Novel Process for the Desulfurization of Bitumen and Heavy Oil
Since the last downturn in the oil industry in 1999, amazing changes
have occurred in the energy arena. The price of light sweet crude oil
has risen from $10 per barrel to over $70 per barrel, while the price of
natural gas for industrial consumers has risen threefold. Despite these
higher prices, demand for oil and gas remains strong, with little in the
way of a cushion between supply and demand. This, in turn, has
spawned substantial new rounds of investment in the production and
upgrading of heavy, high sulfur crude oils.
However, even if significant quantities of heavy crude were to become
available for U.S. consumption, our refineries are ill-equipped to handle
these contaminant-filled materials. Further, the process of revamping
existing facilities or building grass-roots units is fraught with legal and
environmental hurdles that make it difficult, if not impossible, to get new
projects completed. Yet, new capacity is required, both to meet demand
and to comply with environmental regulations of governments
worldwide aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
TransFining-R is a revolutionary new threestep process for the
desulfurization of heavy oil and bitumen; and initial work on this
concept was supported by The U. S. Department of Energy. In the first
step a chemical reagent is added to the feed; and desulfurization
occurs under modest hydrogen pressure and at lower temperatures
than traditionally used for hydrodesulfurization of heavy oil. The product
comprises a desulfurized heavy oil and an inorganic sulfur-containing
salt. In the second step, a proprietary solvent is used to selectively
extract the salt from the oil; and in the third step, the salt is reconverted
to the original chemical reagent (for recycle to the feed) in a proprietary
electrochemical reactor which incorporates an Ion Transport
Membrane. Removal of sulfur from tar sands bitumen or heavy oil prior
to coking (the typical processing technique for these feeds) allows the
coker to produce (1) a low sulfur distillate that needs little or no
additional desulfurization and (2) a low sulfur coke that can then be
burned or gasified to produce additional energy without the harmful
environmental impact of high sulfur coke. TransFining-R is expected to
be commercially available 2011-2012.
Please contact us for more details.
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Technology: TransFining-R
