Closed cyclone FCC catalyst separation with stripping gas injection and direct steam injection

Claim 1

An apparatus for the fluid catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feed in a closed cyclone system comprising: a reactor vessel having an atmosphere; a riser conversion zone comprising a vertically disposed elongated tubular conduit having an upstream end and a downstream end, said downstream end terminating within said reactor vessel; means for introducing a suspension of hydrocarbon feed and catalyst into said upstream end of said riser conversion zone and discharging a mixture of said catalyst and cracked hydrocarbon feed from said downstream end of said riser conversion zone; a riser cyclone separator within said reactor vessel connected to said riser downstream end by a first conduit for passing said mixture from said riser into said riser cyclone without adding said mixture to said reactor vessel atmosphere, and a primary cyclone separator, within said reactor vessel, connected to said riser cyclone separator by a second conduit, thereby preventing contact of said reactor vessel atmosphere with an interior of said second conduit; means for conducting cracked hydrocarbons, from an outlet of said primary cyclone separator to outside said reactor vessel without adding said cracked hydrocarbons to said reactor vessel atmosphere; a catalyst stripping zone within said reactor vessel; means for conducting catalyst from said primary cyclone separator to said catalyst stripping zone; and a riser cyclone dipleg sized for passing at least a portion of a stripping gas from said catalyst stripping zone therethrough into said riser cyclone, countercurrent to catalyst passing downwardly through said dipleg, to mix with said mixture of cracked hydrocarbons and catalyst in said riser cyclone and then discharge from said riser cyclone through said second conduit.

Claim 2

An apparatus for the fluid catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feed in a closed cyclone system comprising: a reactor vessel having an atmosphere; a riser conversion zone comprising a vertically disposed elongated tubular conduit having an upstream end and a downstream end, said downstream end terminating within said reactor vessel; means for introducing a suspension of hydrocarbon feed and catalyst into said upstream end of said riser conversion zone and discharging a mixture of said catalyst and cracked hydrocarbon feed from said downstream end of said riser conversion zone; a riser cyclone separator within said reactor vessel connected to said riser downstream end by a first conduit for passing said mixture from said riser into said riser cyclone without adding said mixture to said reactor vessel atmosphere, and a primary cyclone separator, within said reactor vessel, connected to said riser cyclone separator by a second conduit, thereby preventing contact of said reactor vessel atmosphere with an interior of said second conduit; means for conducting cracked hydrocarbons, from an outlet of said primary cyclone separator to outside said reactor vessel without adding said cracked hydrocarbons to said reactor vessel atmosphere; a catalyst stripping zone within said reactor vessel; means for conducting catalyst from said primary cyclone separator to said catalyst stripping zone; and a riser cyclone dipleg sized for passing at least a portion of a stripping gas from said catalyst stripping zone therethrough into said riser cyclone, countercurrent to catalyst passing downwardly through said dipleg, to mix with said mixture of cracked hydrocarbons and catalyst in said riser cyclone and then discharge from said riser cyclone through said second conduit.