NOVEL PROCESS FOR MOLECULAR RUPTURE, REORGANIZATION AND FUEL OPTIMIZATION AND VOLUME INCREASE THROUGH HIGH PRESSURE AND HYDRODYNAMIC CAVITATION WITH THE ADDITION OF WATER AND OTHER ADDITIVES A.K.A. ROMO-APC
The present invention provides a molecular rupture and recombination of fuels with additives or fuel enhancers such as, but not limited to, non-hydrocarbon and/or hydrocarbon substances such as but not limited to, water, methanol, ethanol, naphtha, and other lighter fluids, through the use of a hydrodynamic cavitation apparatus or reactor to cause the molecular rupture, coupled to a high pressure system where the recombination of the molecules (fuel and additives) stably occur.
The present invention pertains mostly to the petrochemical sector. It relates to systems and methods for upgrading hydrocarbons and biofuels, mainly focused on the increase in fuel volume, fuel characteristics improvement, and refining or fractioning of fuels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFuel is one of the most important security issues for a country. With decreasing reserves of light crude oil, and crude in general, our fuel supply is being affected; prices are at a high and will continue to escalate as oil sites are depleted. The petroleum industry is always looking for more economical ways to crack, distil, refine and improve on fuel characteristics. Recent environmental requirements for fuels to conform to EPA standards, and having the rest of the World following in the footsteps of these requirements, have prompted the industry to explore new methods to reduce these emissions in the least expensive manner.
The conventional process used in the petroleum industry for crude oil molecular rupture to obtain lighter fractions of fuel is thermal cracking. The thermal cracking is carried out under high temperature and pressure conditions using a catalyst, like Al2O3, with sophisticated equipment and require extensive footprint.
On the other hand, hydrocracking is a process used in the oil industry to convert low quality raw materials into higher-value fuel. This process is the best way to obtain a diesel fuel with lower sulphur content and aromatics. Normally the hydrocracking process is carried out using two suspended bed catalytic packed reactors that operate at high pressure and temperature. In the first reactor the molecule is ruptured, releasing sulfur and nitrogen, then the liquid fraction enters the second reactor where it is hydroisomerized and cracked. The hydrocracking process allows a variety of liquid fuels with certain undesirable characteristics to conform to existing environmental requirements.
These conventional processes have a high demand in energy and require large spaces for the process to take place, aside from the use of catalysts and other consumables which require periodical exchange or replacement. All this represents an added cost for the industry, especially now that we have to work with heavier fractions of crude oil. Aside from the previous downsides of current methods, none of the existing processes increase the volume of the fuel being treated.
SUMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a novel system and method for fuel cracking and optimization.
According to an aspect of the invention, the system is a lower energy/power/heat consumption system.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method increases the fuel volume using non-expensive additives.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the method improves the API index.
According to one aspect of the invention, the system uses a reduced amount of floor area on a facility.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method provides a less expensive mechanism for delivering additives stably to fuel at a molecular level.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the method creates cleaner fuels.
According to one aspect of the invention, the method reduces undesirable elements in fuel such as: sulfur, CO, Nox, Carbon particulate at the moment of combustion and Crude Oil viscosity.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method can be applied to biofuels as well as hydrocarbon fuels.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the system can be used in-line with power generation devices at higher water/additive ratios.
According to one aspect of the invention, the method improves the heating value.
According to another aspect of the invention, the method increases the Cetane level in D6 and D2 fuels.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the method can increase the octane levels in lighter fuels.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the method reduces associated system maintenance due to a cleaner combustion process.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures showing illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which:
Throughout the figures, the same reference numbers and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like elements, components, portions or features of the illustrated embodiments. The subject invention will be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in view of the illustrative embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe method of the present invention, is based on the use of a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor coupled with a high pressure system in the presence of non-hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon additives, including but not limited to water, ethanol, and methanol, at various ratios, that allows the rupture and relocation of the molecules of any fuel, ostensibly improving its physical-chemical characteristics. As a result, when processing heavy fuels like D6 or D2 we obtain an increase in volume as well, with proven results of over 40% in volume increment. Regardless of the fuel refined by the method, the resulting fuel will always have better characteristics, since polymeric molecules are broken and rearranged, so that characteristics such as, for example, API in the case of crude oil, and flash point, Cetane level, and heating value in the case of diesel are substantially improved, among other treated fuels and improvements.
A hydrodynamic cavitation reactor is a device which reproduces the cavitation phenomenon or cavitation bubbles in the liquid; here a fluid is subjected to a strong change of pressure with the aim of achieving a phase shift among other functions. In the reactor, pressure reached is equal to the vapor pressure of the fluid, causing the formation of cavitation bubbles known as cavities. These reactors provide the formation of cavities, which in turn implode generating high frequency pulses that shock the fluid causing the rupture and reorganization of the polymer chains in the fuel to occur.
During the process of the present invention, the molecular rupture of the polymer chains forms what we call a “temporary active binding center”, also known as radical, which is ready to combine chemically with other organic or inorganic molecules. These active binding sites can be joined to other molecules present in the treated fuel by introducing foreign substances that are added during the process (referred to as additives). The additives can be any compound which improves the treated fuel characteristics and in some cases its resulting volume is also increased.
Any polymer chain fluid that is submitted to this strong pressure change suffers rupture and reorganization of its molecules. When the rupture occurs, unstable molecular “active” sites are formed and become available to be combined in situ with other molecules (additives). The formation of these active sites is what makes possible the reorganization and recombination of the fuel's molecules therefore improving the fuel's overall quality and characteristics.
Molecular rupture caused by the process of the present invention is used to add other molecular compounds that bind chemically to the treated fuel. For example water can be used to form a new polymer chain containing hydrogen and oxygen within its final structure. This process improves fuels such as but not limited to diesel, or bunker, by adding water in a certain predetermined percentage (we have tested at over 40%), increasing the volume of the finished product by the determined percentage, and even creating a new fuel with enhanced features and characteristics while remaining molecularly stable.
The physics and chemistry behind the process of the present invention is based on studies of the induced chemical reactions on inorganic and organic material after being submitted to ultrasound. In the process of the present invention, the ultrasound energy is replaced by the formation of cavities in the fluid due to the change in pressure induced by the hydrodynamic cavitation reactor. The high inlet pressure is violently reduced inside the reactor, causing a thermodynamic change which is used to aid in the formation of cavities within the fluid (cavitation bubbles). When the fluid returns to its initial conditions the cavities then collapse and release a large amount of energy which is absorbed by the fluid rupturing its molecular structure and reorganizing the molecules in a more orderly and stable form for combustion. The intensity in which we create the cavities or cavitation bubbles within the fluid is a function of the system's pressure which also determines the frequency and the intensity of the shock wave that causes the molecular rupture.
During the phenomenon of creation and subsequent collapse of cavities or cavitation bubbles, the process of the present invention reaches up to 500 atmospheres of pressure and hundreds of degrees in temperature, which rupture all polymer chain liquid fluid molecules. This same energy is used to form new polymer chains that are more stable and have better properties for combustion.
Based on the above explanation, it is clear that the reactions happen due to a local increase in the temperature, pressure and the formation of molecular radicals. All of these chemical and physical changes are due to the rupture of the fluid molecular links caused by the collapse of the cavitation bubbles created during the process of cavitation. Depending on the nature of the liquid being cavitated, different effects can be obtained such as: radical creation, depolymerization, Lysis, liquid emulsions, rupture of solid particles, and acceleration of chemical reactions, among others.
The configuration shown in
In a preferred embodiment the heat exchanger is a shell and tube type heat exchanger as illustrated in
Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to the foregoing exemplary embodiment, this embodiment does not serve to limit the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will appreciate that various modifications are possible, without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.
Claims
1. A method for molecular rupture and recombination of fuels with additives or fuel enhancers comprising:
- preheating fuel;
- mixing said preheated fuel with water and at least one additive until a micro-emulsion mixture is formed;
- passing said mixture through a pump until a desired pressure is reached; and
- directing the mixture to a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor where cavitation bubbles are formed and depolymerization and new polymeric chain formation occurs providing modified fuel.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said modified fuel is stored in an insulated storage tank.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising cooling said modified fuel.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said modified fuel is cooled by a heat exchanger.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein heat generated by the heat-exchanging process is used to preheat said fuel.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said fuel comprises diesel fuel mixed with water at a ratio from 1% to 50%.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said fuel comprises bunker fuel oil mixed with water at a ratio from 1% to 50%.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said fuel comprises gasoline mixed with water at a ratio from 1% to 10%.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein said modified fuel has increased Cetane levels and provides for levels of CO and CH emissions reduced between 40% and 50%.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein said modified fuel allows the reduction of emission of: CO by 75%, NOx between 25-50%, and SO2 between 30-70%.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein said modified fuel has octane levels improved between 10%-40%.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein said fuel comprises crude oil and the modified fuel has a decrease in viscosity between 30% and 45% and a gain in API index between 10% and 70%.
13. A system for molecular rupture and recombination of fuels with additives or fuel enhancers comprising:
- a supply of fuel;
- a supply of water;
- a supply of additives;
- a dosing and mixing station receiving said supply of fuel, water and additives; and
- a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor connected to said dosing and mixing station receiving the output of said dosing and mixing station.
14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:
- an insulated storage tank connected to said hydrodynamic cavitation reactor.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein an output of said insulated storage tank is cooled with a heat exchanger.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the medium used in the heat exchanger to cool the output of said insulated storage tank is directed to a heater preheating said supply of fuel.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein said dosing and mixing station comprises:
- a plurality of mixing tanks each receiving said supply of fuel, water and additives, wherein a high-pressure pump recirculates the mixture.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein said hydrodynamic cavitation reactor comprises:
- a high-pressure pump;
- a cavitation valve connected to said high-pressure pump having
- a liquid entrance zone, a cavitation bubble formation zone and a shock zone where the molecular rupture and reorganization occurs; and
- an output pipe.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein said output pipe comprises a Schedule 40 SS 1″ diameter pipe.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 9, 2013
Publication Date: Oct 9, 2014
Inventor: Carlos Jose Gonzalez (Cayey, PR)
Application Number: 13/859,594
International Classification: C10L 1/32 (20060101);