Simultaneous deasphalting-extraction process

Claim 2

A process for simultaneously solvent-deasphalting and extracting a mineral oil feedstock containing asphaltic and aromatic components which comprises the steps of: (1) contacting said feedstock in a combination deasphalting-extracting zone with a solvent comprising a mixture of (a) NMP containing from 0-5 LV% water and (b) one or more liquid, low molecular weight C 2 -C 10 carbon atom hydrocarbons to form two layers or phases, an upper raffinate phase containing the desired oil, most of the hydrocarbon solvent and some NMP and a lower, extract layer or phase containing asphalt and most of the NMP; (2) removing the raffinate from said combination zone and heating same to a temperature ranging from between 180° to 450° F.; (3) passing said hot raffinate from step (2) to a flash zone to remove most of the hydrocarbon solvent therefrom as vapor to produce a hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate; (4) chilling said hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate to a temperature sufficiently low to produce bulk liquid-liquid immiscibility between the raffinate oil and the NMP, thereby forming two phases or layers, an oil-rich light phase and an NMP-rich heavy phase containing some oil and most of the NMP present in the raffinate formed in step (1) above; (5) separating the oil-rich phase from the NMP-rich phase; and (6) passing said NMP-rich phase back into said combination zone.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein said contacting step is conducted at a temperature ranging from about 70° to about 350° F., at a pressure ranging from about 10 to about 600 psig.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2 wherein said contacting step is conducted at a solvent-to-oil ratio ranging from about 50 to 800 LV% for the hydrocarbon and from about 50 to 400 LV% for the NMP.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein the mineral oil is a petroleum oil having an initial boiling point ranging from about 500° to about 1050° F. at atmospheric pressure.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein said raffinate is heated to a temperature ranging between about 180° to 450° F. before being passed to said flash zone.

Claim 7

The process of claim 5 wherein said flash zone operates at a temperature and pressure ranging from about 180° to 450° F. and 40 to 500 psig, respectively.

Claim 8

The process of claim 6 wherein said hydrocarbon-solvent reduced raffinate produced in said flash zone is cooled to a temperature below about 250° F. before being passed to said settling zone.

Claim 9

The process of claim 7 wherein said oil is a resid having an initial boiling point ranging from about 700° F.+ to about 1100° F.+ at atmospheric pressure.

Claim 10

The process of claim 8 wherein said hydrocarbon solvent is propane.

Claim 11

The process of claim 9 wherein said NMP contains from about 0-2 LV% water.

Claim 12

A simultaneous solvent-deasphalting-extracting process for a heavy petroleum oil feed selected from the group consisting essentially of crude oils, atmospheric resids and vacuum resids containing both asphaltic and aromatic components, which comprises the steps of: (1) contacting said feed in a combination deasphalting-extracting zone, at a temperature and pressure ranging from about 120°-190° F. and 180-500 psig, respectively, with a solvent comprising a mixture of (a) NMP containing from 0-5 LV% water, (b) one or more liquid, low molecular weight C 2 -C 10 carbon atom hydrocarbons to form two layers or phases, an upper raffinate phase containing the desired oil, most of the hydrocarbon solvent and some NMP and a lower, extract layer or phase containing most of the NMP and water along with the asphaltenes and most of the aromatic and polar components of the feed; (2) removing the raffinate from said combination zone and heating same to a temperature ranging from between 180° to 450° F.; (3) passing said hot raffinate from step (2) to a flash zone to remove most of the hydrocarbon solvent therefrom as vapor and produce a hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate; (4) chilling said hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate to a temperature sufficiently low to produce bulk liquid-liquid immiscibility between the raffinate oil and the NMP, thereby forming two phases or layers, an oil-rich light phase and an NMP-rich heavy phase containing some oil and most of the NMP present in the raffinate formed in step (1) above; (5) separating the oil-rich phase from the NMP-rich phase; and (6) passing said NMP-rich phase back into said combination zone.

Claim 13

A simultaneous solvent-deasphalting-extracting process for a heavy petroleum oil feed selected from the group consisting essentially of crude oils, atmospheric resids and vacuum resids containing both asphaltic and aromatic components, which comprises the steps of: (1) contacting said feed in a combination deasphalting-extracting zone, at a temperature and pressure ranging from about 120°-190° F. and 180-500 psig, respectively, with a solvent comprising a mixture of (a) NMP containing from 0-5 LV% water, (b) one or more liquid, low molecular weight C 2 -C 10 carbon atom hydrocarbons to form two layers or phases, an upper raffinate phase containing the desired oil, most of the hydrocarbon solvent and some NMP and a lower, extract layer or phase containing most of the NMP and water along with the asphaltenes and most of the aromatic and polar components of the feed; (2) removing the raffinate from said combination zone and heating same to a temperature ranging from between 180° to 450° F.; (3) passing said hot raffinate from step (2) to a flash zone to remove most of the hydrocarbon solvent therefrom as vapor and produce a hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate; (4) chilling said hydrocarbon solvent-reduced raffinate to a temperature sufficiently low to produce bulk liquid-liquid immiscibility between the raffinate oil and the NMP, thereby forming two phases or layers, an oil-rich light phase and an NMP-rich heavy phase containing some oil and most of the NMP present in the raffinate formed in step (1) above; (5) separating the oil-rich phase from the NMP-rich phase; and (6) passing said NMP-rich phase back into said combination zone.