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 bio-feed 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 10 ppm chloride. A process for preparing a blend of plastic and bio-feed is provided, comprising mixing together a bio-feed and a plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene and heating the mixture above the melting point of the plastic, but less than 500° F. The blend mixture is then hot filtered with the resulting filtered blend mixture being heated to at least 500° F. The heated mixture can then be 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 process for preparing a blend of plastic and bio-feed comprising:
 (a) mixing bio-feed and a plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene together and while mixing heating the mixture above the melting point of the plastic while maintaining the temperature less than 500° F.;   (b) recovering a product from step (a) and hot filtering the product to remove contaminants and produce a filtered blend;   (c) heating the filtered blend to a temperature of 550° to 700° F. (288° to 371° C.) to thereby decompose PVC to produce a liquid product; and   (d) optionally treating the liquid product with a chloride removal guard bed catalyst.   
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the heating of the filtered blend is conducted at a temperature of 550°−700° F. (288° to 371° C.) with a residence time of 5-240 minutes at a final heating temperature. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the heating is conducted while stripping the liquid using a gas such as nitrogen, hydrogen, steam, or light offgas from a conversion unit. 
     
     
         4 . A process for preparing a blend of plastic and bio-feed comprising:
 a) mixing bio-feed and a plastic comprising polyethylene and/or polypropylene together and while mixing heating the mixture above the melting point of the plastic while maintaining the temperature less than 500° F.;   b) recovering a product from step (a) and hot filtering the product to remove contaminants and produce a filtered blend; and   c) treating the liquid product with a chloride removal guard bed catalyst at a temperature of 250° to 700° F. (121° to 371° C.) to thereby decompose PVC to produce a liquid product.   
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the treating 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. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of plastic mixed with the bio-feed ranges from 1-20 wt. % of the blend. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of plastic in the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the blend. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises low density polyethylene. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises multi-layer films comprising a metal barrier layer, polyethylene and/or polypropylene. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 10 , wherein the metal barrier layer is comprised of aluminum. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 5,000 to 150,000. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 150,000 to 400,000. 
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the amount of plastic mixed with the bio-feed ranges from 1-20 wt. % of the blend. 
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the amount of plastic in the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the blend. 
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic comprises low density polyethylene. 
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic comprises high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic comprises multi-layer films comprising a metal barrier layer, polyethylene and/or polypropylene. 
     
     
         20 . The process of  claim 19 , wherein the metal barrier layer is comprised of aluminum. 
     
     
         21 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the blend comprises from 1-10 wt. % of the high density polyethylene. 
     
     
         22 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 5,000 to 150,000. 
     
     
         23 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein the plastic comprises polypropylene having an average molecular weight, M w , in the range of 150,000 to 400,000. 
     
     
         24 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein a product blend is recovered and then passed to a catalytic conversion unit. 
     
     
         25 . The process of  claim 24 , wherein the catalytic conversion unit is a FCC unit. 
     
     
         26 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein the FCC unit is in a refinery. 
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 24 , wherein the catalytic conversion unit is in a refinery. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 4 , wherein a blend is recovered from (c), and then passed to a catalytic conversion unit. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 28 , wherein the catalytic conversion unit is a FCC unit. 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 29 , wherein the FCC unit is in a refinery. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 28 , wherein the catalytic conversation unit is in a refinery.