Very low-sulfur fuel oil and method for producing the same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for producing very low-sulfur fuel oil having high compatibility and high stability, comprising: mixing petroleum residua obtained from at least two different petroleum refining processes, adding a hydrocarbon solvent to the residual petroleum mixture, heating the mixture of the petroleum residua mixture and hydrocarbon solvent to extract and recover a mixture of oil fractions and the hydrocarbon solvent from the mixture of the petroleum residua mixture and hydrocarbon solvent with raffinate having asphaltenes therein being left, and removing the hydrocarbon solvent from the mixture of the oil fractions and the hydrocarbon solvent, thereby obtaining very low-sulfur fuel oil, wherein the very low-sulfur fuel oil has a sulfur content of 0.5 wt % or less bared on the total weight of the very low-sulfur fuel oil, and very low-sulfur fuel oil produced by the production method.

1 . A method for producing very low-sulfur fuel oil, comprising steps of: mixing petroleum residua obtained from at least two different petroleum refining processes for production of relatively high quality fuel oils to obtain a petroleum residua mixture; adding a hydrocarbon solvent to the petroleum residua mixture to obtain a mixture of the petroleum residua mixture and the hydrocarbon solvent; heating of the mixture of the residual petroleum mixture and hydrocarbon solvent to extract and recover a mixture of oil fractions from the petroleum residua mixture and the hydrocarbon solvent with raffinate having asphaltenes therein being left; and removing the hydrocarbon solvent from the mixture of the oil fractions and the hydrocarbon solvent, thereby obtaining very low-sulfur fuel oil; wherein the very low-sulfur fuel oil has a sulfur content of 0.5 wt % or less based on the total weight of the very low-sulfur fuel oil. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the petroleum residua are selected from the group consisting of atmospheric residuum (AR), vacuum residuum (VR), hydrotreated atmospheric residuum (t-AR), hydrotreated vacuum residuum (t-VR), deasphalted oil (DAO), hydrotreated deasphalted oil (t-DAO), unconverted oil (UCO) (or HCR process residuum), vacuum gas oil (VGO), t-VGO (hydrotreated VGO vacuum gas oil), high-sulfur diesel (HSD), and ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon solvent is C 3 -C 5  hydrocarbon solvent or a mixture of two or more thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the C 3 -C 5  hydrocarbon solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-propane, n-butane, i-butane, n-pentane, and i-pentane. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon solvent is added with the volume ratio of 1 to 4:1 of the hydrocarbon solvent to the petroleum residua mixture in an extraction column at a pressure ranging from 30 to 50 barg and a temperature ranging from 100° C. to 230° C. 
     
     
         6 . A very low-sulfur fuel oil which is obtained by a method for producing very low-sulfur fuel oil, comprising steps of: mixing petroleum residua obtained from at least two different petroleum refining processes for production of relatively high quality fuel oils to obtain a petroleum residua mixture; adding a hydrocarbon solvent to the petroleum residua mixture to obtain a mixture of the petroleum residua mixture and the hydrocarbon solvent; heating of the mixture of the residual petroleum mixture and hydrocarbon solvent to extract and recover a mixture of oil fractions from the petroleum residua mixture and the hydrocarbon solvent with raffinate having asphaltenes therein being left; and removing the hydrocarbon solvent from the mixture of the oil fractions and the hydrocarbon solvent, thereby obtaining very low-sulfur fuel oil, wherein the very low-sulfur fuel oil has a sulfur content of 0.5 wt % or less based on the total weight of the very low-sulfur fuel oil. 
     
     
         7 . The very low-sulfur fuel oil of  claim 6 , wherein the petroleum residua are selected from the group consisting of AR, VR, t-AR, t-VR, DAO, t-DAO, UCO, VGO, t-VGO, HSD, and ULSD. 
     
     
         8 . The very low-sulfur fuel oil of  claim 6 , having an asphaltene content of 0.01 to 0.6 wt % based on the total weight of the very low-sulfur fuel oil. 
     
     
         9 . The very low-sulfur fuel oil of  claim 6 , wherein the hydrocarbon solvent is C 3 -C 5  hydrocarbon solvent or a mixture of two or more thereof.