US1955774A - Making combustible gas and converting hydrocarbon oils - Google Patents

Description

A. P. SACHS April 24, 1934.

MAKING COMBUS'IIBLE GAS AND CONVERTING HYDROCARBON OILS Filed Dec. 28, 1929 I INVENT R ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1934 MAKING COMBUSTIBLE GAS AND CON- VERTIN G HYDROCARBON OHIS Albert P. Sachs, New York, N. Y., assignor to Petroleum Conversion Corporation, New York,

a corporation of Delaware Application December 28, 1929, Serial No. 417,025

2 Claims.

My present invention relates to a process for simultaneously making water gas or other fuel gas and converting or cracking hydrocarbon oils. It has been proposed, as for example in the patout to Knox No. 1,715,239, to convert hydrocarbon oil into compounds of lower molecular weight suitable as motor fuels by the aid of substantially neutral heat carrier gas. To carry out such a process it is necessary to provide means for heat- 0 ing up relatively large qauntities of gas of thisnature and also to subject an even greater quantity of such gas to a stripping operation to separate therefrom the lighter vapors which other r wise would be lost and which are particularly valuable in motor fuels. This process is dependent in large measure for its successful operation both on a supply of hot heat-carrier gas and the ability'to strip from the residual gas the lighter vapors of the cracked products. In the art of 20 making water or producer gas, on the other hand, the gas generated may be of a temperature in excess of 1,000 F. which makes possible the use of this gas as a heat carrier without further heat- 25 ing for the conversion or cracking of hydrocarbon oils. Moreover, less attention need be given the stripping of the gas since such lighter vapors as are left in the gas contribute to its heating and illuminating value. It is accordingly an object of my 0 invention to provide a process and apparatus by means of which a substantially continuous generation of combustible gas may be produced, the sensible heat of which will be utilized for converting hydrocarbon oils in the vapor phase. A fur- 3 ther object is to utilize the heat produced in the so-called blasting operation for the cracking or converting step by providing a suitable regenerative heating means for storing this heat; without, however, having to introduce the oil into contact with heated checkerwork which would prevent the maintaining of a uniform temperature of conversion, and would cause deposition of carbon in said heated checkerwork.

My invention will be best understood by ref- 45 erence to the following detailed description taken with the annexed drawing which shows an illustrative embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, denotes a water gas generator which 50 has a fuel bed 11 and is provided with the usual air inlet 13, steam inlets 14, 15, gas oiftakes 1'7, 18. Preferably, as is customary in the art, the generator 10 has an oiltake both above and below the fuel bed as indicated by 1'? and 18, respectively,

55 by means of which the fuel may be blasted either from the top or bottom, suitable valves 19, being provided for accomplishing this. A pipe 22 communicatingwith offtake 1'7 admits air through oiftakes 17, 18 from a source not shown.

Generator 10 communicates with the superheater 25 by means of extension 26 of ofitake 17. superheater 25 is provided with the usual refractory checkerwork 27 which acts to store heat contained in the producer or blast gas from the generator 10. For the purpose of admitting air for the complete combustion of this gas, a pipe 29 is provided leading from a source, not shown, of air under pressure. The spent gas and combustion products leave the superheater at the bottom thereof through a valved ofitake 30 leading to stack 31. A second offtake 33 also valved is provided for water gas, such oiftake communicating with a pipe 34 which in turn leads into a pipe 35 terminating in a reaction chamber 36, which as shown is preferably without filling material therein.

As shown, a duplicate set comprising a generator and superheater is provided, such set being identified with the same reference characters additioned by a prime the offtake 34 for the water gas being common to both sets. By means of the two sets of generator and superheater, a substantially continuous supply of hot water gas may be supplied to the reaction chamber 36.

For the purpose of furnishing hydrocarbon vapor to be converted, a vaporizing apparatus denoted generally by is provided; This com prises an evaporating coil 42, a pipe 74 supply ing same with oil tobe evaporated, a connection 43 from said coil to a flash drum 44 for admitting vaporized products thereto, a vapor offtake 45 from said drum and a return connection 46 joining pipe 47 for leading back unvaporized products from the drum to said coil. A pipe 47 provides for the discharge of residue from said drum. For the purpose of heating the coil 42, a burner 48 and a baflie 49 are provided, the ofltake for the combustion gases being omitted for clearness.

Vapor ofitake 45 leads to the top of reaction chamber 36 whereby the generated vapor is admitted to the reaction chamber. In order that a uniform temperature may be maintained in reaction chamber 36, I have found it advisable to provide a source 50 oi tempering gas at a lower temperature, which gas is led on through a pipe 51, pump 52 and then admitted to pipe 35 leading to chamber 36. By means of a valve 53 a regulated supply of tempering gas may be had, this valve preferably being regulated automatically by thermostatically controlled means which per se is well known in the art. The vapor from the evaporator 40 mingles with the hot water gas preferably above 1150" F., a relation between vapor and water gas being chosen so that the reaction temperature is in the neighborhood of 950- 1050" F. The mixture of products and water gas leaves the reaction chamber through a pipe through which it passes to a scrubber 56. In this apparatus carbon and tarry products are removed by means of a suitable menstruum, as, for example, a heavy oil which is circulated through the apparatus by means of a .pipe 5'7, pump 58 and spray nozzle 59. A connection 60 provides for the admission of the menstruum and an offtake 61 for the withdrawal of the hot carboncontaining menstruum which is thence conducted to a suitable settling and a cooling device, not shown. If desired, this heated menstruum may be led into heat interchange with the oil entering the system by means of apparatus not shown. The products which have thus been subjected to the scrubbing operation are led from the scrubber through pipe to a rectifier 72 containing suitable filling material 73 and in which a suitable oil is caused to circulate. A conduit '71 admits make-up oil to this apparatus. Under most circumstances it may be desirable to pass the oil from the rectifier '72 through conduits 74 and 41 to evaporating coil 42 and thereby utilize this oil in the conversion step. Means are provided in the form of a pipe '76, pump 77 and spray nozzle '78 for circulating the oil directly from the bottom of the rectifier through this apparatus. It will be understood that suitable means are provided for abstracting the heat in the oil drawn off in pipe '76 and for re-introducing the cooled oil at the top of the rectifier. The residue draw-off '79 is also provided at the bottom of the rectifier.

The gases from the rectifier '72 are drawn off through pipe 81 and pass through condenser 83 from which the condensate is collected in accumulator 85. In this accumulator is the bulk of the desired product of the conversion reaction, namely, a gasoline-like liquid suitable as a motor fuel. The gas leaving the accumulator 85 may be passed through a main 89 for any industrial or domestic use or, preferably, it may first be subjected to a further stripping operation for the recovery of light gasoline compounds. Preferably a small portion of the gas after being first stripped is led oif through a pipe 91 to a. holder 50 for the purpose of supplying tempering of the gas admitted to the reaction chamber as previously described.

In the operation of my process, oil to be converted may be admitted to the system at any one of several places. If the oil contains light fractions which it is desired to separate, it is best admitted to the scrubber 56 through 'pipe 60.

The oil is for the most part vaporized in the scrubber wherein conditions are maintained so that only the very heavy fractions which as a rule would be unsuited for cracking or conversion are separated out. The vaporized portions are rectified in the rectifier '72 whereupon the fractions heavier than gasoline are conveyed to the evaporating coil 42 by means of pipe '74. Conditions are preferably maintained in the evaporator such as to vaporize the oil without substantial cracking thereof, whereby the heat required for the conversion of the hydrocarbon vapor admitted to the reaction chamber 36 is furnished entirely by the heat of the hot water-gas. However, if desired, the vapor so admitted to the reaction chamber may be previously superheated in apparatus not shown. Under certain circumstances, all or a portion of the oil may be admitted to the system through pipe '71 leading to the rectifier '72. In general, the pressure used will have rather little influence upon the product obtained and ordinarily a pressure will be chosen conforming to standard water gas practice. Other conditions remaining the same, a higher pressure facilitates recovery of condensible hydrocarbons from the gas while a reduced pressure favors the retention of such products.

While I have illustrated my invention as applied to a process and apparatus for making water gas, it will be apparent that in its broader aspects it is also applicable to the manufacture of producer gas.

I claim:

1. In the method of simultaneously making an industrially useful, at least partially carburetted combustible gas and converting hydrocarbon oils into motor fuels, the steps which consist in first generating water gas and so conducting the generation as to produce a gas having a temperature in excess of 1150 F. while compensating for the variation in temperature of the gas incident to water gas manufacture by introducing into the gas stream a regulated supply of gas of similar character thereby rendering the temperature of said gas stream substantially uniform, passing said gas to a reaction zone, subjecting oil to be converted to vaporizing conditions without substantial cracking thereof and mingling in said reaction zone the vapor 'so produced and said hot gas to bring about conversion to the oil vapor at a substantially uniform temperature in excess of 900 F., subjecting the mixture of converted vapor and gas to conditions producing liquefaction of the products useful as motor fuels while leaving in said gas stream conde'nsible products lighter than gasoline whereby to carburet said industrially useful gas.

2. The method according to claim 1 including generating a continuous supply of water gas.

ALBERT P. SACHS.

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