Ashland Oil, Inc.

Ashland, Inc.

Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC

Charles B Miller

Donald P Malone

Howard F Moore

Roger E Hayner

Robert H Wombles

Charles R Gannon

Carlton H Jewitt

David P Wesley

Willian H Gilkerson, Sr

Stephen M Kovach

Thomas C Holcombe

Roy E Whitt

Jonathan A Wiseman

A gas impermeable vessel carrying a molten metal bath within the vessel bottom includes a downwardly directed baffle from a top wall of the vessel, which penetrates the bath to separate the vessel into a burner feed chamber and an outlet chamber with gas spaces above the level of the molten metal bath. A burner having a combustion chamber receiving an oxidant under pressure and fuel gas and pitch, combusts the pitch and passes the products of combustion at high velocity through a nozzle which opens directly or indirectly to the gas space above in the burner feed chamber such that a stream of carbon soot impinges against the surface of the molten metal bath and penetrates the same, thereby dissolving the carbon soot and disassociating gases such as carbon monoxide in the molten metal. Water may be supplied to the stream to effect disassociation of the hydrogen content in the molten metal. The molten metal passes under the baffle and gases such as CO and H S exit an outlet line open to the gas space above the outlet chamber. H O may be added to the outlet gas to effect a water gas shift CO&plus;H O&rarr;CO &plus;H . The burner may be water jacketed with the water passing through apertures on the inner wall of the jacket into the stream exiting from the nozzle. The vessel may have its axis horizontal or vertical. The vessel may be formed by a ceramic U-tube or a ceramic tubular structure of W elevational configuration.

Burner-feed multi-zone molten metal syngas generator

A process and apparatus for preparation of custom blended fuels is disclosed. A bar code on a fuel tank or vehicle, such as an automobile, is scanned by a bar code reader operatively associated with a fuel dispensing means to convey information about a fuel required or desired to a computer controlled customized blender associated with the fuel dispensing means. Multiple fuel components, such as gasoline and replenishable fuel components such as methanol and ethanol may be custom mixed at the point of purchase. Preferably an octane analyzer and other fuel property analyzers, such as RVP analyzers, are associated with individual component or blended gasoline streams.

Bar code gasoline blending

Two, preferably three or more gasoline (or other fuel) blending components are delivered to a point adjacently point of sale to the motorist and are blended by an apparatus which proportions the flow of individual components in response to signals indicative of the gasoline quality variables, octane, Reid vapor pressure, percent alcohol, etc. (The preferred octane for control purposes is motor octane, but pump octane or research octane or any combination of these three may be utilized.)

Point of purchase gasoline analyzing/blending

A process in which a high-purity, high-pressure hydrogen-rich gas stream and a high-purity, high-pressure carbon monoxide-rich gas stream are simultaneously produced separately and continuously using a molten metal gasifier that contains at least two zones, thereby avoiding the need to separate or compress the gases in down-stream equipment. In one version of the process, the steps comprise (a) introducing a hydrocarbon feed into a molten metal bath beneath the molten metal surface in a feed zone operating at a pressure above 5 atmospheres absolute, and decomposing the hydrocarbon feed into hydrogen, which leaves the feed zone as a hydrogen-rich gas, and into carbon, which dissolves in the molten metal and increases the carbon concentration, but controlling the carbon concentration to at or below the limit of solubility of carbon in the molten metal, (b) transferring a portion of the molten metal from the feed zone to another molten metal oxidation zone operating at a pressure above 5 atmospheres absolute into which an oxygen-containing material is introduced beneath the molten metal surface to react with a portion of the carbon to form a carbon monoxide-rich gas which leaves the oxidation zone, wherein the carbon concentration in the molten metal is controlled so that it does not reach the concentration at which the equilibrium oxygen concentration would exceed its solubility limit in the molten metal and a separate iron oxide phase would accumulate, (c) transferring at least a portion of the molten metal which has a lower carbon concentration from the oxidation zone back to the feed zone, and (d) passing said separate high-pressure, high-purity hydrogen-rich and carbon monoxide-rich gas streams out of their respective zones, removing entrained dust and cooling the gas streams to temperatures suitable for use in industrial processes.

Molten metal hydrocarbon gasification process

In this combination process, solvent deasphalting (SDA) concentrates metals in the bottoms product which can be blended to asphalt as a product or for sending to the Calderon or similar process and outputs a high carbon (4+ concarbon) feed which is readily cracked to valuable transportation fuels by an RCC.RTM. cracking unit (or a conventional FCC with catalyst cooler and oxygen to the regenerator so that it acts as an RCC). The Rose process can be used instead of SDA to save utilities. By this invention, heavy crude can be converted to valuable transportation fuels and asphalt product, and catalyst make-up can be sharply reduced in the RCC or FCC unit because metals (asphaltenes and porphyrins) are removed before cracking. Novel asphalt compositions and blending are also disclosed. Asphalt from the SDA can preferably be blended with lube plant extract (or other aromatic extract) to produce specific asphalts meeting new SHRP specifications for paving.

Demetallation - high carbon conversion process, apparatus and asphalt

In an improved molten metal hydrogen generation bath, baffles form a draft tube or chimney-effect near the center of the bath. Flow through the chimney is aided by maintaining a temperature differential favoring convection and, optionally, a differential pressure between the portions of the bath on either side of the baffle-chimney arrangement. Feed is added to the feed zone and oxygen is added to the oxidation zone, emitting H.sub.2 from the feed zone and CO from the oxidation zone. Baffles may be made simply of brick work or high temperature metal and can fit into existing refractory-lined molten metal vessels. Products can be mixed as syngas feed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Additionally, the Boudouard endothermic reaction (CO.sub.2 +C.fwdarw.2CO) can be used to control temperatures by injecting CO in place of oxygen.

Molten decomposition apparatus and process

In this combination process, solvent deasphalting (SDA) concentrates metals in the bottoms product which can be blended to asphalt as a product or for sending to the Calderon or similar process and outputs a high carbon (4+ concarbon) feed which is readily cracked to valuable transportation fuels by an RCC.RTM. cracking unit (or a conventional FCC with catalyst cooler and oxygen to the regenerator so that it acts as an RCC). The Rose process can be used instead of SDA to save utilities. By this invention, heavy crude can be converted to valuable transportation fuels and asphalt product, and catalyst make-up can be sharply reduced in the RCC or FCC unit because metals (asphalteries and porphyrins) are removed before cracking. Novel asphalt compositions and blending are also disclosed. Asphalt from the SDA can preferably be blended with lube plant extract (or other aromatic extract) to produce specific asphalts meeting new SHRP specifications for paving.

Demetallation-High carbon conversion process, apparatus and asphalt

In an improved molten metal hydrogen generation bath, baffles form a draft tube or chimney-effect near the center of the bath. Flow through the chimney is aided by maintaining a temperature differential favoring convection and, optionally, a differential pressure between the portions of the bath on either side of the baffle-chimney arrangement. Feed is added to the feed zone and oxygen is added to the oxidation zone, emitting H.sub.2 from the feed zone and CO from the oxidation zone. Baffles may be made simply of brick work or high temperature metal and can fit into existing refractory-lined molten metal vessels. Products can be mixed as syngas feed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Additionally, the Boudouard endothermic reaction (CO.sub.2 +C .fwdarw. 2CO) can be used to control temperatures by injecting CO in place of oxygen.

Molten metal decomposition apparatus

The conventional wye (where the clean regenerated catalyst returns from the regenerator to contact the feed as it enters the riser) is replaced with two or more wyes, all connected between the regenerator outlet and the inlet to a common short cracking riser. Each wye has a separate injector which can inject; e.g., diesel oil, so that neat (unmixed) diesel contacts clean catalyst and the mixture rises up a smaller riser before entering a short main riser where the largely cracked mixture is admixed with similar cat-vacuum bottoms, etc. mixtures from the other wyes. Most cracking occurs before entering the common riser so the effect is similar to a riser cracker operating on a single unmixed feed.

Multiple wye catalytic cracker and process for use

The invention is particularly concerned with controlling the two stage regeneration temperatures of the RCC residual oil cracking unit below 760.degree. C. (1400.degree. F.) by effecting a first stage regeneration with direct injection of water in an oxygen lean atmosphere to product CO rich flue gases under temperature conditions restricted not to substantially exceed 732.degree. C. (1350.degree. F.) preferably less than 732.degree. C. (1350.degree. F.) thereby partially regenerating the catalyst. The partially regenerated catalyst is withdrawn and directly cooled with boiler feed water to produce steam in an external catalyst cooler before passing the catalyst to a second stage catalyst regeneration for contact with an oxygen rich atmosphere restricted not to exceed 760.degree. C. (1400.degree. F.) and preferably maintain less than 760.degree. C. (1400.degree. F.). The catalyst regenerated by this technique comprising residual coke less than 0.25 wt % is passed to a riser conversion zone for catalytic cracking residual oil feeds.

Addition of water to regeneration air

A three stage catalytic cracking process capable of converting high molecular weight hydrocarbons containing catalyst poisons into products of lower molecular weight by cascading catalyst from a fluid catalytic cracking unit to a reduced crude conversion unit to a metals removal unit is disclosed. Efficiencies in conversion operations are made possible.

Cascading of fluid cracking catalysts

The present invention is concerned with upgrading residual oils to gasoline product with a coke selective hydrogen stable faujasite crystalline zeolite catalyst comprising at least 40 weight percent of alumina and rare earth metals in an acidic matrix and effecting regeneration thereof in an oxygen lean atmosphere under CO combustion conditions. A compound of antimony is added to passivate metal contaminants. The regeneration of the catalyst is effected to retain up to 0.25 weight percent carbon and heat balance of the operation is limited as a function of metal promoted CO burn within a dense fluid bed of catalyst being regenerated.

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Ashland, KY, United States of America

Charles B Miller