Internal heat generating material coupled hydrocarbon cracking

Abstract

A method of cracking a hydrocarbon feed which includes introducing vaporizing a hydrocarbon feed and a heat generating material (HGM) stream comprising at least one aldehyde or ketone to a cracking reactor. The hydrocarbon feed and the HGM stream are vaporized and may be vaporized prior or subsequent to introduction to the cracking reactor. The addition of the HGM to the endothermic cracking process provides the heat needed for cracking and helps the overall process to achieve thermal neutrality. The method includes cracking the hydrocarbon feed to produce a cracking product, where the cracking product comprises C 1 -C 4 hydrocarbons and C 5 + hydrocarbons.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of cracking a hydrocarbon feed comprising:
 introducing a hydrocarbon feed to a cracking reactor;   introducing a heat generating material (HGM) stream comprising at least one aldehyde or ketone to the cracking reactor;   vaporizing the hydrocarbon feed and the HGM stream; and   cracking the hydrocarbon feed to produce a cracking product, where the cracking product comprises C 1 -C 4  hydrocarbons and C 5 + hydrocarbons.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , where the hydrocarbon feed and HGM stream are vaporized subsequent to introduction to the cracking reactor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , where the hydrocarbon feed and HGM stream are vaporized prior to introduction to the cracking reactor. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , where the HGM stream comprises ketone. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , where the HGM stream comprises an aldehyde. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , where the aldehyde is formaldehyde dissolved in water. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , where the formaldehyde dissolved in water is stabilized with an organic solvent. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , where the organic solvent is methanol. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , where the HGM stream further comprises an alcohol, an additional ketone, or an additional aldehyde. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , where the cracking product comprises ethylene, propylene, butenes, benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene, H 2 , methane, ethane, LPG, naphtha, gasoline, and gas oils. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , where the cracking reactor is at least one catalyst bed reactor. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , where the catalyst bed reactor includes a solid acid catalyst bed disposed in the catalyst bed reactor and the catalyst bed reactor is at a reaction temperature of 250 to 850° C. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , where the catalyst bed reactor comprises a fluidized bed reactor, a fixed-bed reactor, a slurry reactor, or a moving bed reactor. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , where the catalyst bed reactor is a fixed bed reactor. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , where the solid acid catalyst is a ZSM-5 catalyst. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , where the ZSM-5 catalyst has a Si/Al molar ratio of at least 10. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , where the ZSM-5 catalyst has a Si/Al molar ratio of at least 30. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , where the ZSM-5 catalyst comprises phosphorus, boron, nickel, iron, tungsten, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , where the HGM stream and the hydrocarbon feed stream are fed at a weight ratio of 1:10 to 10:1. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , where the hydrocarbon feed stream comprises non-fractioned or fractioned crude oil, hexane, naphtha, mixed butenes, ethylene, and combinations thereof.