Hydrocarbon processing apparatus

Claim 1

A reactor system for reacting a liquid petrochemical feedstock and a process gas to produce a polyphasic mixture of reacted feedstock and process gas, which comprises: an elongated, vertically oriented reactor vessel having upper and lower ends and a reactor wall, the reactor vessel defining and substantially surrounding a liquid reactor region adjacent the lower end suitable for reacting a liquid petrochemical feedstock and a process gas to produce a polyphasic mixture of reacted feedstock and process gas, and the reactor vessel also defining and substantially surrounding a reactor vapor space adjacent the upper end; a gas-liquid separator extending generally horizontally from the wall within the reactor vessel and comprising (a) recycle pan means located above the liquid reactor region and below the reactor vapor space, said pan means having a periphery circumferentially joined to the reactor vessel, and (b) non-linear riser means for directing the mixture from the liquid region through the recycle pan means and into the reactor vapor space to promote separation of the phases of the mixture, wherein the riser means consist of a plurality of non-linear risers which are located symmetrically around a reactor axis of radial symmetry, and wherein each of the non-linear risers includes a linear portion having a common intake elevation shared by the others of the non-linear risers and a curved portion, the linear portion being integral with the curved portion.