520results about "Refining by water treatment" patented technology

The invention is intended to produce high-pressure light fuel gas with good combustibility by contacting and reacting high-temperature, high-pressure water and heavy oil with each other in a contact-reaction unit to extract light oil components from the heavy oil and to remove metals. The high-temperature, high-pressure water and the heavy oil are introduced to the contact-reaction unit for contact and reaction with each other therein. Heavy oil components not dissolved in the high-temperature, high-pressure water are separated by precipitation from hydrocarbon gases and light oil components which are dissolved in the high-temperature, high-pressure water. The separated heavy oil components are burnt or incinerated without any further modification.

It has been discovered that metals and / or amines can be removed or transferred from a hydrocarbon phase to a water phase in an emulsion breaking process by using a composition that contains water-soluble hydroxyacids. Suitable water-soluble hydroxyacids include, but are not necessarily limited to glycolic acid, gluconic acid, C2-C4 alpha-hydroxy acids, poly-hydroxy carboxylic acids, thioglycolic acid, chloroacetic acid, polymeric forms of the above hydroxyacids, poly-glycolic esters, glycolate ethers, and ammonium salt and alkali metal salts of these hydroxyacids, and mixtures thereof. The composition may also include at least one mineral acid to reduce the pH of the desalter wash water. A solvent may be optionally included in the composition. The invention permits transfer of metals and / or amines into the aqueous phase with little or no hydrocarbon phase undercarry into the aqueous phase. The composition is particularly useful in treating crude oil emulsions, and in removing calcium and other metals therefrom.

The reforming of heavy oil with supercritical water or subcritical water is accomplished by mixing together supercriticai water, heavy oil, and oxidizing agent, thereby oxidizing vanadium in heavy oil with the oxidizing agent at the time of treatment with supercritical water and separate vanadium oxide. The separated vanadium oxide is removed by the scavenger after treatment with supercritical water. In this way it is possible to solve the long-standing problem with corrosion of turbine blades by vanadium which arises when heavy oil is used as gas turbine fuel.

Disclosed is a process for the upgrading of heavy oils and bitumens, where the total feed to the process can include heavy oil or bitumen, water, and diluent. The process can include the steps of solvent deasphalting 110 the total feed 105 to recover an asphaltene fraction 116, a deasphalted oil fraction 118 essentially free of asphaltenes, a water fraction 112, and a solvent fraction 114. The process allows removal of salts from the heavy oils and bitumens either into the aqueous products or with the asphaltene product.

A method of augmenting the separation of immiscible heavier and lighter components of an emulsion including the steps of conducting the emulsion into a treatment vessel, providing an AC voltage source, employing from the source an AC voltage of at least one selected frequency F1 to establish at least one electric filed within the vessel through which the emulsion passes, and cyclically modulating the AC voltage with a method of modulation selected from: (a) amplitude modulation; (b) frequency modulation; and (c) combined amplitude and frequency modulation.

A process to reduce the acidity of acidic crude oils for preventing corrosion during processing of the crude oils, including transferring through pipe lines, tanker ships and tank vehicles. Crude oil having substantial amount of organic acid, in particular, naphthenic acid compounds is contacted with supercritical water and a catalyst for deacidification. A treated crude oil product has lower amounts of organic acid compounds than the original crude oil.