Process for converting heavy oils or petroleum residues to gaseous and distillable hydrocarbons

Claim 1

A process of the conversion of heavy oil or oil residue to gaseous and distillable hydrocarbons, comprising the steps of: (a) heating to 350°-450° C. a mixture of a heavy oil and/or oil residue charge with a first hydrogenated recycle oil fraction issued from step (g), then admixing it with a reducing gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and steam, introduced at a temperature of at least 800° C. and produced at least partly in step (c), so as to bring the temperature of the resultant mixture charge+gas to a value ranging from 530° to 850° C., and maintaining said mixture within said temperature range, under a pressure of at least 20 bars, for a residence time between 0.1 and 60 seconds, (b) admixing the resultant product from step (a) with a second hydrogenated recycle oil fraction issuing from step (g) and whose temperature is lower than 300° C., so as to lower the temperature of said product from said value ranging between 530° and 850° C. down to a value lower than 450° C., then directly contacting the resultant product with a gas stream containing hydrogen and steam, obtained from step (f), so as to vaporize at least 80% of the existing liquid at a temperature lower than 450° C., and separating the resultant gaseous phase from an unvaporized tar and/or coke fraction, (c) treating the heavy fraction of tar and/or coke with oxygen and steam, under the conditions of oxyvapogasification of carbon to convert it at least partly to a reducing gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and steam and feeding back at least a part of said reducing gas, whose temperature is at least 800° C., to step (a), (d) passing the gaseous phase from step (b) containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, steam and hydrocarbon vapors, over a hydrogenation catalyst, under hydrogenating conditions, (e) fractionating the products from step (d) to a gaseous phase, an aqueous phase, a fraction of light liquid hydrocarbons normally distilling, at least in major part, below 250° C., and a fraction of heavy liquid hydrocarbons distilling, at least in major part, above 250° C. and whose atomic ratio H/C is from 1.2 to 1.7, (f) treating the gaseous phase from step (e) so as to remove therefrom at least the major part of the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide contained therein and recycling at least a part of it to step (b), and (g) recycling to steps (a) and (b) at least a part of the heavy fraction, distilling in major part above 250° C., obtained in step (e), to constitute at least a portion of said hydrogenated recycle oil streams.