Process and apparatus for converting oil shale or oil sand (tar sand) to oil

Abstract

Three new embodiments to the Chattanooga Process that convert or upgrade oil bitumen, a combination of oil sands and bitumen, a combination of sand and bitumen, and oil shale to high grade low sulfur (about 0.1 to 0.5 wt. % sulfur, or less) crude oil. The invention relates to a continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil (SCO) from oil sand bitumen which has been extracted from under ground via in situ processes, or strip mined and extracted via hot water extraction processes before upgrading. It can also apply to kerogen extracted in situ from shale underground. The process involves treating the hot bitumen with sand from an extraction process or the hot oil from kerogen with ground shale containing kerogen in a fluid bed reactor where the reactant and fluidizing medium is only hydrogen. The invention also relates to a continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil (SCO) from oil shale kerogen. The invention relates to a continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil from oil bearing material, e.g., oil shale or oil sand (tar sand), through continuous process for producing synthetic crude oil from bituminous oil sand (tar sand) or shale. The process includes treating the oil sand (tar sand) or shale to produce a fluidizable feed, feeding the fluidizable feed to a fluidized bed reactor, and fluidizing and reacting the fluidizable feed in the fluidized bed reactor with a feed of hydrogen provided by a feed stream having a stream containing hydrogen in a concentration greater than 90 vol % (90 vol %-100 vol % H2). In one embodiment, the invention relates to a continuous process which can recover methane and ethane from a recycle hydrogen stream. In one embodiment, the process can recover PSA tail gas as feed to a hydrogen plant. In one embodiment, the process can be operated to reduce or eliminate the requirement for externally provided methane feed to the hydrogen plant.

1 . A process for producing synthetic crude oil, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a reactor having a first reactor feed stream comprising a bitumen, and a gas reactor feed comprising hydrogen,    contacting said bitumen with said hydrogen in said reactor thereby producing a reactor gas stream,    providing a pressure swing adsorption system producing a PSA tail gas,    feeding said PSA tail gas to an integrated hydrogen plant.    
   
   
       2 . The process for producing synthetic crude oil according to  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 producing a synthetic crude oil product,    burning an amount of said synthetic crude oil product.    
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said first feed stream comprises an oil sand.  
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 3 , wherein said oil sand comprises a Canadian Athabasca oil sand  
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said feed comprises heavy oil.  
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said process is self-sufficient in production of gas feed to the integrated hydrogen plant.  
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said process burns a produced synthetic crude oil in the fired heater.  
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 1 , in which said reactor has a fluidized bed comprising an oil sand.  
   
   
       9 . A process for producing synthetic crude oil, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a reactor, a first reactor feed stream comprising a kerogen, and a gas reactor feed comprising hydrogen,    contacting said kerogen with said hydrogen in said reactor thereby producing a reactor gas stream,    providing a pressure swing adsorption system producing a PSA tail gas,    feeding said PSA tail gas to an integrated hydrogen plant.    
   
   
       10 . The process for producing synthetic crude oil according to  claim 9 , further comprising the steps of: 
 producing a synthetic crude oil product,    burning an amount of said synthetic crude oil product.    
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 9 , wherein said first feed stream comprises an oil shale.  
   
   
       12 . The process of  claim 9 , wherein said process is self-sufficient in production of gas feed to the integrated hydrogen plant.  
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 10 , wherein said process bums a produced synthetic crude oil in the fired heater.  
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 9 , in which said reactor has a fluidized bed comprises an oil shale.  
   
   
       15 . An apparatus for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       16 . A system for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       17 . A control system for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       18 . An apparatus for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 9 .  
   
   
       19 . A system for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 9 .  
   
   
       20 . A control system for producing a synthetic crude oil according to the process of  claim 9.