Petroleum processing, comparison

Another significant trend is the current program to increase the production of benzene from petroleum 16). Increasing requirements for the production of styrene, phenol, and other intermediates have made it essential that new sources be found to supplement current supplies of this aromatic hydrocarbon, and the only apparent source is from petroleum processes. To meet current needs of the military and civilian program the United States Petroleum Administration for Defense has been asked to increase petroleum benzene from the current rate of 12,000,000 gallons to 100,000,000 gallons per year 84). Present production from petroleum is small in comparison with that from other sources, but these proposed expansions may add materially to the output of petroleum-derived intermediates that will ultimately go to the manufacture of plastics and synthetic rubber. 

The software system, to meet the needs of the 1980 s, has wide flexibility and capabilities. For processes such as coal gasification or coal liquefaction, it can be used to perform steady state material and energy balances, calculate sizes of equipment, and carry out economic evaluations. Its flexibility can allow for the handling of coal or other solids in streams and equipment, and its capabilities allow for the simulation of many different types of process equipment and the calculations of physical properties under widely different conditions. Included in this is the ability to analyze conventional chemical and petroleum processes. Another valuable feature 1s a good preliminary cost estimation capability that permits the comparison of alternative processes on an economically consistent basis at an early stage of development. 

In this chapter we will describe some of our initial evaluation work on Paraho shale oil. This initial evaluation was not performed in depth rather, this first step consisted of chemical characterizations and high-spot, bench-scale processing of oil shale and several other syncrudes for direct comparisons of chemical feedstocks potential. Conventional analytical and petroleum processing techniques were used in the expectation that these would provide reference data on which to base specifically adapted techniques for evaluations of individual syncrudes. The results represent only our first attempts and except for occasional comparisons, are only for Paraho shale oil. 

The early use and success of molecular sieve catalysis was spurred by the dramatic improvement in activity selectivity for catalytic cracking of vacuum gas oil achieved by using the faujasite based catalysts in comparison to the previously used amorphous SiOj/AUOj. These catalysts had a factor of about 10 -10 higher catalytic activity than the amorphous SiOj/AfrOj catalysts [42]. Paraffin, C4 to C8 isomerization [43] was one of the first successful non-petroleum processing applications using zeolite catalysts. The complexity of tailoring zeolite catalysts, however, is well illustrated by the fact that is only four years back that Shell has developed the first zeolite based process for isomerization of n-butene to isobutene [44]. 

Acetic acid is an important intermediate organic tonnage chemical that may be produced by the petroleum industry and fermentation. The latter process requires the recovery of acetic acid from water solutions, and several techniques have been applied to this separation, including solvent extraction, azeotropic distillation, and extractive distillation. A comparison of economics between azeotropic distillation and solvent extraction combined with azeotropic distillation (Table 10.3) shows that the introduction of... 

Wong and Maroney [49] reported on a pilot plant comparison of PACT and extended aeration (activated sludge) for treating petroleum rehnery wastewater. Results indicated that although both processes performed similarly in COD removal, only the PACT system yielded an effluent meeting the discharge requirements for whole effluent toxicity reduction. Similar results in toxicity reduction have been reported for wastewaters from other industries [50]. 

Studies undertaken with petroleum feedstocks to elucidate an understanding of hydrodemetallation reactions have yielded ambiguous and in some cases conflicting results. Comparison of kinetic phenomena from one study to the next is often complicated. Formulation of a generalized kinetic and mechanistic theory of residuum demetallation requires consideration of competitive rate processes which may be unique to a particular feedstock. Catalyst activity is affected by catalyst size, shape, and pore size distribution and intrinsic activity of the catalytic metals. Feedstock reactivity reflects the composition of the crude source and the molecular size distribution of the metal-bearing species. 

The oil industry has to enrich crude oil with hydrogen to produce lighter petroleum products. Today, the vast majority of hydrogen in refineries is produced by steam methane reforming, this production accounts for approximately 1% ( 0.3 Gt) of the C02 world emissions. For comparison, it is approximately equal to 15% of avoided C02 emissions thanks to the world nuclear reactors fleet. Besides, the tradition Fischer-Tropsch process to produce synfuels has a poor conversion yield and is a large C02 emitter one-third of the resource is used to produce the hydrogen required for the process, when another third is used to produce the energy required for the process. Two-thirds of the carbon resource is therefore converted directly into C02, and not into fuel. 

The methods used at BERC to characterize petroleum and coal liquids provide a means for systematic study of various alternate or synthetic crude oils. The compositional data so produced are useful for producers or refiners of such materials and give them a base for clearer comparison of all liquids produced. Data from the batch preparation of liquids and the subsequent characterization of these liquids will provide a clearer understanding of the effect of coal source on the hydrocarbon composition of the potential liquefaction products. Such information will be necessary for the proper upgrading of coals and coal liquids and will contribute to more efficient processing and end-use of these materials. 

Viscosity is an important characteristic of pitches used as binders for the production of carbon and graphite electrodes. We used a Haake balance to measure SCT, petroleum and coal tar pitch viscosity, SCT pitches have viscosity between 1000-4000 cps at 160°C, A comparison of the viscosity-temperature relationship of two SCT pitches prepared by thermal and catalytic processes, a commercial petroleum and a coal tar pitch used for the production of carbon anodes is given in Figure 2. 

We used thermal analysis to determine the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG) of SCT pitches to obtain information on volatility and coke yield at various temperatures up to 1000°C, DTG was found very useful in defining process modifications to reduce volatiles in the pitch and increase pitch coke yield. Figure 3 gives the DTG (in nitrogen) of several SCT pitches prepared by distillation, thermal and catalytic process, in comparison with petroleum and coal tar pitches,... 

Figure 1.12 Comparison of sulfur levels vs carbon steel corrosion rates.9 Petroleum Refining Process Corrosion, Crude Fractionation Units, and Utilities 21...

The molecular size distributions and the size-distribution profiles for the nickel-, vanadium-, and sulfur-containing molecules in the asphaltenes and maltenes from six petroleum residua were determined using analytical and preparative scale gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The size distribution data were useful in understanding several aspects of residuum processing. A comparison of the molecular size distributions to the pore-size distribution of a small-pore desulfurization catalyst showed the importance of the catalyst pore size in efficient residuum desulfurization. In addition, differences between size distributions of the sulfur- and metal-containing molecules for the residua examined helped to explain reported variations in demetallation and desulfurization selectivities. Finally, the GPC technique also was used to monitor effects of both thermal and catalytic processing on the asphaltene size distributions. 

Petroleum refinery flowsketch, 26 PER (plug flow reactor), 55,558 comparison with CSTR, complex reactions, 569 volume ratio to CSTR, 571 Phase diagrams nitrotoluene isomers, 544 salt solutions, 526 use of example, 528 Phenol bv the chlorbenzene process, 34 Phosgene synthesis, 594 PhthMic anhydride synthesis, 593 PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers, 41, 42... 

A comparison of the equilibrium (Eh) and kinetic (TEAPs) approaches to describe redox processes in a petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer was given by Chapelle et al. (1996). In this study. Eh measurements were made with a platinum electrode, and the results plotted on a standard Eh-pH diagram (SUlen, 1952). The results of this analysis are shown in Eigure 11. Based on this analysis, it can be concluded that Fe(III) reduction is the predominant redox process, as none of the measured Eh values are sufficiently negative to indicate sulfate reduction... 

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