Systems, methods, and catalysts for producing a crude product

Abstract

Methods and systems for contacting of a crude feed with one or more catalysts to produce a total product that includes a crude product are described. The crude product is a liquid mixture at 25° C. and 0.101 MPa. The crude product may have a total content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids of at most 90% of the total content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids of the crude feed. One or more other properties of the crude product may be changed by at least 10% relative to the respective properties of the crude feed.

1 . A method of producing a crude product, comprising: 
 contacting a crude feed with one or more catalysts to produce a total product that includes the crude product, wherein the crude product is a liquid mixture at 25° C. and 0.101 MPa, the crude feed comprising one or more alkali metal salts of one or more organic acids, alkaline-earth metal salts of one or more organic acids, or mixtures thereof, the crude feed having, per gram of crude feed, a total content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids of at least 0.00001 grams, and at least one of the catalysts is a Columns 5-10 catalyst that comprises:    a support, the support comprising theta alumina; and    one or more metals from Columns 5-10 of the Periodic Table and/or one or more compounds of one or more metals from Columns 5-10 of the Periodic Table; and    controlling contacting condition temperature, pressure, crude feed flow, or combinations thereof such that the crude product has a total content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids of at most 90% of the content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids in the crude feed, wherein content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids is as determined by ASTM Method D1318.    
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the total content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids in the crude product is at most 50% of the content of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids in the crude feed.  
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed has, per gram of crude feed, from 0.00001 grams to 0.005 grams of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids.  
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude product has, per gram of crude product, from 1×10 −7  grams to 5×10 −5  grams of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal in metal salts of organic acids.  
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed also comprises one or more zinc salts of one or more organic acids, and the crude product has a total content of zinc salts of organic acids of at most 90% of the content of zinc salts of organic acids in the crude feed.  
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the Columns 5-10 metal catalyst comprises in addition one or more elements from Column 15 of the Periodic Table and/or one or more compounds of one or more elements from Column 15 of the Periodic Table.  
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the support has, per gram of support, at least 0.1 grams of theta alumina.  
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the Columns 5-10 metal catalyst has a pore size distribution with a median pore diameter of at least 180 Å wherein pore size distribution is as determined by ASTM Method D4282.  
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed also has a C 5  asphaltenes content and the crude product has a C 5  asphaltenes content of at most 90% of the C 5  asphaltenes content of the crude feed, wherein C 5  asphaltenes content is as determined by ASTM Method D2007.  
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein crude product has a viscosity at 37.8° C. (100° F.) of at most 90% of the viscosity at 37.8° C. of the crude feed, wherein viscosity is as determined by ASTM Method D445.  
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed also has a sulfur content, and the crude product has a sulfur content of at most 90% of the sulfur content of the crude feed, wherein sulfur content is as determined by ASTM Method D4294.  
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed also has a residue content, and the crude product has a residue content of at most 90% of the residue content of the crude feed, wherein residue content is as determined by ASTM Method D5307.  
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the contacting is performed in the presence of a hydrogen source and contacting condition hydrogen source flow is controlled to produce the crude product.  
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the contacting conditions comprise: a temperature within a range from 50° C. to 500° C.; a total pressure within a range from 1 MPa to 20 MPa; a liquid hourly space velocity of at least 0.05 h −1 ; and a ratio of a gaseous hydrogen source to the crude feed in a range from 0.1 Nm 3 /m 3  to 100,000 Nm 3 /m 3 .  
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a crude feed/total product mixture has a P-value of at least 1.5 during contacting.  
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the crude feed has in addition a content of chromium and/or arsenic in metal salts of organic acids, and the crude product has a content of chromium and/or arsenic in metal salts of organic acids of at most 90% of the content of chromium and/or arsenic in metal salts of organic acids of the crude feed.  
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises combining the crude product or a blend with a crude that is the same as or different from the crude feed to form a blend.  
     
     
         18 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  or  claim 17  further comprising the step of processing the crude product or blend to produce transportation fuel, heating fuel, lubricants, or chemicals.