System for treating petroleum and petrochemical slop oil and sludge wastes

Abstract

An initial chemical composition comprising selected surfactants, dispersants, and degreasers that liquefy, disperse, demulsify, degrease, inhibit corrosion and scale formation, and lower the pour point of a petroleum, coal, Fischer-Tropsch synthesized, or naturally occurring paraffin-based wax and asphaltene. Such a product is capable of converting crystalline wax (paraffin) in, for example, slop oil into an amorphous form of wax at room temperature, allowing the wax to be dissolved in, for example, crude oil without the need for heating, and maintaining it in solution at room temperature, substantially reducing, indeed in some applications, preventing, for example, wax build-up in pipelines, processing and transportation equipment, etc., and the recovery of the hydrocarbons in the slop oil. In a second aspect of the invention, the pre-blend addition of a hydrotrope-demulsifier, a chelating agent and a wax plasticizer can result in a BS&W of zero for the recovered hydrocarbon blend.

1 . A method of liquefying and dispersing crystalline wax in a petrochemical mixture, comprising the steps of:
 (a) chemically treating the crystalline wax in the petrochemical product to reduce the surface tension of the crystalline wax, converting it to an amorphous form of wax; and   (b) dispersing the amorphous wax in a diluent.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein there is further included in step “a” the step of:
 treating the crystalline wax in the petrochemical mixture with a surface active agent having a surface tension in water in the range of about 10 to about 48 dynes per Cm, reducing the crystalline wax's surface tension.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein there is further included in step “a” the step of:
 treating the crystalline wax in the petrochemical mixture with a surface active agent having a surface tension in water in the range of about 15 to about 32 dynes per cm, reducing the crystalline wax's surface tension.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crystalline wax is contained in slop oil, and there is further included in step “b” the step of:
 using crude oil as the diluent.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 mixing the slop oil with its wax in amorphous form and the crude oil together, forming a homogeneous mixture.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the crystalline wax is contained in slop oil, and there is further included in step “b” the step of:
 using crude oil as the diluent.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 mixing the surface active agent, the slop oil and the crude oil together at ambient temperature, forming a homogeneous mixture.   
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 maintaining the homogenous mixture of the surface active agent, the slop oil and the crude oil together at ambient temperature.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 transporting from a production source to a location remote thereto the homogenous mixture of the surface active agent, the slop oil and the crude oil together at ambient temperature.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 concurrently mixing in a degreaser in the combined amorphous wax and diluent.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 concurrently mixing in a corrosion and scale formation inhibitor in the combined amorphous wax and diluent.   
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein in step “b” the diluent is a refined petroleum product, and in step “b” there is further included the step of:
 using said surface active agent as a cloud point lowering, dehazer in the combined amorphous wax and refined petroleum product.   
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein in step “b” the diluent is a refined petroleum product, and in step “b” there is further included the step of:
 using said surface active agent as a pour point lowering agent in the combined amorphous wax and refined petroleum.   
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the diluent is crude oil, and wherein there is further included the steps of:
 treating the crystalline wax with a treatment chemical to reduce the surface tension of the crystalline wax producing the amorphous wax; and   mixing the amorphous wax and crude oil, and retaining the treatment chemical in the mix to inhibit the formation of slop oil out of the crude oil.   
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 transporting the mixture of the treatment chemical, the amorphous wax and the crude oil together at ambient temperature.   
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein there is further included in step “a” the step of:
 concurrently mixing in with the surface active agent at least one further agent from the group consisting of—   a degreaser, a demulsifier, a corrosion inhibitor, and a scale formation inhibitor, with the treatment chemical in the combined amorphous wax and crude oil mixture.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 using the surface active agent as either a cloud point or a pour point depressant.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 mixing the treatment chemical with the crystalline wax and crude oil at the crude oil production source.   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 using as the surface active agent a homogeneous mixture including about 25% to about 99.9% by weight the surface active agent.   
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein there is further included the step of:
 including with the surface active agent in a homogeneous mixture—
 about 15% to about 35% by weight butyl cellosolve; and 
 about 5% to about 15% by weight of pine oil and a mixed catalyst solution made of saturated higher fatty acids, an alkyl phenol and an oil-water soluble copolymer of partially sulfonated, maleic anhydride and polystyrene with a molecular weight ranging from about 2,000 to about 2,000,000. 
   
   
   
       21 - 44 . (canceled)