Abstract: The invention is a method to improve the prediction of the corrosivity of organic acids in petroleum crudes, feedstocks and distillation fractions by providing a more accurate, repeatable, and rapid means of determining the TAN from the IR spectrum of the material. The method can be easily practiced in refinery, terminal, and assay laboratories. It can be used in conjunction with models and hardware to optimize the usage and improve the valuation of corrosive feed stocks. The invention can be implemented on-line for blending optimization. It comprises the steps of irradiating a heated petroleum sample with IR radiation to produce its IR absorption spectrum, and predicting the TAN from the spectrum using a linear, multivariate regression model. The IR TAN value is then used as input to blending, valuation, and corrosion models.

Abstract: The invention is a method to improve the prediction of the corrosivity of organic acids in petroleum crudes, feedstocks and distillation fractions by providing a more accurate, repeatable, and rapid means of determining the TAN from the IR spectrum of the material. The method can be easily practiced in refinery, terminal, and assay laboratories. It can be used in conjunction with models and hardware to optimize the usage and improve the valuation of corrosive feed stocks. The invention can be implemented on-line for blending optimization. It comprises the steps of irradiating a heated petroleum sample with IR radiation to produce its IR absorption spectrum, and predicting the TAN from the spectrum using a linear, multivariate regression model. The IR TAN value is then used as input to blending, valuation, and corrosion models.

Abstract: The invention is a method to improve the prediction of the corrosivity of organic acids in petroleum crudes, feedstocks and distillation fractions by providing a more accurate, repeatable, and rapid means of determining the TAN from the IR spectrum of the material. The method can be easily practiced in refinery, terminal, and assay laboratories. It can be used in conjunction with models and hardware to optimize the usage and improve the valuation of corrosive feed stocks. The invention can be implemented on-line for blending optimization. It comprises the steps of irradiating a heated petroleum sample with IR radiation to produce its IR absorption spectrum, and predicting the TAN from the spectrum using a linear, multivariate regression model. The IR TAN value is then used as input to blending, valuation, and corrosion models.

Abstract: A method and system to optimize the acid strength and level of total organic carbon (TOC) of process streams in which specific hydrocarbons are extracted from hydrocarbon mixtures by sulfuric acid.

Abstract: A method uses near-infrared radiation to optimize the removal or separation of normal paraffins from a kerosene feed stream. The absorptivity of a feed stream and/or sievate is determined for at least one near-infrared wavelength. The weight percent of the normal paraffins in the feed stream and/or sievate is determined from the absorptivity. The determined weight percent is used to control the removal or separation of normal paraffins from the kerosene feed stream.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for optimizing the extraction of aromatics from waxy distillates and the dewaxing of waxy raffinates in the manufacture of lubricating oils.

Abstract: The present invention is a method to determine the oil content of a waxy isomerate by NIR radiation which is then used to control the separation of oil from the waxy isomerate.

Abstract: A method (and apparatus) is disclosed for the spectroscopic determination of the amount .alpha..sub.Nn of one constituent N of a fluid mixture 0 in another constituent n of the mixture, following separation of the mixture into its constituents 1,..., M (where n, N.ltoreq.M). The method involves determining the absorptivities an (n=1,...,N) of the M constituents from spectroscopic measurements and computing the amount .alpha..sub.Nn from a mathematical expression containing the absorptivities a.sub.n and a.sub.N which are expressed or expressible as the quotient a.sub.n /a.sub.N only. The method is insensitive to changes in the absorptivities due to feed variability or changes in upstream process conditions, since any changes in the numerator and denominator of the quotient used are affected correspondingly. A modification to the method involves determining the content .alpha..sub.N0 of constituent N in feed 0 from a mathematical expression containing a.sub.0, where a.sub.

Abstract: For the electrophoretic separation of a dispersed phase or contaminant (solid, liquid, or gaseous) from a continuous liquid phase under conditions of intrinsic ionic conductivity due to intrinsic bipolar ions in the continuous phase, especially for conductivities of the continuous liquid phase in excess of about 10.sup.-8 (.OMEGA..m).sup.-1 for which known electrofiltration processes are relatively ineffective or unworkable, a voltage is applied to the dispersed phase-containing liquid phase. The dispersed phase has a field-dependent mobility, and the applied voltage is such as to establish, within the liquid to be treated, a periodic asymmetric electric field E(t), conveniently comprising alternate positive and negative rectangular pulses, having the properties that the time-averaged amplitude of E(t) over one complete period, T, is zero but the average amplitude of each positive feature of the periodic waveform is unequal to that of each negative feature.

Abstract: In order to separate wax from lubricating oil, it is necessary both to introduce free excess charge which is net positive or net negative into the wax-laden oil, preferably by charge injection, and to reduce the solubility for the wax (for example by cooling the lubricating oil) sufficiently so that dissolved wax forms a dispersion of wax particles and crystals in the oil. The resulting electrophoretic effect results in wax particle agglomeration and particle size growth in the oil itself and/or on collector surfaces in contact with the charged oil. The charge injection and the wax solubility reduction such as by cooling can occur simultaneously, or one before the other in either order. Cooling can conveniently be effected wholly or in part by mixing with the oil an auto-refrigerant liquid which vaporizes to reduce the oil temperature. Ideally the auto-refrigerant liquid additionally has oil solvent properties, propane being an example of a suitable such liquid additive.

Abstract: Separation of dispersed liquid contaminant, for example removal of water droplets from oil, is achieved by introducing free charge into the mixture by means of charge injector (1) and discharging the charged mixture through a gas or vapor gap into a separation vessel (2) where the charged mixture comes into contact with a bed of beads (6) (FIG. 1) or other collector surfaces. The introduced charge causes both an electric field to be induced in the separation vessel (2) and the dispersed contaminant to acquire charge, and this results in migration of the charged contaminant. The beads are porous so that they soak up contaminant which can then encourage growth of islands of contaminant on the surface of the beads to a sufficient size that they can be removed from the mixture by gravity separation or other separation techniques. In another embodiment, (FIG.

Abstract: In order to separate dispersed contaminant phase from a phase mixture comprising the contaminant phase dispersed in a continuous background fluid phase (for example a water-in-oil emulsion), net unipolar charge is injected into the emulsion with an electrostatic charge injection device (1) which issues charged phase mixture into a separation vessel (6). The injected charge both induces an electric field within the embodiment in vessel (6) and also charges the water droplets, resulting in migration of contaminants within the phase mixture in a conglomeration region (33) of the vesssel (6). The mean inter-contaminant spacing is less than, and preferably very much less than (e.g. less than 1%), the smallest internal dimension of the separation vessel so that some conglomeration will occur within the liquid mixture and some will occur on the inner wall surface region of the separation vessel (6). The water droplets settle out to form a distinct water layer (38) on the bottom of the separator vessel (6).

Abstract: To promote nucleation of a solute in a solution (e.g. wax dissolved in lubricating oil), free excess charge which is net unipolar is introduced into the solution, for example by charge injection, and the solubility for the solute is reduced (for example by cooling), at least until nucleation of the solution takes place. Nucleation is the physical mechanism which leads to precipitation of the solute and so this method can be applied for the electrical pretreatment of the solution to produce a precipitate, following which the precipitate can be removed from the solvent by conventional separation techniques or be present to provide desired physical or chemical characteristics. An alternative method is to reduce the solubility of the solute in the solution almost to the point of nucleation, and only then to introduce the free excess charge so as to precipitate the onset of nucleation.

Abstract: In order to separate wax particles and/or water droplets from lubricating oil, free excess electric charge which is net positive or net negative is introduced into the wax/water-laden oil, preferably by charge injection. Wax particle/water droplet agglomeration and particle/droplet size growth within the oil mixture due to the electrophoretic effect arising from the electric charge introduction is allowed to occur. In this way, wax particles or water droplets normally considered to be of insufficient size to be separated effectively by filtration can be removed by filtration if the lube oil is electrically pretreated as described. The filtration, conveniently, can be effected by passing the oil mixture containing the grown wax particles/water droplets through a bed of collector beads of low electrical conductivity or through a settler or, in the case of the wax, through a filter screen.

Abstract: A method for the detection and identification of uranium bearing materials in media found in nature such as rocks, soils, surface and sub-surface waters, vegetation, or in material which has been subjected to physical or chemical processing comprises the steps of: irradiating the media with a light, having a single wavelength or narrow band of wavelengths in the range of about 2400 to 5000A for a time equal to or less than about 100 microseconds; waiting for a period of time, which is dependent on twice the distance of the light-source to the irradiated medium, followed by measurement of the intensity and decay time of the luminescent light emitted by the irradiated media in a narrow spectral range, having a wavelength greater than the wavelength of the light used to irradiate the media.