阅读说明：本技术 带有液体的横向注入器以限制淤塞的包括具有减小的截面和可变倾斜角的底部的容器 (Container with lateral injector of liquid to limit fouling comprising a bottom with reduced section and variable inclination ) 是由 B.安布拉尔 J.马克斯 J-F.勒科 于 2020-02-06 设计创作，主要内容包括：带有液体的横向注入器以限制淤塞的包括具有减小的截面和可变倾斜角的底部的容器。本发明涉及一种用于含有固体颗粒的液体(优选地为烃类液体)的向下流的容器,包括：底部,所述底部包括圆柱形上部分、具有减小的截面和相对于竖直轴线的可变倾斜角α的下部分、以及出口管；再循环和/或补充液体的注入器(5)和(6)分别注入到下部分和上部分中。注入器(5)在注入点处相对于下部分的壁的切线(T<Sub>in</Sub>)在竖直平面(xz)中以角β1倾斜并在水平平面(xy)中以角β2倾斜。注入器(6)相对于上部分的壁在竖直平面(xz)中以角θ1倾斜并在水平平面(xy)中以角θ2倾斜。角β1和θ1介于5°至175°,角β2和θ2介于0°至180°。(The invention relates to a vessel for the downflow of a liquid containing solid particles, preferably a hydrocarbon liquid, comprising a bottom comprising an upper cylindrical part, a lower part with a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle α with respect to the vertical axis, and an outlet pipe, injectors (5) and (6) for recirculating and/or replenishing the liquid being injected into the lower part and the upper part respectively, injectors (5) and (6) at the injection point with respect to the tangent (T) of the wall of the lower part, injectors (5) being positioned at the injection point in ) In the vertical plane(xz) at an angle β 1 and in the horizontal plane (xy) at an angle β 2 the injector (6) is inclined at an angle θ 1 in the vertical plane (xz) and at an angle θ 2 in the horizontal plane (xy) with respect to the wall of the upper section angles β 1 and θ 1 are between 5 ° and 175 °, angles β 2 and θ 2 are between 0 ° and 180 °.)

1. A vessel (1, 100, 200, 300) for the downflow of a liquid containing solid particles, preferably a hydrocarbon liquid, comprising:

-a bottom comprising a cylindrical upper portion (11) of diameter D1, a lower portion (112, 212, 312) with a reduced cross section and a variable inclination angle a with respect to the axis of rotation (Z) of the cylindrical upper portion, and an outlet pipe (9) of diameter D2,

-at least one injector (5) of recirculating and/or replenishing liquid, said injector (5) injecting into said lower portion (112, 212, 312) having a reduced section and a variable inclination;

-at least one injector (6) of recirculating and/or replenishing liquid, said injector (6) injecting into said cylindrical upper portion (11);

one or more of the injectors (5) located in the lower part (112, 212, 312) are at the point of injection with respect to a tangent (T) to the wall of the lower part_in) Inclined at an angle β 1 in a vertical plane (xz) and at an angle β 2 in a horizontal plane (xy), one or more of the injectors (6) located in the cylindrical upper part being inclined at an angle θ 1 in the vertical plane (xz) and at an angle θ 2 in the horizontal plane (xy) relative to the wall of the cylindrical upper part, the angles β 1 and θ 1 being between 5 ° and 175 °, the angles β 2 and θ 2 being between 0 ° and 180 °.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the lower portion (112, 212, 312) having a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle may comprise a convex portion (112, 312), the convex portion (112, 312) preferably having an elliptical cross-section.

3. Container according to claim 2, wherein the lower portion (112, 212, 312) with reduced cross-section and variable inclination angle is a convex part with a height L1, having a ratio L1/D1 comprised between 0.01 and 20, preferably between 0.02 and 10, and more preferentially between 0.1 and 5.

4. Container according to claim 2, wherein the lower portion (112, 212, 312) with reduced cross-section and variable inclination further comprises at least one frustoconical portion (s 1), the frustoconical portion (s 1) preferably being located above the convex portion (b).

5. Container according to claim 4, wherein the ratio D1/D3 is between 0.05 and 0.9, D3 being the minimum diameter of the frustoconical portion (S1) located above the convex portion (b); and wherein the ratio L3/D3 is between 0.01 and 10, L3 being the height of the convex part (b).

6. Container according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the male part comprises a solid insert forming a frustoconical inner surface having an inclination angle a', preferably comprised between 5 ° and 85 °, the insert at least partially incorporating the injector (5) in the male part of the lower part.

7. The container according to claim 1, wherein the lower portion (212) with decreasing cross section and variable inclination angle comprises successive frustoconical portions (s 1, s2, s 3), each of which preferably has an inclination angle a (a 1, a 2, a 3) that increases in the direction of the outlet pipe (9).

8. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outlet pipe (9) has its centre located at a distance L4 from the wall of the cylindrical upper part (11), L4 being between D2/2 and D1/2, and preferably equal to D1/2.

9. The vessel according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a recirculation pipe (4) for a portion of the liquid exiting the outlet pipe (9), the recirculation pipe (4) supplying at least one of the injectors (5) or (6) with recirculated liquid.

10. The container according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a replenishment tube (10), the replenishment tube (10) being for supplying at least one of the injectors (5) or (6) with a replenishment liquid.

11. The container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the injectors are distributed in horizontal layers (7) in the lower portion (112, 212, 312) and in horizontal layers (8) in the cylindrical upper portion (11), respectively.

12. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ratio D1/D2 is between 1.1 and 1000, preferably between 2 and 500, and more preferably between 3 and 100.

13. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter D1 is between 0.1 m and 30 m, preferably between 0.5 m and 20 m, and very preferably between 1 m and 10 m.

14. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angles β 1 and θ 1 are between 10 ° and 150 °, very preferably between 15 ° and 120 °, more preferably between 15 ° and 90 °, and still more preferably between 20 ° and 60 °.

15. The container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angles β 2 and θ 2 are between 0 ° and 90 °, and preferably equal to 0 °.

16. The container according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the height H between two horizontal layers is between 0.01 m and 10 m, preferably between 0.05 m and 5m, and very preferably between 0.1 m and 1 m.

17. The container according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the number N of injectors per layer is between 1 and 30, preferably between 2 and 10, and more preferably between 2 and 6.

18. The container of claim 17, wherein the injectors injected into the same layer are spaced at an angle equal to 360/N.

19. The vessel of any preceding claim, being a vessel of a gas/liquid separation device configured to process a hydrocarbon feedstock.

20. A process for converting a hydrocarbon feedstock, implementing a vessel according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

21. The process according to claim 20, wherein the ebullated-bed hydroconversion step is used with a feed comprising a hydrocarbon fraction, at least 50 wt% of which has a boiling point above 300 ℃.

22. The method according to any one of claims 20 and 21, wherein the velocity V of the liquid injected in the injector is between 0.05 m.s^-1And 40 m.s^-1Preferably between 0.1 m.s^-1And 30 m.s^-1And very preferably 0.5 m.s.^-1And 10 m.s^-1In the meantime.

23. A method according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the proportion of injected recirculation and/or makeup liquid relative to the hydrocarbon liquid circulating through the vessel is between 1% and 400%, preferably between 5% and 100%, very preferably between 10% and 60%, and still more preferably between 20% and 50%.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of reducing deposits or deposition of unstable or insoluble molecules in a vessel comprising a bottom (typically convex bottom) with a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle, such as reactors, separation and distillation vessels, mixers, stirrers, settling vessels used in processes for producing liquids that tend to foul said vessel. The invention is also applicable to processes for producing or treating liquids which tend to foul vessels, and is particularly, but not exclusively, applicable to processes such as visbreaking, ebullated bed hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, delayed coking in petroleum product refining, and processes for coal liquefaction and biomass processing. For example, the present invention is advantageously applicable to separation and distillation vessels used downstream of refining units that process heavy or fouled products.

Background

Reducing deposits fouling the vessels of certain equipment is a major problem in units for treating or converting hydrocarbonaceous feedstocks, particularly in the case of heavy feedstocks. This is because fouling of the vessel results in the need to shut down and disassemble the unit for cleaning. In units for the conversion of hydrocarbon feedstocks carried out in ebullated beds, in particular, what causes fouling of the walls and bottom of the vessels of the separation apparatus may be particles of bitumen-like nature flocculated to form solid deposits, molecules adsorbed onto the walls, coke particles, catalyst particles, metal sulphides based on nickel, iron and/or vanadium, or more generally any solids contained in the hydrocarbon feedstock being treated.

Patent application US4534851A describes a method for introducing a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock into a transport pipe leading to a reaction zone, which involves injecting steam and the hydrocarbon feedstock as upflows through separate concentric streams, the hydrocarbon feedstock stream being an internal stream and the steam stream being an external peripheral stream, and directing some of the steam towards the inner wall of the transport pipe, while the remainder of the steam and hydrocarbon feedstock are removed from the zone in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis.

However, this application does not describe a device that enables the reduction of the stagnation zone by recirculating the hydrocarbon liquid, or by adding an external make-up liquid to both the frustoconical portion and/or the cylindrical portion of the vessel.

The applicant company has already filed French patent application No. 17/59.606. This application relates to a device for the downward flow of a hydrocarbon liquid containing solid particles, which relates to a lateral injector of the liquid in order to limit the phenomenon of solids deposition in an apparatus having a frustoconical bottom.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a vessel for the downflow of a liquid containing solid particles, preferably a hydrocarbon liquid, comprising:

a bottom comprising a cylindrical upper portion with a diameter D1, a lower portion with a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle a with respect to the axis of rotation (Z) of said cylindrical upper portion, and an outlet pipe with a diameter D2,

-at least one injector of recirculating and/or replenishing liquid, which is injected into said lower portion with reduced section and variable inclination;

-at least one injector of recirculating and/or replenishing liquid, which is injected into said cylindrical upper portion;

one or more of said injectors located in said lower part are inclined at an angle β 1 in a vertical plane (xz) and at an angle β 2 in a horizontal plane (xy) with respect to a tangent to the wall of the lower part at the injection point; one or more of said injectors located in said cylindrical upper portion are inclined at an angle θ 1 in a vertical plane (xz) and at an angle θ 2 in a horizontal plane (xy) with respect to the wall of the cylindrical upper portion; angles β 1 and θ 1 are between 5 ° and 175 °, and angles β 2 and θ 2 are between 0 ° and 180 °.

According to one embodiment, the lower part with reduced cross-section and variable inclination angle comprises a convex part, preferably with an elliptical cross-section.

The lower part with reduced cross section and variable inclination angle may be a convex part of height L1, with a ratio L1/D1 comprised between 0.01 and 20, preferably between 0.02 and 10, and more preferentially between 0.1 and 5.

Alternatively, the lower part with reduced cross-section and variable inclination angle also comprises at least one frustoconical portion, preferably located above the convex portion.

In this case, the ratio D1/D3 may be between 0.05 and 0.9, D3 being the minimum diameter of the frustoconical portion located above the convex portion; and wherein the ratio L3/D3 may be between 0.01 and 10, L3 being the height of the convex.

Advantageously, the male part comprises a solid insert forming a frustoconical inner surface with an inclination angle α', preferably comprised between 5 ° and 85 °, the insert incorporating at least partially an injector in the male part of the lower part.

According to another embodiment, the lower portion with reduced cross-section and variable inclination angle comprises successive frustoconical portions, each of the successive portions preferably having an inclination angle α that increases in the direction of the outlet pipe.

Preferably, the centre of the outlet pipe is located at a distance L4 from the wall of the cylindrical upper part, L4 being between D2/2 and D1/2, and preferably equal to D1/2.

Advantageously, the vessel according to the invention comprises a recirculation pipe for a portion of the liquid leaving the outlet pipe, said recirculation pipe supplying at least one of the injectors with recirculated liquid.

The container according to the invention may comprise a refill tube for supplying at least one of the injectors with a refill liquid.

The injectors may be distributed in horizontal layers in the lower portion and in horizontal layers in the cylindrical upper portion, respectively. .

Advantageously, the ratio D1/D2 is between 1.1 and 1000, preferably between 2 and 500, and more preferably between 3 and 100.

Advantageously, the diameter D1 is between 0.1 m and 30 m, preferably between 0.5 m and 20 m, and very preferably between 1 m and 10 m.

Preferably, the angles β 1 and θ 1 are between 10 ° and 150 °, very preferably between 15 ° and 120 °, more preferably between 15 ° and 90 °, and even more preferably between 20 ° and 60 °.

Preferably, the angles β 2 and θ 2 are between 0 ° and 90 °, and are preferably equal to 0 °.

Advantageously, the height H between two horizontal layers is comprised between 0.01 m and 10 m, preferably between 0.05 m and 5m, and very preferably between 0.1 m and 1 m.

Advantageously, the number N of injectors per layer is comprised between 1 and 30, preferably between 2 and 10, and more preferably between 2 and 6.

The injectors within the same layer may be angularly spaced apart, the angle being equal to 360/N.

Preferably, the vessel is a vessel of a gas/liquid separation device configured to process a hydrocarbon feedstock.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a process for the conversion of a hydrocarbon feedstock using a vessel according to the present invention.

Preferably, the process employs an ebullated bed hydroconversion step with respect to a feedstock containing a hydrocarbon fraction at least 50 wt% of which has a boiling point above 300 ℃.

The velocity V of the liquid injected into the injector may be between 0.05 m.s^-1And 40 m.s^-1Preferably between 0.1 m.s^-1And 30 m.s^-1And very preferably 0.5 m.s.^-1And 10 m.s^-1In the meantime.

The proportion of the injected recirculation and/or makeup liquid with respect to the hydrocarbon liquid circulating through the container is advantageously between 1% and 400%, preferably between 5% and 100%, very preferably between 10% and 60%, and still more preferably between 20% and 50%.

Further subjects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from reading the description of specific exemplary embodiments according to the invention, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings described below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an injector according to the present invention, which injects into a container 1.

Fig. 2 shows an example of an implementation of an injector for injecting recycled and/or make-up hydrocarbon liquid into the cylindrical and convex portions of the bottom of the vessel 100 according to the first embodiment of the vessel.

Fig. 3 shows in a side view and a top view an implementation example of the container according to the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and a plurality of lateral injectors of liquid injected into the cylindrical and convex portions of the bottom of the container. (3A) The method comprises the following steps A plurality of injectors 6 injected into the cylindrical portion of the bottom of the container 1; (3B) the method comprises the following steps A plurality of injectors 5 injected into the convex portion of the bottom of the container 100.

Fig. 4 shows an example of an implementation of an injector according to a second embodiment for injecting recycled and/or make-up hydrocarbon liquid into a cylindrical upper part of the bottom of a vessel 200 and a lower part having a plurality of frustoconical portions.

Fig. 5 shows an example of an implementation of an injector according to a third embodiment for injecting recycled and/or make-up hydrocarbon liquid into a cylindrical upper part of the bottom of a vessel 300 and a lower part having a frustoconical and a convex shape.

Fig. 6 is a top view of the bottom of one example of a container 1' with a convex bottom according to the prior art, without an injector, showing a stagnant zone where the velocity of the liquid close to the wall is below 10cm/s, which is an area where solid particles may accumulate.

Fig. 7 is a top view of one example of a container 100 according to the present invention with a convex bottom with an injector in the bottom of the container, showing a stagnant zone where the velocity of the liquid near the wall is below 10cm/s, an area where solid particles may accumulate.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

In general, the invention is applicable to any vessel of an apparatus through which a liquid is circulated, which has the potential for solid particles to stagnate and accumulate in the bottom of the vessel. More particularly, the invention is applicable to any vessel through which a hydrocarbon liquid is circulated, the hydrocarbon liquid containing solid particles which tend to stagnate and accumulate in the bottom of the vessel. More particularly, the injector is located in a lower portion of a vessel, which may be, for example, a vessel such as an atmospheric or vacuum distillation column, knockout drum, reactor, agitator, settling vessel, etc., used in a process for producing or treating a liquid that tends to foul the vessel. Preferably, the vessel according to the invention is a vessel of an atmospheric or vacuum distillation column, a knockout drum or any other gas/liquid separation device capable of processing a hydrocarbon feedstock.

According to the invention, the vessel is particularly suitable for the downflow of a liquid containing solid particles, preferably a hydrocarbon liquid, and in particular hydrocarbons comprising solid particles which tend to stagnate and accumulate at the bottom of the vessel. Solid particles also include any precipitate that may form in a liquid.

In the rest of the text, "injector" refers to any device known to the person skilled in the art that allows injecting liquid from the wall of a container towards the inside, said device being fed via at least one liquid-carrying pipe. These devices may be, for example, tubular injectors with a single orifice, or multi-orifice tubular injectors.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of the present invention. Examples of hydrocarbon liquid streams have been selected with respect to the following description of the invention. However, the invention is not limited to vessels for the downflow of hydrocarbon liquids, but may be applied to vessels for the downflow of any type of fouled liquid, i.e. a liquid containing solid particles or compounds which tend to precipitate (e.g. tend to flocculate or adsorb onto walls).

The vessel 1 according to the invention comprises a bottom comprising a cylindrical upper part 11 and a lower part 12 of reduced cross-section and variable inclination angle a, typically a convex bottom, wherein the fouled hydrocarbon liquid 2 flows downwards from the top of the vessel and exits via the outlet pipe 9.

Thus, the bottom of the container 1 comprises a cylindrical upper portion 11, a lower portion 12 having a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle α, and the outlet pipe 9.

The reduced section of said lower portion 12 refers to a transverse section, i.e. a section orthogonal to the axis Z (rotation axis) of the cylindrical upper portion 11, which coincides with the vertical axis Z, which section decreases in the direction of the flow of the hydrocarbon liquid containing solid particles (downwards), i.e. in the direction of the outlet pipe 9. The cylinder refers to a rotating cylinder.

By variable inclination angle α is meant that the angle α is not constant over the entire height of the lower portion 12 and that it significantly excludes a conical or frustoconical lower portion (consisting of a single cone). The inclination angle α shown in fig. 2 and described later is an angle formed between a tangent line at a point on the wall in the lower portion 112 and an axis parallel to the axis Z passing through the point.

The lower part 12 may be a convex part, which the skilled person refers to as "convex bottom", as described for example in the following standard documents: NF E81-100, NF E81-101 (convex base with small transition radius "PRC" -radius of curvature greater than or equal to the outer diameter of the base and between 30 and 500 mm according to the diameter transition radius), NF E81-102 (convex base with large transition radius "GRC" -radius of curvature equal to the outer diameter of the base and radius of transition equal to one tenth of the same diameter), NF E81-103 (elliptical convex base), NF E81-104 (convex base with medium transition radius "MRC" -radius of transition equal to the outer diameter of the base and radius of transition between one thirty and one fifty of the same diameter), or may be a section comprising a convex section and at least one frustoconical section, or may also be a section comprising a continuous frustoconical section, as described in more detail below in conjunction with fig. 2-5. Such shapes are known to those skilled in the art and are used to promote the discharge of solids under gravity towards an outlet pipe. Furthermore, such a shape allows for a longer residence time of the hydrocarbon liquid compared to a conical bottom, with the same outlet tube to cylindrical upper portion diameter ratio. Finally, such a bottom, in particular a convex bottom, is very suitable for a press, since the required metal thickness is not as thick as required for a conical bottom.

Preferably, the upper part 11 and the lower part 12 are continuous, in other words contiguous, with each other, and the outlet tube 9 comprises an opening positioned in the bottom of the lower part.

In order to reduce the formation of deposits on and in the walls of the container, the container comprises lateral injectors for recirculating and/or replenishing the liquid: an injector 5 injected into a lower portion 12 having a reduced cross section and a variable inclination angle, and an injector 6 injected into a cylindrical portion 11. These injectors may be distributed at the wall in horizontal layers in the lower part 12 and in horizontal layers in the cylindrical part 11. The effluent liquid stream is removed from the vessel via a discharge pipe 3.

In one embodiment of the invention, the pipe 10 for replenishing the liquid (which may be a diluent) feeds the lateral injectors 5 and 6 located in the lower portion 12 with reduced cross section and variable angle and in the cylindrical portion 11, in order to reduce the stagnation area in the container 1 and limit the deposition of solid particles on the walls. In the case of a vessel for a hydrocarbon liquid stream, any fraction having a boiling point higher than or equal to that of the hydrocarbon liquid fed into the vessel 1 may be suitable as make-up liquid, for example, an effluent of catalytic cracking, such as a heavy fraction HCO ("heavy cycle oil") or a light fraction LCO ("light cycle oil") obtained by catalytic cracking, or any other vacuum gas oil fraction VGO ("vacuum gas oil"), atmospheric residue AR, vacuum residue VR, deasphalted oil DAO, or aromatic extract. More generally, the make-up liquid is preferably miscible with the liquid 2. Preferably, the make-up liquid does not cause any precipitation, or any flocculation, of the minority chemical species dissolved in the liquid 2, neither promotes the polymerization chemistry that may bring about solid particles, nor has a bubble point below the operating temperature of the vessel. According to this embodiment, the flow rate of the effluent liquid via the discharge pipe 3 is equal to the sum of the flow rate of the hydrocarbon liquid circulating through the tank 2 and the flow rate of the makeup liquid injected in the makeup pipe 10. The make-up liquid injected through the make-up tube 10 makes it possible to reduce the stagnation zone by creating turbulence in the container 1, thus limiting the deposition of solid particles on the walls. When the liquid selected is an aryl group, the injected supplemental liquid may also act as a diluent.

According to another embodiment of the invention, a proportion of the hydrocarbon liquid leaving the vessel 1 can be recycled to feed the lateral injectors 5 and 6. According to this embodiment, the flow rate of the liquid flowing out via the discharge tube 3 is equal to the flow rate of the liquid 2. The liquid recirculated through the recirculation pipe 4 makes it possible to reduce the stagnation zone in the vessel 1 by creating turbulence or mixing, thus limiting the deposition of solid particles on the walls.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the liquid injected in the lateral injectors 5 and 6 can come both from the recirculation pipe 4 and from the liquid make-up pipe 10. According to this embodiment, the flow rate of the effluent liquid via the discharge pipe 3 is equal to the sum of the flow rate of the hydrocarbon liquid circulating through the vessel (which is referred to as the stagnating liquid 2) and the flow rate of the make-up liquid injected in the make-up pipe 10. The liquid injected through the supplementary pipe 10 and through the recirculation pipe 4 makes it possible to reduce the stagnation zone by creating turbulence in the vessel 1, thus limiting the deposition of solid particles on the walls, and as mentioned above, also acting as a diluent.

Thus, the liquid injected by the lateral injectors 5 and 6 may be liquid recirculated from the container 1 and/or make-up liquid, i.e. liquid from within the container 1.

The injection ratio of the liquid injected by the lateral injectors 5 and 6 is defined as the ratio of the sum of the flow rate of the liquid in the recirculation pipe 4 and the flow rate of the liquid in the makeup pipe 10 to the flow rate of the hydrocarbon liquid or the fouled liquid 2 circulating through the vessel.

The feedstock entering the vessel may contain any type of compound derived from the effluent from a hydroconversion process, such as compounds from ebullated bed H-OIL ­ units; but may also contain any type of compound derived from an entrained flow (known as slurry hydroconversion), any type of compound from fixed, moving or fluid bed hydroprocessing processes, effluent from Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC), effluent from thermal conversion processes, thermal conversion processes such as coking, visbreaking, and any other separation process, for example solvent deasphalting.

The solid particles may be precipitated asphaltenes, supported or unsupported catalyst powders (typically having a diameter of less than 500 microns) or coke particles, or metal (such as nickel, vanadium, iron, or molybdenum) sulphides.

The flow through the vessel is downward. The injection of the liquid may be carried out at the bottom of the vessel of the vacuum distillation column or the atmospheric column, or at the bottom of any gas-liquid separator.

Fig. 2-5 show examples of lateral injectors in various embodiments of containers according to the invention. The lower part 12, having a reduced cross-section and a variable inclination angle, may comprise a convex portion, preferably having an oval shaped cross-section, as shown in fig. 2, 3 and 5. The male portion may extend over the entire height of the lower portion 12, as shown in particular in fig. 2, 3 and 6; or only constitute a part of the lower part, as shown for example in fig. 5. Alternatively, the lower part 12 may comprise, and preferably is, a continuous frustoconical portion, preferably with an inclination angle α that increases in the direction of the outlet pipe 9, as shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 2 depicts various types of lateral injectors for liquid recirculation or replenishment in a container according to a first embodiment of the invention, wherein the lower portion of the bottom of the container 100 is a convex bottom 112.

The vessel 100 has a bottom, the vessel 100 may be, for example, a distillation column or a separator vessel, the bottom comprising a cylindrical upper section 11 having a diameter D1, a convex lower section 112, and an outlet pipe 9 having a diameter D2 located in the bottom of the vessel, and through which outlet pipe 9 hydrocarbon liquid exits the convex section 112 (also referred to as the convex bottom) has a reduced cross-section and an inclination angle α that varies with respect to the axis of rotation Z of the cylindrical section 11, which axis of rotation Z coincides with the vertical axis (Z) in the operating position of the vessel 100. the inclination angle α is the tangent to a point on the wall in the lower section 112 through which point the tangent line passesAngle α, preferably between 0 ° and 180 °, preferably angle α increases in the direction of the (downward) flow of the liquid, i.e. in the direction of outlet pipe 9, thus, in fig. 2, at point p₁The value of angle α (which is formed at tangent T)₁And vertical) to point p₂The angle α (formed at the tangent T) has a different value₂And the vertical direction) and in this case at point p)₁The convex bottom may be of the type described according to the reference standard already mentioned above and it is characterized in particular by the radius of curvature Ri and the transition radius Rc.. preferably, the convex bottom of the container 100 is an elliptical convex bottom (as defined, for example, in the specification document NF E81-103). this may be a hemispherical bottom (special case of an elliptical convex bottom, where L1= D1/2).

The ratio L1/D1 may be between 0.01 and 20, preferably between 0.02 and 10, and more preferably between 0.1 and 5. For example, the ratio L1/D1 is equal to 4.

Two types of (make-up or recycle) liquid injectors are defined:

an injector 5 injected into a lower portion 112 (i.e. a convex portion according to the present embodiment) having a reduced cross section and a variable angle a at the bottom of the container 100.

An injector 6 injected into the cylindrical upper portion 11 at the bottom of the container 100.

The injector 5 located in the lower part 112 is opposite to the injection point p_iA tangent T to the wall of the lower part 112_inInclined at an angle β 1 in a vertical plane (xz) and at an angle β 2 in a horizontal plane (xy), x representing the horizontal axis and Z representing the vertical axis which coincides with the axis of rotation Z of the cylindrical upper part 11 and is perpendicular to the horizontal plane (xy) as shown in fig. 2, angle β 1 is defined in the counter-clockwise direction (from the injection point, from the point of injection)Tangent to wall) and angle β 2 is defined in a clockwise direction (from tangent to wall at the injection point).

The injector 6 located in the cylindrical upper part 11 is inclined at an angle θ 1 in the vertical plane (xz) and at an angle θ 2 in the horizontal plane (xy) with respect to the wall of the cylindrical body (coinciding with the tangent of the wall of the upper part 11 at the injection point). As shown in fig. 2, angle θ 1 is defined in a counterclockwise direction (from tangent to wall at injection point) and angle θ 2 is defined in a clockwise direction (from tangent to wall at injection point).

In the horizontal plane (xy), the injectors are advantageously oriented in the same direction of rotation and are advantageously located in the liquid portion of the bottom of the column.

Of the lower part 112 and the upper part 11, respectively, at the injection point p_iA tangent T to the wall in the plane (xz)_inThe defined angles β 1 and θ 1 are between 5 ° and 175 °, preferably between 10 ° and 150 °, more preferably between 15 ° and 120 °, more preferably between 15 ° and 90 °, and still more preferably between 20 ° and 60 °.

Of the lower part 112 and the upper part 11, respectively, at the injection point p_iTangent T to the wall in the plane (xy)_inThe defined angles β 2 and theta 2 are between 0 deg. and 180 deg., and preferably between 0 deg. and 90 deg. very preferably, the angle β 2 and the angle theta 2 are equal to 0 deg., which means that the injector is tangential to the wall.

Fig. 3A shows an embodiment of a plurality of injectors 6 in the cylindrical portion 11 of the bottom of the container 100. Fig. 3B shows an embodiment of a plurality of injectors 5 in a lower portion 112 (according to this example, a convex lower portion) of the bottom of the container 100 having a reduced cross section and a variable inclination angle a.

In the case of the injector 6 injected into the cylindrical portion 11, the injector is mounted in the horizontal layer 8 with the container wall in the plane (xy), and in the case of the injector 5 injected into the lower portion 112, the injector is mounted in the horizontal layer 7. Each of the injector layers 7 and 8 injected into the lower portion 112 and into the cylindrical portion 11 respectively comprises a number N of injectors 5 or 6 located at the same height along the axis Z. In fig. 3, N is equal to 2. Each layer being spaced apart by a height H. Within one layer, each injector is angularly spaced from the next in the plane (xy), the angle being equal to 360/N. As shown in fig. 3, one layer of the injector may be offset from another layer of the injector by an angle γ in the plane (xy).

The number of layers in each of the lower portion 112 or the cylindrical upper portion 11 is advantageously between 1 and 20, preferably between 1 and 10, and preferentially between 1 and 6.

In each horizontal layer 8 in the cylindrical upper part 11 and in each horizontal layer 7 in the lower part 112, the number N of injectors at the wall of the container is between 1 and 30, preferably between 2 and 20, very preferably between 2 and 10, and more preferably between 2 and 6. Each layer, whether it is within the same section or in two sections, may have a different number N of injectors.

The height H between the two layers is advantageously between 0.01 m and 10 m, preferably between 0.05 m and 5m, and very preferably between 0.1 m and 1 m.

The injectors are spaced apart in the circumference of the same layer by an angle of between 0 ° and 180 °, preferably between 5 ° and 120 °, very preferably between 10 ° and 90 °. Advantageously, the angle is equal to 360/N, where N represents the number of injectors per layer.

Angle y represents the angle at which one layer is offset relative to another layer. The angle may be between 0 ° and 180 °, preferably between 5 ° and 120 °, and very preferably between 10 ° and 90 °.

The velocity V of the liquid injected into the lateral injector tubes 5 and 6 is advantageously between 0.05 m.s^-1And 40 m.s^-1Preferably between 0.1 m.s^-1And 30 m.s^-1And very preferably between 0.5 m.s^-1And 10 m.s^-1In the meantime. Preferably, the injector tube is sized according to the flow rate of the liquid to be injected in order to obtain the desired injection rate.

The flow rate of the liquid recycled by the recycling pipe 4 plus the flow rate of the liquid injected by the pipe 10 is advantageously between 1% and 400%, preferably between 5% and 100%, very preferably between 10% and 60%, and still more preferably between 20% and 50%, with respect to the flow rate of the hydrocarbon liquid 2 recycled in the vessel 100.

The diameter D1 of the cylindrical upper part 11 of the bottom of the container 100 is advantageously between 0.1 m and 30 m, preferably between 0.5 m and 20 m, and very preferably between 1 m and 10 m.

The ratio (D1/D2) between the diameter D1 of the cylindrical upper part 11 and the diameter D2 of the outlet tube 9 in the bottom of the lower part 12 with reduced section and variable inclination angle a is advantageously comprised between 1.1 and 1000, preferably between 2 and 500, and preferentially between 3 and 100.

The outlet tube 9 in the bottom of the lower part may be centred with respect to the axis Z, or may be offset, and is preferably centred. The centre of the outlet tube 9 is located at a distance L4 from the wall of the cylindrical upper part 11, this distance L4 being between D2/2 and D1/2, and preferably equal to D1/2 (the outlet tube 9 is centred, with the centre of the tube positioned on the Z axis).

Figure 4 shows an example of a recirculating liquid and/or make-up liquid lateral injector in a vessel according to a second embodiment of the invention, wherein the lower part 212 of the bottom of the vessel 200 is a bottom comprising a continuous frustoconical portion (s 1, s2, s 3. this embodiment is in all respects identical to the first embodiment described with reference to figures 2 and 3 except for said lower part of the bottom of the vessel 200. according to this second embodiment, the lower part 212 comprises a continuous inclined angle α with respect to the vertical axis (z)_pOf the frusto-conical portion s_pAnd preferably by the frusto-conical portion s_pAngle α of two successive frusto-conical sections_pDifferent. For each frustoconical portion, the apex of the cone is directed downwards, i.e. towards the outlet tube 9 at the bottom of the lower portion 212. Thus, the cross-section of the lower portion 212 does decrease and has a variable angle of inclination.

Although, in the downward flow direction of the liquid in the vessel, at the first truncated circleAngle of inclination α of the second frusto-conical portion directly below the conical portion_pMay be less than the angle of inclination α of the first frustoconical portion_pAngle of inclination α_pPreferably in the direction of the outlet pipe 9, the lower part is, for example, three successive frustoconical portions, the angles of inclination of which with respect to the vertical axis Z (or the rotation axis Z) are α 1, α 2 and α 3, respectively, as shown in fig. 4, the closer each frustoconical portion is to the bottom of the lower part, the greater the angle of this portion, which means that the angle increases in the direction of the downward flow of the liquid in the container, or in other words in the direction of the outlet pipe 9.

The number Ns of frustoconical portions may be between 2 and 30, preferably between 2 and 10, and preferentially between 2 and 5, and more preferably between 3 and 5.

When Ns is large enough, e.g. greater than 10, the lower part approximates a convex bottom configuration.

Frusto-conical portion s_pAngle of inclination α_p(the footmark p ranges from 2 to Ns), advantageously between 5 ° and 70 °, preferably between 15 ° and 60 °, and very preferably between 30 ° and 50 °.

In connection with fig. 2 and 3, the liquid injectors 5 and 6 operate as already described for the first embodiment of the container according to the invention. In particular, for the injectors 5 in the lower portion 212, the injection point may be located at any point on each frustoconical portion. Tangent T at the point of injection, except at the point where the frustoconical portions meet_inCoinciding with the wall of the frustoconical portion. The angle of the injector 5 is such that the injection always takes place from the wall of the container towards the inside of the container. This is always true regardless of which embodiment of the invention is used.

According to this second embodiment, the injectors 5 preferably operate in at least two horizontal levels 7, each positioned at the level of a different frustoconical portion.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a lateral injector of recirculating and/or replenishing liquid in a container according to a third embodiment of the invention, wherein a lower portion 312 of the bottom of the container 300 is included toAt least one frustoconical portion having a downwardly directed conical apex and at least one convex base, said frustoconical portion preferably being above said convex base. Preferably, the lower part 312 is formed by a single convex part b comprising the outlet pipe 9, and a single frustoconical part s₁On it as shown in fig. 5. In this case, the frustoconical portion s₁Having an inclination angle α 1 with respect to the vertical axis Z (or rotation axis Z) which may be comprised between 5 ° and 70 °, preferably between 15 ° and 60 °, and very preferably between 30 ° and 50 °, alternatively a successive frustoconical portion is located above the convex portion, similar to the series described in connection with fig. 4 for the third embodiment of the invention, without repeated description here.

The male portion b is of the same type as the one described for the first embodiment, apart from the fact that its height L3 does not constitute the entire height L1 of the lower portion 312, but only a part of this height L1, and the description thereof is not repeated here, the other part of the height L1 consisting of the height of the frustoconical portion or portions. Thus, the convex part b is characterized by the ratio L3/D3, D3 being the smallest diameter of the frustoconical part s1 directly above the convex part b, which corresponds to the bottom outer diameter in terms of the term adopted for the convex bottom. The ratio L3/D3 is advantageously between 0.01 and 10, preferably between 0.02 and 5, and more preferentially between 0.02 and 3.

The ratio between D1 and D3 is advantageously between 0.05 and 0.9, preferably between 0.1 and 0.7, and preferentially between 0.2 and 0.6.

The injector of the liquid is performed as already described in connection with fig. 2 to 4 for the first and second embodiments of the container according to the invention. In particular, in the case of an injector 5 injected into the lower part 312, the injection point can be located on the frustoconical portion or portions and at any position on the convex portion b. The tangent T at the point of injection, except at the point where the frustoconical portions (if there are more) are connected_inAnd a truncated cone shapeThe walls of the sections coincide.

According to a fourth embodiment of the invention, the lower part of the bottom of the container comprises, and preferably is, a convex part equipped with a solid insert forming a frustoconical surface inside the container. The insert is preferably made of a formable or castable material, for example in a mould. Preferably, the material is refractory concrete, which is advantageously inert with respect to the chemical products present in the container. The frustoconical inner surface of the insert forms an inclination angle α' with respect to the axis Z (or vertical axis Z), which is preferably comprised between 5 ° and 85 °, preferably between 10 ° and 70 °, and preferentially between 20 ° and 45 °. The insert incorporates, at least partially, an injector 5 in the male part of the lower part, which means that the injector is contained partially or wholly within the insert and is provided in the material from which the insert is made.

Thus, the shape and orientation of the injector can be constructed directly in the part made of solid material that will constitute the insert, making it mechanically easier to implement.

The insert may advantageously be installed at the time of manufacturing the container, and in particular at the time of manufacturing the bottom of the container, or may also, in order to fit into a convex bottom of an existing container.

The present invention is applicable to processes that produce liquids that are prone to fouling vessels such as, for example and not exclusively, visbreaking, ebullated bed hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, delayed coking in petroleum product refining, and to processes for coal liquefaction and biomass processing. In particular, the invention is not limited to the fields of oil refining and fuel production, but may be more generally applicable in the fields of pharmacy, chemistry, agro-food industry, ore processing, etc., and any process involving material conversion.

The present invention therefore relates to a process for the conversion of a hydrocarbonaceous feedstock using a vessel as described above.

The process preferably comprises an ebullated bed hydroconversion step for a feedstock containing a hydrocarbon fraction at least 50 wt% of which has a boiling point above 300 ℃.

For example, this stepUsing H-Oil^TMThe technology of the process and its implementation under conditions, for example, as described in patents US4521295 or US4495060 or US4457831, or in the Aiche paper, March 19-23, 1995, Houston, Texas, paper number 46d, "Second generation well-behaved technology".

Examples of the invention

Numerical mechanical CFD ("computational fluid dynamics") simulations were carried out using Fluent software, on the liquid flow in the container with convex bottom (L1/D1 ratio equal to 4) without injector (control), and on the liquid flow in the same container with convex bottom but with lateral injector according to the invention with recycled liquid. The software package used the Eulerian method for the liquid phase.

Table 1 lists the conditions simulated, as well as the characteristics and dimensions of the container according to the invention, including the number of injectors, the number of layers and the angle of the injectors, and the characteristics and dimensions of the container according to the prior art without injectors.

TABLE 1

。

For the (control) configuration without injector, fig. 6 (top view of an example of a container according to the prior art) shows the zone E of the container 1', where the speed of the liquid close to the wall is lower than 10cm/s (shown very black in the figure). These regions represent so-called "stagnant" regions in which accumulation of solid particles may occur. The figure shows the position of the outlet tube 9 at the bottom of the hemispherical portion in a top view.

For the configuration with an injector according to the invention, fig. 7 (top view of an example of a container according to the invention) shows a zone E of the container 100 where the speed of the liquid close to the wall is lower than 10 cm/s. The figure shows in top view the position of the injectors 5 and 6 and the outlet pipe 9 position at the bottom of the hemispherical part.

By comparing fig. 6 and 7, it can be seen that the potential area where solids may accumulate is greatly reduced due to the installation of the lateral liquid injector in the vessel according to the present invention.

A stagnant zone criterion "Crit" may be defined as the ratio of the surface area of the liquid near the wall of the bottom of the column to the surface area of the bottom of the column where below 10 cm/s.

Table 2 below indicates the values of the retention zone criterion Crit for the configurations without and with the injector.

TABLE 2

。

Thus, by calculating the stagnation area criterion Crit, it is evident that in the configuration according to the invention, by means of 30% of the recycled hydrocarbon liquid to feed the two injectors 5 in the hemispherical lower part and the two injectors 6 in the cylindrical upper part with the geometry according to the invention, the stagnation area is reduced by 85%.