Abstract: A process and apparatus are provided for upgrading steam cracker tars from steam crackers. The invention also relates to a steam cracking process and apparatus for reducing yields of tars produced from steam cracking while increasing yields of higher value products by heating steam cracker tar, in the presence of hydrogen donor compounds, e.g., tetralin. The hydrogen donor compounds can be provided in a hydrogen donor-rich hydrocarbon stream, e.g., light cycle oils, or low sulfur vacuum tower bottoms. The treated tar can be separated into gas oil, fuel oil and tar streams.

Abstract: In one aspect, the inventive process comprises a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock containing nonvolatiles in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system. The inventive process comprises: (a) heating the nonvolatile-containing hydrocarbon feedstock upstream of a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system to a temperature sufficient to form a vapor phase that is essentially free of nonvolatiles and a liquid phase containing the nonvolatiles; (b) separating said vapor phase from said liquid phase; (c) feeding the separated vapor phase to the pyrolysis reactor system; and (d) converting the separated vapor phase in said pyrolysis reactor system to form a pyrolysis product.

Abstract: In one aspect, the inventive process comprises a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock containing nonvolatiles in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system. The inventive process comprises: (a) heating the nonvolatile-containing hydrocarbon feedstock upstream of a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system to a temperature sufficient to form a vapor phase that is essentially free of nonvolatiles and a liquid phase containing the nonvolatiles; (b) separating said vapor phase from said liquid phase; (c) feeding the separated vapor phase to the pyrolysis reactor system; and (d) converting the separated vapor phase in said pyrolysis reactor system to form a pyrolysis product.

Abstract: In one aspect, the inventive process comprises a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock containing nonvolatiles in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system. The process comprises: (a) heating the nonvolatile-containing hydrocarbon feedstock upstream of a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system to a temperature sufficient to form a vapor phase that is essentially free of nonvolatiles and a liquid phase containing the nonvolatiles; (b) separating said vapor phase from said liquid phase; (c) feeding the separated vapor phase and methane to the pyrolysis reactor system; and (d) converting the methane and separated vapor phase in said pyrolysis reactor system to form a pyrolysis product. In another aspect, the invention includes a separation process that feeds multiple pyrolysis reactors.

Abstract: This invention relates to a process and system for cracking hydrocarbon feedstock containing vacuum resid comprising: (a) subjecting a vacuum resid to a first thermal conversion in a thermal conversion reactor (such as delayed coker, fluid coker, Flexicoker™, visbreaker and catalytic hydrovisbreaker) where at least 30 wt % of the vacuum resid is converted to material boiling below 1050° F. (566° C.); (b) introducing said thermally converted resid to a vapor/liquid separator, said separator being integrated into a steam cracking furnace, to form a vapor phase and liquid phase; (c) passing said vapor phase to the radiant furnace in said steam cracking furnace; and (d) recovering at least 30 wt % olefins from the material exiting the radiant furnace (based upon the weight of the total hydrocarbon material exiting the radiant furnace).

Abstract: A process is described for producing deasphalted steam cracker tar comprising feeding steam cracker tar to a vacuum pipestill (VPS) including a flash zone separated from a zone comprising trays by at least one annular entrainment ring and obtaining as an overheads a deasphalted tar product and as a bottoms an asphaltenic heavy tar product. Also according to the invention, there is a system for the upgrading of tar comprising said VPS with at least one annular entrainment ring.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a process wherein a feedstock or stream comprising steam cracker tar is passed to a vacuum pipestill. A deasphalted cut of tar is obtained as an overhead (or sidestream) and a heavy tar asphaltenic product is obtained as bottoms. In preferred embodiments, at least a portion of the bottoms product is sent to a partial oxidation unit (POX) wherein syn gas may be obtained as a product, and/or at least a portion of the bottoms product is used to produce a light product stream in a coker unit, such as coker naphtha and/or or coker gas oil. In another preferred embodiment at least a portion of the overheads product is added to refinery fuel oil pools and in yet another preferred embodiment at least a portion of the overheads product is mixed with locally combusted materials to lower soot make. Two or more of the aforementioned preferred embodiments may be combined.

Abstract: A reactor with minimal dead volume especially suited to reverse-flow applications comprises: a) a reactor body; b) a first head engaged with said reactor body; c) a first conduit extending from outside said head to at least partially through said head; and d) a first valve in flow communication with said first conduit controlling fluid flow along a flow path extending from the first valve and through the reactor body. The reactor is especially suited for use in a process for rapid stream-switching of at least two streams in a reverse-flow reactor.

Abstract: Tar is contacted with stripping agent, such as steam or tail gas, in a stripping tower. A product comprising deasphalted tar is recovered as overheads and a product comprising heavy tar is recovered as bottoms from the stripping tower.

Abstract: A process for cracking hydrocarbon feedstock containing resid comprising: heating the feedstock, mixing the heated feedstock with a fluid and/or a primary dilution steam stream to form a mixture, flashing the mixture to form a vapor phase and a liquid phase which collect as bottoms and removing the liquid phase, separating and cracking the vapor phase, and cooling the product effluent, wherein the bottoms are maintained under conditions to effect at least partial visbreaking. The visbroken bottoms may be steam stripped to recover the visbroken molecules while avoiding entrainment of the bottoms liquid. An apparatus for carrying out the process is also provided.

Abstract: This invention relates to a process for cracking hydrocarbon feedstock containing resid comprising: (a) heating a hydrocarbon feedstock containing resid; (b) adding molecular hydrogen to said heated feedstock to form a mixture stream; (c) adding a catalyst containing metal-sulfide particles to said heated feedstock and/or said mixture stream; (d) reacting said mixture in a catalytic hydrovisbreaking reactor under conditions of temperature, pressure and residence time sufficient to catalytically hydrovisbreak at least a portion of said resid into hydrovisbroken hydrocarbon components; (e) passing said reacted mixture stream into a high pressure separator and separating hydrogen from said reacted mixture; (f) passing said reacted mixture through a knockout drum to remove catalyst and unreacted or uncracked resid as a bottoms stream; and (g) passing said catalytically hydrovisbroken hydrocarbon components into a steam cracking furnace and thermally cracking said hydrocarbon components to form light olefins, a

Abstract: The invention concerns integration of hydroprocessing and steam cracking. A feed comprising crude or resid-containing fraction thereof is treated by hydroprocessing and visbreaking and then passed to a steam cracker to obtain a product comprising olefins.

Abstract: In one aspect, the invention includes a reactor apparatus for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock, said apparatus including: a reactor component comprising a refractory material in oxide form, the refractory material having a melting point of no less than 2060° C. and which remains in oxide form when exposed to a gas having carbon partial pressure of 10?22 bar and oxygen partial pressure of 10?10 bar, at a temperature of 1200° C.; wherein said refractory material has no less than 4 vol % formed porosity, measured at 20° C., based upon the bulk volume of said refractory material. In another embodiment, the refractory material has total porosity in the range of from 4 to 60 vol %.

Abstract: In one aspect, the inventive process comprises a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock containing nonvolatiles in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system. The inventive process comprises: (a) heating the nonvolatile-containing hydrocarbon feedstock upstream of a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system to a temperature sufficient to form a vapor phase that is essentially free of nonvolatiles and a liquid phase containing the nonvolatiles; (b) separating said vapor phase from said liquid phase; (c) feeding the separated vapor phase to the pyrolysis reactor system; and (d) converting the separated vapor phase in said pyrolysis reactor system to form a pyrolysis product.

Abstract: In one aspect, the inventive process comprises a process for pyrolyzing a hydrocarbon feedstock containing nonvolatiles in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system. The inventive process comprises: (a) heating the nonvolatile-containing hydrocarbon feedstock upstream of a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system to a temperature sufficient to form a vapor phase that is essentially free of nonvolatiles and a liquid phase containing the nonvolatiles; (b) separating said vapor phase from said liquid phase; (c) feeding the separated vapor phase to the pyrolysis reactor system; and (d) converting the separated vapor phase in said pyrolysis reactor system to form a pyrolysis product.

Abstract: The invention relates to the use of steam cracked tar with the bottoms product of a flash drum integrated with a pyrolysis furnace. In embodiments, the steam cracked tar is added to fuel oil.

Abstract: In one aspect, the invention includes in a process for cracking a hydrocarbon feedstock comprising: a) feeding a hydrocarbon feedstock containing at least 1 wt % of resid components having boiling points of at least 500° C. to a furnace convection section to heat the feedstock; b) flashing the heated feedstock in a first flash separation vessel to create a first overhead stream and a first bottoms liquid stream; c) hydrogenating at least a portion of the first bottoms liquid stream to create a hydrogenated bottoms stream; d) flashing the hydrogenated bottoms stream in a second flash separation vessel to create a second overhead stream and a second bottoms liquid stream; e) cracking the first overhead stream and the second overhead stream in a cracking furnace to produce a pyrolysis effluent stream. In other embodiments, the process further comprises heating the hydrocarbon feedstock in step a) to a temperature within a range of from 315° C. to 705° C.

Abstract: A process and apparatus process for preparing a resid-containing hydrocarbon feedstock for use in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor, comprising (a) feeding a resid-containing hydrocarbon feedstock to a thermal cracking unit; (b) thermally cracking at least about 60 wt. % of said resid having a boiling point of at least 565° C. in said hydrocarbon feedstock to form a vapor phase containing cracked hydrocarbons; (c) separating said vapor phase from remaining non-volatiles; and (d) converting the separated vapor phase in a regenerative pyrolysis reactor system.

Abstract: A process and apparatus are provided for upgrading steam cracker tars from steam crackers. The invention also relates to a steam cracking process and apparatus for reducing yields of tars produced from steam cracking while increasing yields of higher value products by heating steam cracker tar, in the presence of hydrogen donor compounds, e.g., tetralin. The hydrogen donor compounds can be provided in a hydrogen donor-rich hydrocarbon stream, e.g., light cycle oils, or low sulfur vacuum tower bottoms. The treated tar can be separated into gas oil, fuel oil and tar streams.

Abstract: This invention relates to a process of producing an upgraded product stream from steam cracker tar feedstream suitable for use in refinery or chemical plant processes or for utilization in fuel oil sales or blending. This process utilizes an ultrafiltration process for separating the steam cracker tar constituents resulting in a high recovery, low-energy process with improved separation and product properties.