Closed cyclone FCC catalyst separation apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for the fluid catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feed comprising: a reactor vessel for receiving catalyst separated from cracked hydrocarbons in a catalyst bed in the lower portion of the vessel; a riser conversion zone defined by a vertically disposed elongated tubular conduit having an upstream end and a downstream end, said downstream end communicating with the reactor vessel; a catalyst stripping zone communicating with the reactor vessel and means for introducing a stripping gas into the stripping zone; means for introducing a suspension of hydrocarbon feed and catalyst into the upstream end of the riser conversion zone to produce a mixture of catalyst and cracked hydrocarbon feed exiting from the downstream end of the riser conversion zone; a riser cyclone separator including an inlet, connected directly to the downstream end of the riser conversion zone to preclude entry of gas from the reactor vessel into the cyclone separator and to provide a direct passageway of cracked hydrocarbons from the riser directly to the riser cyclone separator, and preventing the passage of the cracked hydrocarbons into the reactor vessel, an outlet and a dipleg for conducting catalyst from the cyclone separator to the catalyst stripping zone; means for providing a pressure seal between the inside and the outside of the riser cyclone separator to maintain a higher pressure inside the riser cyclone separator than in the reactor vessel; a reactor cyclone separator including an inlet, an outlet and a dipleg for conducting catalyst from the reactor cyclone separator to the catalyst stripping zone; a second conduit connecting the inlet of the reactor cyclone separator to the outlet of the riser cyclone separator; means for conducting cracked hydrocarbons from the outlet of the reactor cyclone separator; means for removing stripping gas and hydrocarbons removed from the catalyst by the stripping gas from the reactor vessel.

Claim 2

An apparatus for the fluid catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feed comprising: a reactor vessel for receiving catalyst separated from cracked hydrocarbons in a catalyst bed in the lower portion of the vessel; a riser conversion zone defined by a vertically disposed elongated tubular conduit having an upstream end and a downstream end, said downstream end communicating with the reactor vessel; a catalyst stripping zone communicating with the reactor vessel and means for introducing a stripping gas into the stripping zone; means for introducing a suspension of hydrocarbon feed and catalyst into the upstream end of the riser conversion zone to produce a mixture of catalyst and cracked hydrocarbon feed exiting from the downstream end of the riser conversion zone; a riser cyclone separator including an inlet, connected directly to the downstream end of the riser conversion zone to preclude entry of gas from the reactor vessel into the cyclone separator and to provide a direct passageway of cracked hydrocarbons from the riser directly to the riser cyclone separator, and preventing the passage of the cracked hydrocarbons into the reactor vessel, an outlet and a dipleg for conducting catalyst from the cyclone separator to the catalyst stripping zone; means for providing a pressure seal between the inside and the outside of the riser cyclone separator to maintain a higher pressure inside the riser cyclone separator than in the reactor vessel; a reactor cyclone separator including an inlet, an outlet and a dipleg for conducting catalyst from the reactor cyclone separator to the catalyst stripping zone; a second conduit connecting the inlet of the reactor cyclone separator to the outlet of the riser cyclone separator; means for conducting cracked hydrocarbons from the outlet of the reactor cyclone separator; means for removing stripping gas and hydrocarbons removed from the catalyst by the stripping gas from the reactor vessel.