Addition of water to regeneration air

Claim 2

A process for economically converting carbo-metallic oils to lighter products, comprising: I. providing a converter feed containing 650° F.± material, said 650° F.± material being characterized by a carbon residue on pyrolysis of at least about 1 and by containing at least about 4 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s); II bringing said converter feed together with particular cracking catalyst to form a stream comprising a suspension of said catalyst in said feed and causing the resultant stream to flow through a progressive flow type reactor having an elongated reaction chamber which is at least in part vertical or inclined for a predetermined vapor riser residence time in the range of about 0.5 to about 10 seconds at a temperature of about 900° to about 1400° F. and under a pressure of about 10 to about 50 pounds per square inch absolute sufficient for causing a conversion per pass in the range of about 50% to about 90% while producing coke in amounts in the range of about 6 to about 14% by weight based on fresh feed, and laying down coke on the catalyst in amounts in the range of about 0.3 to about 3% by weight; III. separating spent, coke-laden catalyst from the stream of hydrocarbons formed by vaporized feed and resultant cracking products; IV. maintaining a multistage regeneration zone comprising a sequence of separate dense fluidized beds, each of said beds containing catalyst undergoing regeneration with oxygen, said beds being positioned one above the other and arranged for downflow of catalyst from bed to bed through an internal transfer line countercurrent to upwardly flowing regeneration gas to the lowermost bed of catalyst being regenerated, each of said beds being further characterized by a bed density in the range of about 25 to about 50 pounds per cubic foot and by being sustained by a fluidization gas, including a combustion supporting gas containing said oxygen, said fluidization gas having a linear velocity in the range of about 0.2 to about 4 feet per second; V. charging said spent catalyst to said uppermost bed of catalyst for downflow through said sequence of catalyst beds; supplying liquid water directly in contact with said catalyst in one or more of said catalyst beds, the weight ratio of the total weight of said water charged to said catalyst beds relative to the total weight of said converter feed charged to said progressive flow conversion zone being in the range of about 0.01 to about 0.5; VI. retaining said spent catalyst in said multistage regeneration zone in contact with a flow of said oxygen containing combustion supporting gas under conditions of temperature, pressure and catalyst particle residence time in said multistage regeneration zone in the range of from about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes for combustion of said coke on said spent catalyst, whereby said spent catalyst is regenerated to have a level of residual carbon on said regenerated catalyst particles of about 0.25 wt% or less, while forming combustion product flue gases comprising CO and/or CO 2 ; and VII. recycling the regenerated catalyst to the reactor for contact with fresh feed.

Claim 3

A process for economically converting carbo-metallic oils to lighter products, comprising: I. providing a converter feed containing 650° F.+ material, and 650° F.+ material being characterized by a carbon residue on pyrolysis of at least about 1 and by containing at least about 4 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s); II. bringing said converter feed together with particulate cracking catalyst to form a stream comprising a suspension of said catalyst in said feed and causing the resultant stream to flow through a progressive flow type reactor having an elongated reaction chamber which is at least in part vertical or inclined for a predetermined vapor riser residence time in the range of about 0.5 to about 10 seconds at a temperature of about 900° to about 1400° F. and under a pressure of about 10 to about 50 pounds per square inch absolute sufficient for causing a conversion per pass in the range of about 50% to about 90% while producing coke in amounts in the range of about 6 to about 14% by weight based on fresh feed, and laying down coke on the catalyst in amounts in the range of about 0.3 to about 3% by weight; III. separating spent, coke-laden catalyst from the stream of hydrocarbons formed by vaporized feed and resultant cracking products; IV. maintaining a multistage regeneration zone comprising a sequence of separate dense fluidized beds, each of said beds containing catalyst undergoing regeneration with oxygen, said beds being positioned one above the other and arranged for downflow of catalyst from bed to bed through an internal transfer line counter-current to upwardly flowing regeneration gas charged to the lowermost bed of catalyst being regenerated, each of said beds being further characterized by a bed density in the range of about 25 to about 50 pounds per cubic foot and by being sustained by a fluidization gas, including a combustion supporting gas containing said oxygen, said fluidization gas having a inear velocity in the range of about 0.2 to about 4 feet per second; V. charging said spent catalyst to said uppermost bed of catalyst for downflow through said sequence of catalyst beds; supplying liquid water directly in contact with said catalyst in one or more of said catalyst beds, the weight ratio of the total amount of said water introduced to each of said catalyst beds relative to the total weight of oxygen consumed by combustion of coke during regeneration being in the range of about 0.035 to about 1.8 VI. retaining said spent catalyst in said multistage regeneration zone in contact with a flow of said oxygen containing combustion supporting gas under conditions of temperature, pressure and catalyst particle residence time in said multistage regeneration zone in the range of from about 5 to about 30 minutes for combustion of said coke on said spent catalyst whereby said spent catalyst is regenerated to have a level of residual carbon on said regenerated catalyst particles of about 0.25 wt% or less, while forming combustion product flue gases comprising CO and/or CO 2 ; and VII. recylcling the regenerated catalyst to the reactor for contact with fresh feed.

Claim 4

A process for economically converting carbo-metallic oils to lighter products, comprising: I. providing a converter feed containing 650° F.+ material, and 650° F.+ material being characterized by a carbon residue on pyrolysis of at least about 1 and by containing at least about 4 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s); II. bringing said converter feed together with particulate cracking catalyst to form a stream comprising a suspension of said catalyst in said feed and causing the resultant stream to flow through a progressive flow type reactor having an elongated reaction chamber which is at least in part vertical or inclined for a predetermined vapor riser residence time in the range of about 0.5 to about 10 seconds at a temperature of about 900° to about 1400° F. and under a pressure of about 10 to about 50 pounds per square inch absolute sufficient for causing a conversion per pass in the range of about 50% to about 90% while producing coke in amounts in the range of about 6 to about 14% by weight based on fresh feed, and laying down coke on the catalyst in amounts in the range of about 0.3 to about 3% by weight; III. separating spent, coke-laden catalyst from the stream of hydrocarbons formed by vaporized feed and resultant cracking products; IV. maintaining a multistage regeneration zone comprising a sequence of separate dense fluidized beds, each of said beds containing catalyst undergoing regeneration with oxygen, said beds being positioned one above the other and arranged for downflow of catalyst from bed to bed through an internal transfer line counter-current to upwardly flowing regeneration gas charged to the lowermost bed of catalyst being regenerated, each of said beds being further characterized by a bed density in the range of about 25 to about 50 pounds per cubic foot and by being sustained by a fluidization gas, including a combustion supporting gas containing said oxygen, said fluidization gas having a inear velocity in the range of about 0.2 to about 4 feet per second; V. charging said spent catalyst to said uppermost bed of catalyst for downflow through said sequence of catalyst beds; supplying liquid water directly in contact with said catalyst in one or more of said catalyst beds, the weight ratio of the total amount of said water introduced to each of said catalyst beds relative to the total weight of oxygen consumed by combustion of coke during regeneration being in the range of about 0.035 to about 1.8 VI. retaining said spent catalyst in said multistage regeneration zone in contact with a flow of said oxygen containing combustion supporting gas under conditions of temperature, pressure and catalyst particle residence time in said multistage regeneration zone in the range of from about 5 to about 30 minutes for combustion of said coke on said spent catalyst whereby said spent catalyst is regenerated to have a level of residual carbon on said regenerated catalyst particles of about 0.25 wt% or less, while forming combustion product flue gases comprising CO and/or CO 2 ; and VII. recylcling the regenerated catalyst to the reactor for contact with fresh feed.

Claim 5

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said 650° F.+ material represents at least about 70% by volume of said feed and includes at least about 10% by volume of material which will not boil below about 1000° F.

Claim 6

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the carbon residue of the feed as a whole corresponds with a Conradson carbon value of at least about 2.

Claim 7

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the carbon residue of the feed as a whole corresponds with a Conradson carbon value of at least about 6.

Claim 8

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the carbon residue of the feed as a whole corresponds with a Conradson carbon value in the range of about 2 to about 12.

Claim 9

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed as a whole contains at least about 4 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s), of which heavy metal(s) at least about 2 parts per million is nickel.

Claim 10

A process according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the feed as a whole contains at least about 5.5 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s).

Claim 11

A process according to claim 1 or 2 conducted without prior hydrotreating of the feed.

Claim 12

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted without prior removal of asphaltenes from the feed.

Claim 13

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted without prior removal of heavy metal(s) from the feed.

Claim 14

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed comprises less than about 15% by volume of recycled product based on the volume of fresh feed.

Claim 15

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the catalyst charged to the reactor comprises an accumulation of heavy metal(s) on said catalyst derived from prior contact under conversion conditions with carbo-metallic oil, said accumulation including about 3000 ppm to about 30,000 ppm of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s) by weight, present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s) measured in regenerated equilibrium catalyst.

Claim 16

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the catalyst charged to the reactor is a zeolite molecular sieve catalyst containing at least about 15% by weight of sieve.

Claim 17

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the catalyst charged to the reactor is a zeolite molecular sieve catalyst containing at least about 15% by weight of sieve and comprising an accumulation of heavy metal(s) on said catalyst derived from prior contact under conversion conditions with carbo-metallic oil, said accumulation including about 3000 ppm to about 30,000 ppm of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s) by weight, present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s), measured in regenerated equilibrium catalyst.

Claim 18

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein makeup catalyst is added to replace catalyst lost or withdrawn from the system, said make-up catalyst as introduced having a relative activity of at least about 60 percent and any withdrawn catalyst having a relative activity as withdrawn of at least about 20 percent.

Claim 19

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted without addition of hydrogen to the reaction zone in which conversion of the feed takes place.

Claim 20

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted in the presence, in the reaction zone, of additional gaseous and/or vaporizable material in a weight ratio, relative to feed, in the range of about 0.02 to about 0.4, said additional gaseous and/or vaporizable material being selected from the group consisting of liquid water, steam, recycled oil, liquid water containing 500 to 5000 ppm hydrogen sulfide, heavy naphtha, low molecular weight alcohols, olefins and other materials permitting or favoring intermolecular hydrogen transfer, and mixtures thereof.

Claim 21

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed is brought together with liquid water in a weight ratio relative to feed in the range of about 0.04 to about 0.25 and wherein a stream is formed containing a mixture of said feed, said catalyst and steam resulting from the vaporization of said liquid water, and is caused to flow through said reactor for converting said feed.

Claim 22

A process according to claim 19, in which the weight ratio of liquid water to feed is in the range of about 0.05 to about 0.15.

Claim 23

A process according to claim 19 in which the water is brought together with the feed at the time of or prior to bringing the feed into contact with the cracking catalyst.

Claim 24

A process according to claim 19 in which the water is brought together with the feed prior to bringing the feed into contact with the cracking catalyst.

Claim 25

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the predetermined riser residence time of the feed and product vapors is about 3 seconds or less.

Claim 26

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the temperature in said reactor is maintained in the range of about 975° F. to about 1200° F.

Claim 27

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the temperature in said reactor is maintained in the range of about 980° F. to about 1150° F.

Claim 28

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed partial pressure is maintained in the range of about 3 to about 30 psia.

Claim 29

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed contains 650° F.+ material which has not been hydrotreated and is characterized in part by containing at least about 5.5 parts per million Nickel Equivalents heavy metal(s), present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s), said feed being brought together with additional gaseous material including steam whereby the resultant suspension of catalyst and feed flowing through said progressive flow type reactor also includes said additional gaseous material wherein the ratio of the partial pressure of said additional gaseous material relative to the partial pressure of said feed is in the range of about 0.25 to about 2.5, and the vapor residence time of feed and products in the reactor is in the range of about 0.5 to about 3 seconds.

Claim 30

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein all of the feed is cracked in one and the same conversion chamber.

Claim 31

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed is cracked in a substantially single pass mode.

Claim 32

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted with sufficient severity to maintain said conversion in the range of about 60 to about 90%.

Claim 33

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 conducted with sufficient severity to maintain said conversion in the range of about 70 to about 85%.

Claim 34

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein at the end of said predetermined residence time, the catalyst is projected in a direction established by the elongated reaction chamber or an extension thereof, while the products, having lesser momentum, are caused to make an abrupt change of direction relative to the direction in which the catalyst is projected, resulting in an abrupt, substantially instantaneous ballistic separation of products from catalyst.

Claim 35

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said feed contains 650° F. material which has not been hydrotreated and is characterized in part by containing at least about 5.5 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents heavy metal(s) present as elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s), said feed being brought together with additional gaseous material including steam whereby the resultant suspension of catalyst and feed flowing through said progressive flow type reactor also includes said additional gaseous material wherein the ratio of the partial pressure of said additional gaseous material relative to the partial pressure of said feed is in the range of about 0.25 to about 2.5, said vapor residence time of feed and products is in the range of about 0.5 to about 3 seconds and wherein, at the end of said predetermined residence time, said catalyst is projected in a direction established by the elongated reaction chamber or an extension thereof, while the products, having lesser momentum, are caused to make an abrupt change of direction relative to the direction in which the catalyst is projected, resulting in an abrupt, substantially instantaneous ballistic separation of products from catalyst.

Claim 36

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the catalyst within said regeneration zone or zones to which liquid water is supplied contains, on the average, at least about 0.1% coke.

Claim 37

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the oxygen is present as a component of a mixture of gases containing free oxygen.

Claim 38

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the bed density or densities of the fluidized catalyst regeneration bed or beds is in the range of about 30 to about 40 pounds per cubic foot.

Claim 39

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the fluidization gas for said fluidized catalyst regeneration bed or beds comprises air.

Claim 40

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the fluidization gas for said fluidized catalyst regeneration bed or beds comprises a mixture of gaseous combustion products derived from the combustion of coke and air which has been partially depleted of its oxygen content by said combustion.

Claim 41

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the linear velocity of the fluidization gas in said one or more fluidized catalyst regeneration beds is in the range of about 0.2 to about 3 feet per second.

Claim 42

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein liquid water is supplied to one or more of said fluidized beds by discharging said water directly to said bed or beds.

Claim 43

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the liquid water is supplied to said fluidized regeneration bed or beds by first mixing the liquid water with said combustion supporting gas and then introducing the resultant mixture into said bed or beds.

Claim 44

A process according to claim 41 wherein the liquid water is mixed with the combustion supporting gas by spraying, atomizing, fogging or otherwise dispersing droplets of said liquid water into said combustion supporting gas.

Claim 45

A process according to claim 42 wherein the liquid water droplets dispersed in said oxygen supporting gas have an average diameter in the range of about 0.1 microns to about 500 microns.

Claim 46

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said series of distinct regeneration zones includes two regeneration zones each having its own fluidized catalyst regeneration bed, in which catalyst and combustion supporting gas are caused to move through said zones at least partly in countercurrent flow relationship and in which the liquid water is supplied only to the first of said two regeneration zones.

Claim 47

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the spent catalyst is regenerated as it progresses through a series of distinct regeneration zones which are arranged in sequence and which include separate fluidized catalyst regeneration beds, and in which the liquid water is supplied to each of said plurality of regeneration zones.

Claim 48

A process according to claim 1 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of converter feed is in the range of about 0.01 to about 0.3.

Claim 49

A process according to claim 1 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of converter feed is in the range of about 0.02 to about 0.2.

Claim 50

A process according to claim 40 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration zone relative to the total weight of converter feed charged to said riser is in the range of about 0.03 to about 0.15.

Claim 51

A process according to claim 2 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of oxygen consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.035 to about 1.

Claim 52

A process according to claim 2 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of oxygen consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.05 to about 0.75.

Claim 53

a process according to claim 2 wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of oxygen consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.1 to about 0.6.

Claim 54

A process according to claim 2 wherein the oxygen is present as air and the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of air consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.007 to about 0.35.

Claim 55

A process according to claim 2 wherein the oxygen is present as air and the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of air comsumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.007 to about 0.2.

Claim 56

A process according to claim 2 wherein the oxygen is present as air and the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of air consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.015 to about 0.15.

Claim 57

A process according to claim 2 wherein the oxygen is present as air and the weight ratio of the total amount of water introduced into said fluidized regeneration bed or beds relative to the total weight of air consumed by combustion of coke in regeneration is in the range of about 0.02 to about 0.1.

Claim 58

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said regeneration is conducted at a temperature in the range of about 1100° F. to about 1600° F.

Claim 59

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said regeneration is conducted at a temperature in the range of about 1200° F. to about 1500° F.

Claim 60

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said regeneration is conducted at a temperature in the range of about 1275° F. to about 1425° F.

Claim 61

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the total residence time of said catalyst particles in said regeneration zones is in the range of about 5 to about 20 minutes.

Claim 62

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the total residence time of said catalyst particles in said regeneration zones is in the range of about 5 to about 10 minutes.

Claim 63

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein CO 2 and CO are formed in a CO 2 to CO mole ratio of no more than about 4.

Claim 64

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the amount of coke removed from said catalyst during regeneration represents about 0.5 to about 3% by weight based on the weight of regenerated catalyst.

Claim 65

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the regenerated catalyst particles contain about 0.1% or less by weight of coke.

Claim 66

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the regenerated catalyst particles contain about 0.05 or less by weight of coke.

Claim 67

A process according to claim 1 or claim 2 comprising: introducing said spent catalyst into a first fluidized catalyst regeneration bed in a first regeneration zone; introducing into said first fluidized catalyst regeneration bed an amount of oxygen which is insufficient to remove all coke from the spent catalyst in said bed and an amount of liquid water which is sufficient to assist in maintaining the temperature of the catalyst in said first bed below about 1500° F.; transferring the resultant partially regenerated catalyst from said first fluidized catalyst regeneration bed into a second fluidized catalyst regeneration bed in a second regeneration zone; introducing into said second fluidized catalyst regeneration bed an amount of air which is in excess of that required to convert all coke on the transferred catalyst to carbon oxides; and separating the resultant regenerated catalyst from the products of combustion.

Claim 68

A process according to claim 65 wherein liquid water is mixed with air and the mixture of air and water is introduced into said first bed.

Claim 69

A process according to claim 66 wherein additional liquid water is introduced into said second bed.

Claim 70

A process according to claim 65 wherein said catalyst is a zeolite molecular sieve catalyst containing at least about 15% by weight of sieve, the carbon residue of the feed as a whole corresponds with a Conradson carbon value of at least about 2, the feed as a whole contains at least about 4 parts per million of Nickel Equivalents of heavy metal(s) present in the form of elemental metal(s) and/or metal compound(s), and said 650° F.+ material represents at least about 70% by volume of said feed and includes at least about 10% by volume of material which will not boil below about 1000° F.

Claim 71

A process according to claim 68 wherein the carbon residue of the feed as a whole corresponds with a Conradson carbon value of at least about 6.

Claim 72

A process according to claim 65 wherein the total amount of oxygen introduced into said first and second regeneration zones is stoichiometrically insufficient to produce carbon oxides in a CO 2 to CO ratio greater than about 4.