Hydrocarbon pyrolysis process

Claim 1

IN THE NON-CATALYTIC HIGH TEMPERATURE CONTINUOUS GAS PYROLYSIS OF C2-C6 SATURATED HYDROCARBONS TO PRODUCE UNSATURATED HYDROCARBONS AND HYDROGEN, A REACTION CYCLE WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY BURNING RECYCLED HYDROGEN WITH OXYGEN TO PROVIDE AN OXYGEN-FREE FLUE GAS CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF SUPERHEATED STEAM, CONTINUOUSLY MIXING A C2-C6 HYDROCARBON FEED STOCK WITH SAID STEAM IN A REACTION ZONE TO PRODUCE A PYROLYSIS EFFUENT CONTAINING UNSATURATED HYDROCARBONS AND HYDROGEN, PASSING SAID PYROLYSIS EFFUENT INTO A FIRST QUENCHING CHAMBER PACKED WITH A RELATIVELY COOL MASS OF GRANULAR REFRACTORY HEAT TRANSFER MATERIAL, THE RATE OF FLOW OF REACTANTS AND RATE OF COOLING IN SAID QUENCH CHAMBER BEING SUCH THAT THE HYDROCARBONS ARE MAINTAINED AT PYROLYSIS TEMPERATURE FOR ONLY A FRACTION OF A SECOND, TERMINATING THE FLOW OF PYROLYSIS EFFUENT THROUGH SAID QUENCH CHAMBER WHEN THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HOT AND COOL PORTIONS OF THE REFRACTORY PACKING HAS REACHED A POINT WHERE THE REMAINING COOL PORTION OF THE PACKING IS AT ABOUT MINIMUM EFFICIENCY FOR QUENCHING THE PYROLYSIS EFFUENT, TRANSFERRING THE FLOW OF PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT THROUGH A SECOND QUENCH CHAMBER PACKED WITH A RELATIVELY COOL MASS OF GRANULAR REFRACTORY HEAT TRANSFER MATERIAL TO QUENCH SAID EFFLUENT AT THE SAME RATE AS IN SAID FIRST CHAMBER, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY THEREWITH PASSING A COOL SECONDARY C2-C6 HYDROCARBON FEED STOCK THROUGH SAID FIRST QUENCH CHAMBER TO PYROLYZE THE SAME TO PRODUCE A SECONDARY PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT CONTAINING UNSATURATED HYDROCARBONS AND COOL THE HEATED PORTION OF SAID FIRST QUENCH CHAMBER PACKING, RAPIDLY COOLING SAID SECONDARY PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT BELOW PYROLYSIS TEMPERATURE, MIXING THE EFFLUENTS FROM SAID QUENCH CHAMBERS; SEPARATING THE MIXED THE EFFLUENTS INTO A HYDROGEN FRACTION, A MIXED HYDROCARBON FRACTION, AND A WATER FRACTION, AND RECYCLING THE HYDROGEN FRACTION TO THE HYDROGEN COMBUSTION STEP, CONTINUING TO PASS PRIMARY PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT INTO SAID SECOND QUENCH CHAMBER AND SECONDARY HYDROCARBON FEED INTO SAID FIRST QUENCH CHAMBER UNTIL THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HEATED AND COOL PORTIONS OF REFRACTORY PACKING IN SAID SECOND QUENCH CHAMBER REACHES A POINT WHERE THE COOL PORTION OF PACKING IS AT ABOUT MINIMUM EFFICIENCY FOR QUENCHING PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT AND THE HOT PORTION IS AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE TEMPERATURE OF THE PRIMARY PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT, AND THE HEATED PORTION OF SAID FIRST QUENCH CHAMBER PACKING HAS BEEN COOLED TO SUBSTANTIALLY THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SECONDARY HYDROCARBON FEED, AND THEN TRANSFERRING FLOW OF PRIMARY PYROLYSIS EFFLUENT TO SAID FIRST QUENCH CHAMBER FOR CONTINUING RAPID QUENCHING AND FLOW OF SAID SECONDARY HYDROCARBON FEED TO SAID SECOND QUENCH CHAMBER FOR CONTINUING PYROLYSIS.