat, which converts a portion into lower boiling point products, and the oil iows from header A1 through line C, into header C1, having positioned therein pyrometer N and though valve C2 into retort D, which retort has manholes marked D D, pressure gauge P and pyrometer N.

As the oil passes through tank D, a proportion of same is vaporized and passes up through vapor lines E into header E1,

through valve E2 into line E4', which also has a pyrometer marked N. Through the line E, theyalve E5 being opened while the valves Efs'and E1o are closed, the vapors pass into the bottom compartment of the chamber L". Any proportion condensing drains into the bottom compartment of chamber L", and is automatically returned to the heating tubes B through line J 4. The uncondensed portions pass up through the pipes marked F1 and by means of caps G are forced down and discharged near the bottom into the pool of oil in that chamber. The bottoms 'of the caps marked G are perforated at the points marked H. The vapors as they bubble up this pool of oil give up more or less of their heat and more or less of same are condensed and as they bubble up through this liquid, they are more or less scrubbed. The excess oil accumulated in this pool travels through pipe J2 into the pool of oil contained in thecompartment directly thereunder, the pipe J2 extending down into the pool of oil to a point near the bottom, thus forming a liquid seal so that no vapors contained in the lower chamber can pass up through pipe J2 into the upper chamber. The remaining vapors pass up through pipesl F2 and are forced by means of ca s G1 down to near the bottom of. the pool o oil contained in this chamber and there escape into said pool of oilthrough the perforations at a point marked H in said caps or if these are not 0f suicient capacity, the excess vapors can pass clear down under the bottom of the caps and.- escape up through the oil from that point.

As such vapors percolate up through this pool of oil, more or less of the heat in same is extracted and acquired by the pool of oil, thus causing more or less of the vapors to condense and be retained in such pool of oil and act to have a scrubbing effect on remaining vapors. The surplusoil accumulating in this chamber travels through pipe J 2 into the pool contained in the chamber immediately thereunder, such pipe extending to near the bottom of said latter pool, so as to prevent any vapors passing therethrough from the latter chamber up into the former chamber. The remaining vapors in the last mentioned pool pass up through pipes F andby means of caps G2 are forced down to near the bottom of the pool of oil contained in this chamber and are there discharged into said pool of oil through the perforated places marked H or by passing completely -under the bottom of caps G2 and as they percolate up through this pool of oil, more or less heat is extracted therefrom and retained in the oil forming this pool, which causes more or less of such vapors to becondensed and retained in this pool of oil and the surplus of such oil overows through pipe J1 into the pool immediately thereunder, being discharged in said pool near the bottom so as to prevent any vapors in said lower chamber passing through this pipe into the upper chamber. There may be as many pools of oil as are shown in the chamber L* or as desired or found necessary to suliciently scrub the va-1 pors passed therethrough and to reduce and condense any desired portions of the vapors to produce the desired bolllng point, the remaining vapors passing from said chamber it necessary to show more than one chamber I marked L".

In case-it is desired to stimulate the flow of vapors from the vaporizing cham.

ber into and through the chamber L", a pump is provided marked E8 and connected to the vapor line E4 by means of line E6, having ositioned on 1t valve E7 and on the disc arge side of the pump it is connected to vapor liniegE byline E9, having l positioned on it valve E1o and to use this pump for pumping, the valve E5' would be closed on line E*V and valves E7 and E1o would be open, and pump put in operation, thereby causing the vapors to travel from line E1 through line E", through pump E1. through E9, back through line E4 on the opposite side of the valve E5 from which the vapors were originally drawn from line E". In different parts of this vaporizin chamber are shown pyrometers marked and pressure gauges marked P. The chamber L and pump -E8 are positioned on supports marked X. The portion of oil in the vaporizing chamber D remaining unvaporized is drawn off either continuously or intermittently through line D3, through valve D5 and with it is carried off more or less Iof the carbon formed in the cracking of the oil. V aporizing chamber D is duplicated as shown in vaporizing chamber marked D1. This is for the reason that w-hen it becomes necessary to clean vapor chamber D, the rest of the apparatus can be kep-t in operation by diverting the flow of heated oil coming from the heating tubes B into the other vaporizing chamber D1 by the opening of valve C3l land the vapors Eassed therefrom by the opening of valve 3, andthe unvaporized portion in tank D1 being drawn oif through valve D5 through line D4 and the discharge of the heated oil into tank D being stopped by the closing of valves C2 and E2. In due time, the manholes marked D-D on this latter tank .can kbe opened and the-tank cleaned; said tank will be ready to be put back in service by the time it becomes necessary to clean tank D1, this being done by the closing of valves C3, and E3 and the opening of valves C2 and E2. These vapor chambers are supported by supports marked X. Said Vaporizing chambers and va-por line marked E and section of vapor line marked E1 are heavily insulated as indicated by D31. The purpose of such insulationA is for preventing loss of vheat from this section and to prevent any portion of the oil, after once being vaporized, from condensing and mixed back with that portion remaining in the vapor chamber unvaporized. These vapor chambers are maintained only partly full of oil. e

It will be noted that the raw oil is fed into the top'or last pool of o-il, which is of the lowest temperature and flows .from there into the next succeeding -pool of oil, which is higher in temperature and then to the next,'

which is stili higher, etc. thus being pro-- gressively subjected to increasing temperatures and also mixed with such oils as are condensed in these pools of oil IandV such mixture returned for further heating. Thus, the raw oil being fed in is being preheated before lpassing to the heating coils B and thus utilizing more or less of the heat given up by the va ors that are passed through these pools o oil. It will 4be noted that by this novel arrangement, such portions'of the oil, either of the raw oil fed in or that formed by condensing of portions of the vapors as they pass through the different pools of oil that are changed to the desired low boiling point products, pass through the water condenser, and are condensed and collected separately, thus avoiding the necessity of subjecting them to t-he heat of the furnace A". j

Among other advantages of this process is controlling the amount of cracking done on each circuit of the oil through the heating or cracking tubes B, the separation and withdrawal 4from the apparatus of the unvaporized portion remaining in the vapor chamber along with more or less of the carbon formed, the fractional condensing of the vapors generated and those of not sulicient low boiling point returned to the heating tubes for further heating and cracking, thus being entirely freed from any carbon content before being passed again `through said heating tubes and in each circuit of the oil and vapors through the apparatus, that portion that is again passed through the heating coils-is `always free of all carbon before being subjected to further heating cracking action.

It will also be observed that in this arrangement, great economy in fuel will be gained. The temperature to which the oil is heated may vary from a minimum of 200 degs. I4`. to 60() degs. F., and from a maximum of 600 degs. F. to 1500 degs F. While the pressure maintained may vary from minimum of a few' pounds to the square inch to a maximum of 800 pounds tothe square Linch. These ranges of temperature and pressure are by `no means arbitrary.

lVhile I have shown and described a particular apparatus for carrying out my method,` the latter is not limited to the use with the particular apparatus shown and described. Also vari-ous changes in the details of construction, connections and operation of the apparatus may be made within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A process of oil conversion which consists in passing hydrocarbon oil but once through a continuous elongated passageway where the oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in introducingthe highly heated oil to an enlarged chamber with which said passageway communicates, in discharging -the vapors Afrom said chamber to a dephlegmator, in introducing charging stock to the dephlegmator to intimately commingle with said vapors to condense the heavier vapors and heat the stock, in discharging uncondensed vapors, in returning to the inlet side of said elongated passageway interminglcd condensate and charging stock for passage `therethrough, inwithdrawing carbon conllt) taining residue from said enlarged chamber without permitting any portion thereof to again enter the elongated cracking passagen Way, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on said system.

2. A continuous process of oil conversion, consisting in passing oil in a stream once through an elongated passageway Where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in passing the highly heated oil to an enlarged expansion chamber where a substantial portion thereof vaporizes, in discharging vapors directly from said chamber to a dephlegmator, in substantially continuously introducing charging stock to said dephlegmator to intimately commingle with the vapors passing therethrough to condense the heavy oil vapors in discharging uncondensed vapors from said dephlegmator. in continuously returning condensate with intermingled heated charging stock to the inlet side of the elongated cracking passageway forv passage therethrough for treatment, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure in said system. v

3. A continuous process of oil conversion, consisting in passing oil in a stream through a continuous elongated passageway where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in then passing the said highly heated oil to an enlarged expansion chamber where a substantial portion thereof vaporizes, in discharging the vapors from said chamber to a dephlegmator, in substantially continuously introducing charging stock to said dephlegmator to intimately commingle with the vapors passing therethrough to condense the heavy oil vapors, in continuously returning intermingled condensate and charging stock -to the inlet side of the elongated crack.

ing passageway for passage therethrough for treatment, in separately discharging residue from said expansion chamber without permitting said residue to enter the elongated cracking passageway, and in maintaining said system under a superatmospheric pressure.

4. A process of oil conversion, comprising passing hydrocarbon oil once only through a continuous elongated passageway where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in then delivering the highly heated oil to an enlarged chamber, in then passing vapors from said chamber to a dephlegmator, in introducing liquid oil to said dephlegmator to condense the heavier vapors, in passing said condensate and heated liquid oil substantially continuously and without previous mixture with the hydrocarbon products in said enlarged chamber to the inlet side of said elongated passageway for treatment therein, in discharging uncondensed vapors from the dephlegmator for final condensation, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on the oil in said passageway, enlarged chamber, and dephlegmator.

5. A process of oil conversion, comprising passing a stream of hydrocarbon oil through an elongated passageway where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in delivering the highly heated oil to an enlarged. vapor chamber where vaporization thereof occurs, in then passing vapors from said chamber to a de'phlegmator, in introducing charging stock to said dephlegmator to condense the heavier vapors, in passin said condensate and heated charging stoc continuously and without previous admission to the vapor chamber to the inlet side of said elongated passageway for treatlnent therein, in discharging uncondensed vapors from the dephlegmator for final condensation,` in sepalately withdrawing residue from said vapor4 chamber without permitting said residue to enter said elongated passageway, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on the oil undergoing distillation and while in the dephlegmator.

6. A process of oil conversion, consisting in passing hydrocarbon oil in a stream through an elongated continuous passageway where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in passing the highly heated oil to an enlarged chamber, in discharging vapors from said chamber into a dephlegmator', in introducing chargin stock to said dephlegmater, in causing t e vapors to percolate through oil pools in said dephlegmator where the heavier vapors are condensed, in continuously admitting to the inlet side of said elongated cracking passageway the intermingled reflux condensate and charging stock for passage through the elongated passageway, in removing heavy carbon containing residue from said vapor chamber without returning said residue to said elongated continuous passageway, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure in the system.

7. A process of oil conversion comprising passing hydrocarbon oil in a stream once only through a continuous elongated passageway disposed within a furnace where said oil is subjected to a cracking temperature, in transferring the highly heated oil to an enlarged chamber where vaporization of a substantial portion thereof occurs, in discharging vapors ,from said chamber to a dephlegmator, and in aiding in the condensation ofthe insufficiently cracked vapors passing through said dephlegmator by introducing to the dephlegmator incoming charging stock, in passing the condensate from said dephlegmator and the charging stock to the inlet side of said elongated passageway to travel therethrough in a continuously advancing `stream to be heated to a cracking temperature, in discharging uncondensed vapors lfrom the dephlegmator forual condensation, and in maintaining a sal superatmospheric vapor pressure on the oil in said passageway, enlarged chamber and dephlegmator.

8. A continuous process of oil conversion, consisting in maintaining a treated body of oil heated at a cracking temperature in an enlarged expansion chamber where lvaporization of said oil occurs, in discharging said vapors to a dephlegmator for passage therethrough, in condensing the heavy insufficiently cracked vapors in said dephlegmator by introducing charging stock thereto, in

l discharging uncondensed vapors from said dephlegmator, and in then heating said charging stock and condensate from said dephlegmator to a cracking temperature for introduction to said expansion chamber by continuously admitting the same to the inlet side of continuous elongated conveying means disposed Within a heatingfurnace to flow therethrough once only and to be discharged after said single passage into said expansion chamber, in discharging residue from the expansion chamber Without admitting the same to said elongated conveying means, and in maintaining a superatmospheric pressure on the oil undergoing distillation and while passing through said dephlegmator.

i CARBON P. DUBBS.

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