Mobil Oil Corporation

Richard A Alexander

Charles E Knight

Darrell D Whitehurst

D Duayne Whitehurst

A material extraction nozzle for separating a mixture of materials having different densities, comprising: a nozzle body shell having an outer surface with a tangentially located material inlet at an upper portion thereof and an inner surface defining in part a frustrum of a cone; a substantially conical diffuser section having an outer surface terminating in an apex, the diffuser section axially aligned within the nozzle body shell in a spaced relation therewith so as to form an extraction chamber with the inner surface of the nozzle body shell and the outer surface of the substantially conical diffuser section; an extracted material outlet port positioned axially through the substantially conical diffuser section; and at least one rejected material capillary outlet located below the apex of the diffuser section.

Material extraction nozzle coupled with distillation tower and vapors

An azeotropic distillation method for separating diamondoids from a near-boiling solvent. The method is particularly useful for recovering diamondoids extracted from a produced natural gas stream via hydrocarbon solvent injection.

Azeotropic distillation process for recovery of diamondoid compounds

Material extraction nozzle

A process for recovering diamondoid compounds from hydrocarbonaceous minerals and/or from deposits left by such minerals in equipment or otherwise, which comprises dissolving diamondoid compounds in an aromatic distillate fuel oil; extracting aromatics from the solution; and separating diamondoid compounds from the raffinate of the extraction.

Purification of hydrocarbonaceous fractions

A process is disclosed for extracting diamondoid compounds from a hydrocarbon gas stream. The process includes two stages, each of which alone is effective to remove diamondoids from a hydrocarbon gas stream. The first stage comprises contacting the diamondoid-laden hydrocarbon gas with a suitable solvent to preferentially dissolve the diamondoids into the solvent. Diesel fuel is the preferred solvent for this first stage. The second stage comprises sorbing diamondoids from the diamonoid-laden hydrocarbon gas with silica gel. The most preferred embodiment of the invention is a serial process in which a diamondoid-laden gas is first treated in the solvation stage and the partially purified gas is further resolved in the silica gel sorption stage. The invention still further includes a process for segregating adamantane and diamantane when both are separated from a hydrocarbon gas stream.

According to this invention, substantially hydrocarbonaceous fractions comprising diamondoid compounds are peculiarly suitable for separation by a thermal gradient diffusion process. Applicability of this process to this service is dependent upon the fact that the diamondoid compounds exhibit a large change in viscosity relative to temperature, that is, their viscosity goes down significantly per degree of increase in temperature.

Removal of diamondoid compounds from hydrocarbonaceous fractions

A process for recovering diamondoid compounds from a fluid mixture thereof with other hydrocarbonaceous compounds which comprises contacting said mixture with a porous solid, for example, a zeolite, having pore opening large enough to admit said diamondoid compounds thereinto and small enough so that at least 50% of the external atoms of said diamondoid compounds are capable of simultaneously contacting the internal walls of the pores of said solid under conditions conducive to absorption of diamondoid compounds by said solid; and then desorbing the absorbate comprising diamondoid compounds from said solid absorbant.

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Mobile, AL, United States of America

Richard A Alexander