Exxon Research and Engineering Company

Other

Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company

Richard P O'Connor

Geoffrey R Say

James H Taylor, Jr

James P Glass, Jr

Robert Basil Fedich

Dennis G Alexion

John C Wilbur

Peter S Maa

Gerrit S Swart

Louis S Dauber

Richard F Bauman

A direct coal liquefaction process and system is provided that utilizes a dispersed catalyst and recycle of atmospheric and vacuum fractionator bottoms to produce a maximum yield of jet fuel/diesel or chemical plant feedstock while eliminating all slurry heat exchangers and a slurry preheat furnace. Process hydrogen is preheated in a heat exchanger and, if necessary, in a hydrogen furnace, and mixed with the recycled atmospheric and vacuum fractionator bottoms being fed to the input of the direct liquefaction reactor. Heat for the hydrogen heat exchanger is provided by the overhead from the hot separator receiving the effluent from the direct liquefaction reactor. Product selectivity is controlled by operating conditions.

Direct coal liquefaction process and system

Sour natural gas is processed to remove the sulfur compounds and recover C /C hydrocarbons by scrubbing the gas with an amine solution to remove most of the sulfur, followed cooling the gas to remove C /C hydrocarbons and more sulfur compounds as liquid condensate to produce a gas having less than 20 vppm of total sulfur. The condensate is sent to a fractionator to recover the C /C hydrocarbons. The sulfur and hydrocarbon reduced gas is contacted first with zinc oxide and then nickel, to produce a gas having less than 10 vppb of total sulfur which is passed into a synthesis gas generating unit to form a very low sulfur synthesis gas comprising a mixture of H and CO. This synthesis gas is useful for hydrocarbon synthesis with increased life of the hydrocarbon synthesis catalyst and greater hydrocarbon production from the hydrocarbon synthesis reactor. Contacting the synthesis gas with zinc oxide further reduces the sulfur content to below 3 vppb.

Production of low sulfur syngas from natural gas with C4&plus;/C5&plus; hydrocarbon recovery

Sour natural gas is processed to remove the sulfur compounds and recover C,/C,hydrocarbons by scrubbing the gas with an amine solution to remove most of the sulfur, followed cooling the gas to remove C,/C,hydrocarbons and more sulfur compounds as liquid condensate to produce a gas having less than 20 vppm of total sulfur. The condensate is sent to a fractionator to recover the C,C,hydrocarbons. The sulfur and hydrocarbon reduced gas is contacted first with zinc oxide and then nickel, to produce a gas having less than 10 vppb of total sulfur which is passed into a synthesis gas generating unit to form a very low sulfur synthesis gas comprising a mixture of H,and CO. This synthesis gas is useful for hydrocarbon synthesis with increased life of the hydrocarbon synthesis catalyst and greater hydrocarbon production from the hydrocarbon synthesis reactor. Contacting the synthesis gas with zinc oxide further reduces the sulfur content to below 3 vppb.

Production of low sulfer syngas from natural gas with C4&plus;/C5&plus; hydrocarbon recovery

Very low sulfur content hydrocarbon gas is achieved by sequentially contacting the gas first with zinc oxide and then with nickel metal. This has reduced the total sulfur content of natural gas feed for a fluid bed syngas generator to less than 0.1 ppm and has resulted in greater syngas productivity. A zinc oxide guard bed downstream of the syngas generator reduces the total sulfur content of the syngas to less than 10 vppb and preferably less than 5 vppb. This very low sulfur content syngas is used for sulfur sensitive processes, such as hydrocarbon synthesis. The process is especially useful for natural gas which contains H.sub.2 S, COS, mercaptans and other sulfur bearing compounds.

Very low sulfur gas feeds for sulfur sensitive syngas and hydrocarbon

A reformate lean oil absorber is used in the downstream processing facilities of a reformer unit to remove isobutane and heavier components from a separator overhead vapor, part of which is reformer recycle gas. Stabilized reformate may be employed as lean oil to the absorber, and the fat oil is recycled to the stabilizer for isobutane recovery of isobutane and normal butane as overhead product and C.sub.5.sup.+ liquid as bottoms product. The mixed butanes are separated, and the isobutane employed as alkylation feedstock. The n-butane is recycled with the naphtha to the reformer unit, the absence of butanes in the recycle gas considerably enhancing the amount of isobutane produced in the reforming unit.

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Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America

Richard P O'Connor