Process for stable blend of waste plastic with petroleum feed for feeding to oil refinery units and process of preparing same

Abstract

Provided is a blend of a petroleum feedstock and 1-20 wt. % of plastic, based on the weight of the blend, with the plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene, and the plastic in the blend comprising finely dispersed microcrystalline particles having an average particle size of 10 micron to less than 100 microns and less than 100 ppm chloride. A process for preparing a blend of plastic and petroleum is provided, comprising mixing together a petroleum feed and a plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene and heating the mixture in the range of from 550° F. to 700° F. The blend mixture is then hot filtered and then optionally treated with a chloride removal guard bed. The resulting blend can then be cooled and stored or sent directly to a refinery conversion unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A blend of a petroleum feedstock and 1-20 wt. % of plastic, based on the weight of the blend, with the plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene, prepared by the process of:
 (a) heating a mixture of a petroleum based feed and the plastic together at a temperature in the range of about 550° F. to about 700° F. (288-371° C.);   (b) recovering a product from step (a) and hot filtering the product to remove contaminants;   (c) optionally treating the liquid product with a chloride removal guard bed catalyst; and   (d) recovering a blend product wherein the plastic in the blend comprises finely dispersed micron-size particles having an average particle size of 10 micron to less than 100 microns, and the blend comprises less than 100 ppm chloride.   
     
     
         2 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of plastic in the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the blend. 
     
     
         3 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises low density polyethylene. 
     
     
         4 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         5 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises multi-layer films comprising a metal barrier layer, polyethylene and/or polypropylene. 
     
     
         6 . The blend of  claim 5 , wherein the metal barrier layer is comprised of aluminum. 
     
     
         7 . The blend of  claim 4 , wherein the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         8 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 5,000 to 150,000. 
     
     
         9 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 150,000 to 400,000. 
     
     
         10 . The blend of  claim 9 , wherein the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the polypropylene. 
     
     
         11 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises a mixture of polyethylene and polypropylene. 
     
     
         12 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the heating is conducted while stripping the liquid using gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen, steam, or light offgas from a conversion unit. 
     
     
         13 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the treating in (c) is conducted at a temperature of 250°-700° F. (121° to 371° C.) with a residence time of 5-240 minutes at a final treating temperature. 
     
     
         14 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the finely dispersed particles have an average particle size in the range of 10-50 microns. 
     
     
         15 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the finely dispersed particles have an average particle size in the range of 10 to less than 100 microns. 
     
     
         16 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the petroleum feedstock in the blend comprises vacuum gas oil, atmospheric gas oil, reformate, light cycle oil, heavy fuel oil, refinery hydrocarbon streams containing toluene, xylene, heptane or benzene, coker naphtha, C 5 -C 6  isomerized paraffinic naphtha, FCC naphtha, hydrocracker bottom, gasoline, jet fuel, diesel or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the petroleum feedstock is chosen for preferred dissolution of polyethylene and polypropylene. 
     
     
         18 . The blend of  claim 17 , wherein the petroleum feedstock chosen comprises VGO. 
     
     
         19 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the petroleum feedstock in the blend comprises gas oil or heavy reformate. 
     
     
         20 . The blend of  claim 16 , wherein the blend comprises light cycle oil, gasoline, or diesel. 
     
     
         21 . The blend of  claim 16 , wherein the blend comprises benzene, toluene, xylene or heptane. 
     
     
         22 . The blend of  claim 17 , wherein the blend comprises benzene, toluene, xylene or heptane. 
     
     
         23 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein the blend is at a temperature above the melting point of the plastic and is a hot, homogenous liquid blend. 
     
     
         24 . The blend of  claim 23 , further comprising petroleum feedstock added to the blend. 
     
     
         25 . The blend of  claim 1 , wherein a bio-feed is mixed with the petroleum based feed and the plastic. 
     
     
         26 . A process of hydrocarbon conversion comprising passing the blend of  claim 1  to a catalytic conversion unit. 
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the catalytic conversion unit is a FCC unit. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 27 , wherein the FCC unit is in a refinery. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the catalytic conversion unit is in a refinery. 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 26 , wherein the blend comprises a bio-feed mixed with the petroleum based feed and the plastic.