US1088693A - Apparatus for continuously distilling crude oil and other substances. - Google Patents

Description

C. B. FORWARD.

APPARATUS FOB. CONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING ORUDE OIL AND OTHER SUBSTANGES.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNI: 7, 191s.

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Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 BHEETB-BHEBT 1.

C. B. FORWARD.

APPABA'IUS FOB CONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING GRUDE OIL AND OTHER SUBSTANCBS.

APPLIOATION A`ILBD JUNE 7,1913.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHAUNC EY B. FORWARD, OF URBANA, OHIO.

,t ,assuma Specification of Letters Patent.r

Patented Mar. 3,1914.

Application filed June 7, 1913. Serial No. 772,270.

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`le it known that I, CHAUNonr B. FonwAnn, citizen ot the United States, residing at Urbana, in the county of Champaign and State of Ohio, have invented certain Vnew and usct'ul Improvements in Apparatus tor lContinuously Distilling Crude Oil and other Substances, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates to an apparatus for continuously tractionalizing crude oil and other substances, and the invention consists in the means si'ibstantially as hereinafter shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

'lln` primary object of the invention is to promote more or less instantaneous vaporization of the crude oil and a continuous :fractional condensation thereof so as to sep- :irate the liquids of diiferent gravities from eachr other, at the same time securing the asphalt base (which is the base or all mineral oils). By the term asphalt base I mean a substance similar to the natural product but which would require a further treatment to make it substantially identical with the natural asphalt. This asphalt base can be secured in a liquid state, (corresponding with maltha), a se1nihard, or a hard state from the first condenser. For instance, if I wish to obtain a liquid asphalt hase among other divisions of the original oil running at the same time, my first condenser would be larger than if I were seeking to obtain a hard asphalt base., In other words, if I wanted a hard asphalt base my first condenser would be small. In producing a semi-hard asphaltl base the size of the first condenser would be between the small and larger condenser according to the degree of hardness I wished to obtain. The asphalt base so obtained does not have the necessary adhesive and cohesive qualities to vmake itcolnmercially valuable without further treatment as described in my other application oi even date herewith, Serial No. 772,270. but by atomizing-"the crude oil and subjecting it to a forced travel through the retort `while exposing it to suitable high temperatures I can reduce the oil to its asphalt base in a continuous manner and trap ott' the base while simultaneously separating the other component parts of the crude oil in a more rapid and economical manner than has been practicable heretofore, particularly with the use of only a Vas a residue.

single retort. In soidoing I obtain pure distillates without a repetition of heatin op'- erations at different. temperatures in or er to remove the various grades of oil or distillates, or in other words'without following.

the common practice which consists in' subjecting the oil to a specified temperature in a still until all the oil volatilizable at that teniperature is relnoved, and then increasing the temperature of the remaining product in the still to a given or certain higher degrec of temperature, and continuing it at that higher temperature until all the volatilizable oil at the increased temperature is removed, and then again increasing the temperature and so on until only coke is left In brief, my invention is particularly dei signed to treat crude oil or the residuum thereof to obtain the asphalt base (the base of all mineral oils) at the outset and pure gasolene at the finish with all the intermediate distillates Such as heavy and light paralins (or heavy and light lubricating oils if the so-called asphalt base oils are being treated), kerosene, naphtha etc. T0 accomplish this result succcssfuily with all the different kinds of crude'oil obtainable, requires a convertible apparatus, and one of my objects is to provide a series of sectional condensing 'chambers having sectional condensing elements and pipe connections adapting interchange and diierent working relations between the parts so that the product from the retort may be variably acted upon at di'erent points in the line of its discharge to produce a variety of similar distillates from different grades of oil or to produce different varieties of distillates Afrom the same grade of oil.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a sectional view of a retort and a side view of six sectional condenser columns connected in series therewith, and also an oil pump and air compressor.V Fig. 2 is a plan view in section of the retort shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional view vertically of one of my improved condensers embodying two sections and the removable elements therein. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of the two`disk-shaped elements forming the interior parts of each condenser. Figs. 6 and 7 are side views corresponding to Fig. 1 except for a different working relation between the condenser parts. 4

The retort A as such is shown in Figs. l

`and 2 as consisting of a series of pipes- 2amranged in parallel relation on a vsuccessively downward plane within a protecting 4jacket 3 which may bev filled with vsuper-heated steam if desired. vPipes 2 may be 22 feet in length, more or less, as the Workniay require and the ends thereof are united by suitable connections 4 located on the outside of the *retortf Removable plugs 5 in connections 4' permit cleaning of the pipes from the outside of the retort. The connections 4 unite pipes 2' so as to make a continuous coi-Leach pipe 2 being fully exposed to the superheated steam in the jacket 3 or other transmitting agent. The jacket and not the pipes l `are directly exposed to the iiames from the gas burner B and heating of the oil is therefore uniform throughout the full length of the p es 2. lIn lieu. of a single large jacket foral the pipes I may use a small jacket for each length of pipe. The crude oil is pumped into thev intake end 6 of the first pipe 2 of the coil by a pipe 7 leading from oil pump- 8, andthis intake end is also connected to an air or steam supply tank or compressor 9 by a pipe 10. The flow of liquid is continuous and under a sustained pressure of about forty pounds, and the air',

or steam from pipe l() is also continuously supplied at about the same pressure. A suitable nozzle 11 is used at the mouth or intake 6 to thoroughly atomize the oil as it is forced linto pipe 2. A temperature of approximately six hundred and fifty degrees, Fahrenheit, is .constantly maintained in the pipe 2 as shown by a thermometer or pyrometer l2 at the front end ofthe retort.

' This temperature I Vhave foundto be entirely satisfactory for reducing the atomized oil to avgaseouso'r vaporized state without undue coking. However, the asphalt which izing of the crude oil under pressure and' its forced passage through pipes 2 permits thev volatilization of the various grades of oils contained in the crude oil at one and the same time, thus avoiding a repetition of separate vaporizing operations at different temperatures as heretofore commonly prac tised. The temperature as given is not'to be construed as the only temperature which can ybe used,` as different kinds of oils require somewhat di'derent temperatures according to their qual-ity; but in every instance only a Asingle retort 'and` a constant- 'heat is lem- Vmore condenser units 16, a scries'ofxsuch columns D to I being arranged 'at equal distances apart and-each column consisting of one or more of the units 1 6 with a sectional pipe connection 17 extending from the top member 18 of each column to the base member 15 of the next or succeeding column, as D to E, etc. Each unit comprises l a metal pipe threaded at its ends to screwengage the lianges 19 and 20 of the base and topmembers 15 and 18, respectively, or to screw engage the connecting band or ring 21 which unites twovor more such unitsto provide a condenser of extended length and increased condensing surface and whlch sur- .face may be more or less effectively utilized by superposing a greater or less number of spreader elements 22 and 23 within the units from the base 15 upward. The said units or sections 16 are closedcircumferentially and open circumferentially internally between the upper andylower edges thereof to permit a free upwardfflow of the uncondensed oils inthe condenser, Thus referring to Figs. 3',

I4 and 5, the spreader elements comprise disk- shaped plates 22 and 23, alternately placed in superposed relation, element 22 having lips or projections 24 struck up radially of the body thereof .and bent at right angles on both sides to provide supports therefor and for theother element 23 which is merely provided with a central opening 25. The displacement of the lips 24 in the element 22 leaves radial openings in the body thereof as seen`in Fig. 5, and therefore when the two diderent elements are superposed the vapors which pass upward have an indirect travel through each column of unit or units. In Fig. 3, the spreader elements are shown as completely filling the two units from top to bottom, but only the lower unit may-be filled or the number of elements may be varied to meet any given need in any single column. The condensation from each col` umn of units is discharged through a trap 26 before being permitted to pass into a suitable vessel 27, and at the stai-t of operation the outlet side of the trap is closed by a valve 28 until Asuiicient liquid is trapped to seal each take-oft' pipe and prevent the loss of vapors at this point. v All of the units 1 5 are of like length-and diameter and the pipe connections 17 be-v tween the separate column of condenser units have short sections of pipe 29 of the same length as the units which are connected by union nuts 30. These connections permit a continuous travel of' the vapors from one columnpof units to the next until the last column, I is reached, where a like pipe con.

' nection l? leads to a worm condenser lJ of oil, whereas condenser columns H and I regasolene is lbein handled. `The number of y vessel' e.

usual construction, which condenser J is only necessary when an oil containing the condensers may greater or less according to the size ofithe retort, the grade of oil to be treated or the character of the separations desired.` p

Now, referring to condenser column D (the first in the series), whe ythe hot vapors reach this point only -th heaviest portions which condense at a high temperature are precipitated and deposited in the first vessel d, together with the asphalt base which has not been vaporized in the retort. This product in vessel d is the asphalt base and my aim is not to va orize thls part of the oil during its force passage through the retort but only to subJect it to such a temperature as will not cause coking. Obviously any. temperature sufiicient to vaporize the heaviest grades of oil contained in any 'on all'of the crude oils will vaporize all the ot er lighter component parts and the base eing drawn ofi' without having been subjected to a temperature sufficiently high to have caused its coking, a great economy is effected. The vapors arlsing from condenser column D pass into the bottom of condenser column E and a so-called heavy parafin oil-is removed or separated at this point and discharged into the second Such heavy paraflin oil is that constituent part which, when still incor-l porated with the asphalt base is often referred to as the reslduum of crude oil as commonly refined. Condenser column F of three 'units (Fig. 1) in turn separates the light paraffin, and condenser column G of six units removes a so-called intermediate move kerosene and naphtha respectively. Condenser J may be used to reduce the final vapors to gasolene.

Now a practical apparatus to fractionally separate various grades of oils in a continuous manner as described involves, first, the continuous feed of oil in'a stream tothe retort, second, atomization of the oil in the retort; third, the use .of compressed air or steam to promote atomization and forced continuous movement ofthe oil through the retort; fourth, the exposure of atomized oil to a constant heat sufficient to volatilize substantially every constituent part of the oil except the base; fifth, the carrying forward of the vapors through separate condenser columns under more or less sustained pressure to produce continuous fractional condensation, and sixth, the use of convertible and interchangeable units for the different columns whereby continuous fractional separation may be effected in a varyin de gree at different points in the line o discharge and oils of different grades may be separated as desired with the least trouble and expense.` i

To' explain further, it is a well known fact that the various crude mineral cils from the different oil fields contain different grades and quality as Well as quantity of the various oils from that of light in` shown in Fig. 1 by removing four units* from column H and transferring two of them to column G and the other two to column I, thereby making the condensingV chamber for the kerosene 'smaller-and the other condensing' chambers for the intermediate oil and naphtha much larger. This arrangement of units will give a high grade of kerosene atvessel h as the lighter gravity which is usually classed with a lower firetest kerosene passes on to column I and the heavier portion of the kerosene which retards the feed in the wick of a lamp re-` mains behind and is condensed in column G. Fractional condensation is continuous but the result is different due to the re-arrangement of units in the line of discharge and in respect to the traps and receiving vessels. This is further indicated in Fig. 7 where column F has'been reduced to a single unit, column E to three units, and column G to seven units, thereby precipitating the heavier portions of the light paraffin oils in with the heavier parafiin of column E and passing .the lighter portions of the paraffin usually taken at column F into column (ir, the product at column F being an intermediate or high grade paraffin or lubricating oil.

Now it is obvious that a single apparatus comprising the retort and the separate traps and columns of interchangeable units con' nected in series in the innumerable combinations made possible by my construction will afford a very economical means for fractionalizing the oils from various localities. In other words, Penns lvania, Ohio, Colorado, Texas and California oils can all be handled with equal facility 'and success with my apser paratus, and any one skilled in the art may vary the separations of the component parts .5% v Loes-eea ithe constant open communication between all the units in each column regardless of the number used and also regardless of the num-V ber ofspreader elements used, and moreover, the line of travel of the vapors through the retort and all the condensers combined 1s vfree and open regardless of aiy interchange and intermediate interchangeable body sections circumferentially opera-internally from the upper edge to the lower edge and lhaving solid closed sides, means separably uniting saidrsections and adapting dii'erent colloca- '1 tions thereof to be made in the respective condensers and thereby increasing `and=decreasing'the length 0f condensers relatively to one another according to the fractional divisions of the oil desired from each, and pipes connecting the top section of one condenser with the bottom section of the next succeeding condenser, in v combination with means 1n advance of the serles of condensers to va orize the-oil and force the vapors into4 and t rough all the condensers in the series successively.`

2. vAn apparatus for treating crude petro-A leum oils from different oil fields, the same comprising a plurality of condensers having sectional bodies open internally about the wall thereof from bottom to top and a pipe having thesame-length of sections as said body sections connecting the top of one condenser with the bottonnof the' next succeed;-

ing condenser and having bottomoutlets 'for the distillatesythe bodies of the said condensers consisting each of sections of the same size and interchangeable between condensers and said sections closed about their sides and separably connected, thus adaptin each condenser to be changed in size by ad ing to `or takin from another condenser a portion or all ot the units thereoi:l according to the size and number of condensers wanted whereby any desired fractional separation or; the oils can be secured and any crude hydrocarbon oil treated by said apparatus.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

v CHAUNCEY B. FORWARD. Witnesses:

E. M. FISHER, H. T. FISHER.

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