阅读说明：本技术 粗木质素油（clo）的流化催化裂化工艺 (Process for fluid catalytic cracking of Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) ) 是由 P·库里斯 M·D·伯特 E·J·M·亨森 于 2020-05-20 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种FCC工艺,包括如下步骤：(a)将粗木质素油(CLO)加入到FCC装置中,其中FCC装置包括FCC提升管、催化剂再生器和反应器/汽提塔,其中CLO是粗木质素油组合物,该组合物包含1：10至1：0.3w/v比例的木质素和极性有机溶剂,(b)任选地,将包含常规FCC原料的第二进料加入到FCC装置中,(c)将来自再生器的再生催化剂加入FCC提升管中进行催化裂化并改质CLO和二级原料,以得到改质产品和失活的催化剂,(d)将来自FCC提升管的改质产品和失活催化剂加入反应器/汽提塔,并在反应器/汽提塔中将改质产品与失活催化剂分离,(e)将来自(d)中的失活催化剂加入到再生器中,使失活催化剂再生,得到再生催化剂；并收集改质后的产品。(The invention relates to an FCC process, comprising the following steps: (a) adding a Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) to an FCC unit, wherein the FCC unit comprises an FCC riser, a catalyst regenerator, and a reactor/stripper, wherein the CLO is a crude lignin oil composition comprising 1:10 to 1: lignin and polar organic solvent in a ratio of 0.3w/v, (b) optionally, adding a second feed comprising a conventional FCC feedstock to an FCC unit, (c) adding regenerated catalyst from the regenerator to the FCC riser for catalytic cracking and upgrading CLO and secondary feedstock to obtain upgraded product and deactivated catalyst, (d) adding upgraded product from the FCC riser and deactivated catalyst to a reactor/stripper and separating upgraded product from deactivated catalyst in the reactor/stripper, (e) adding deactivated catalyst from (d) to the regenerator for regenerating the deactivated catalyst to obtain regenerated catalyst; and collecting the modified product.)

1. An FCC process comprising the steps of:

(a) adding a Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) to an FCC unit, wherein the FCC unit comprises an FCC riser, a catalyst regenerator, and a reactor/stripper, wherein the CLO is a crude lignin oil composition comprising 1:10 to 1: lignin and a polar organic solvent in a ratio of 0.3w/v,

(b) optionally, a second feed comprising a conventional FCC feedstock is added to the FCC unit,

(c) adding the regenerated catalyst from the regenerator into an FCC riser for catalytic cracking and upgrading CLO and secondary feedstock to obtain upgraded product and deactivated catalyst,

(d) feeding the upgraded product from the FCC riser and the deactivated catalyst to a reactor/stripper and separating the upgraded product from the deactivated catalyst in the reactor/stripper,

(e) adding the deactivated catalyst from (d) to a regenerator to regenerate the deactivated catalyst to obtain a regenerated catalyst; and

(f) and collecting the modified product.

2. The FCC process of claim 1, wherein the lignin is dissolved in a polar organic solvent.

3. The FCC process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the process in the FCC riser is carried out at a temperature between 400-800 ℃, preferably between 500-650 ℃ and a pressure of 0.5-3bar, preferably 1-2bar and/or the contact time between the catalyst and the CLO in the FCC riser is between 1-60 seconds, preferably between 1-10 seconds, more preferably between 2-4 seconds.

4. An FCC process according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the CLO comprises 5 to 80 wt% lignin and 20 to 95 wt% polar organic solvent.

5. An FCC process according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the lignin weight average molecular weight (Mw) is in the range of 1000-2000 daltons, preferably the lignin polydispersity index is in the range of 2.1-3, more preferably the CLO has a kinematic viscosity at 40 ℃ at a shear rate of 300(1/s) of 1.5-200 cST.

6. The FCC process of any of claims 1-5, wherein the polar organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of alcohols, ketones, esters, and combinations thereof.

7. An FCC process as claimed in claim 6, wherein the alcohol is selected from aliphatic alcohols, aromatic alcohols (such as phenols) and polyfunctional alcohols, such as glycols, and the melting temperature of the alcohol is below 50 ℃, more preferably below 40 ℃.

8. An FCC process according to claim 6 or 7 wherein the alcohol is selected from fatty alcohols and polyfunctional alcohols, such as glycols.

9. An FCC process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the polar organic solvent is selected from ethanol, methanol, glycols, phenols or mixtures of these.

10. An FCC process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the polar organic solvent is selected from ethanol, methanol, glycols or mixtures of these.

11. An FCC process as claimed in any of claims 1-10, wherein the lignin weight average molecular weight (Mw) is in the range of 1000 and 2000 daltons and the polar organic solvent is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, tert-butanol, isobutanol, phenol, glycols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, 1, 3-propanediol, butanediol, hexanediol, glycerol, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, acetone and methyl ethyl ketone, and combinations thereof.

12. An FCC process according to any of claims 1-11, wherein the CLO is a medium crude lignin composition (CLO-M) comprising 8-30 wt% lignin and 70-92 wt% polar organic solvent, preferably comprising 10-30 wt% lignin and 70-90 wt% polar organic solvent, wherein the CLO-M lignin composition has a kinematic viscosity at a shear rate of 300(1/s) at 40 ℃ of 1.5-20(cST), preferably 1.8-10 (cST).

13. An FCC process as claimed in any of claims 1-11, wherein the CLO is a high crude CLO (CLO-H) comprising 30-80 wt% lignin and 20-70 wt% organic solvent, preferably comprising 50-75 wt% lignin and 25-50 wt% organic solvent, wherein the CLO-H has a kinematic viscosity at a shear rate of 300(1/s) at 40 ℃ of 20-200cST, preferably 50-150 or 60-140 (cST).

14. An FCC process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 wherein the CLO is prepared by a solvolysis process comprising the steps of: providing a lignin-rich solid feedstock and treating the lignin-rich solid feedstock in a polar organic solvent in the absence of an effective amount of added reaction promoter, e.g., heterogeneous and/or homogeneous catalysts and/or hydrogen, and provide a lignin composition, preferably, wherein the treatment comprises a step of contacting the lignin-rich solid feedstock with a polar organic solvent under operating conditions of an operating temperature of up to 210 ℃, an operating pressure of less than 50bar and a residence time of up to 240 minutes, wherein the feed ratio (w/v) of the lignin (present in the lignin-rich solid feedstock) to the polar organic solvent is between 1:1.5 and 1:15, preferably, wherein the reaction mixture obtained after dissolution of the solid lignin-rich raw material is subjected to a solid/liquid separation step to obtain a liquid phase and a solid phase.

15. An FCC process as in any of claims 1-14 wherein the total amount of lignin and polar organic solvent relative to the CLO is at least 75 wt%, at least 85 wt%, at least 90 wt%, at least 95 wt%, at least 98 wt%, at least 99 wt% or 100 wt%.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a process for upgrading Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) using a fluid catalytic cracker.

Background

The climate change and associated need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means that the chemical industry will have to think again how to use renewable resources to produce their products.

There are two main types of disputed platform chemicals: olefins and aromatics. FCC is the core of many crude oil refineries for converting low value heavy feedstocks into gasoline and middle distillate streams as well as light olefins. The FCC unit consists of separate reactors and regeneration zones between which the catalyst is moved, regenerated and reused. FCC feedstocks such as Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) are typically crude oil fractions having an initial boiling point above 340 ℃ and an average molecular weight in the range of 200-600g/mol or higher. Hot catalyst material (e.g., zeolite) is mixed with the preheated feed at the bottom of the riser reactor. As the gas is formed, the reaction mixture expands and cools due to the endothermic cracking reaction, and the catalyst/feedstock mixture is rapidly transported upward into the riser reactor. The catalyst is separated from the product mixture and stripped of the remaining useful product by steam treatment. The hydrocarbon product is further refined downstream. The catalyst material on which coke is deposited during the cracking process is transported to a regenerator. The inevitable coking problem of deactivating the zeolite becomes an advantage as heat is transferred to the reactor zone through the reheated catalyst material as the coke burns.

Olefins are traditionally produced from petroleum feedstocks by catalytic or steam cracking processes. These cracking processes, especially steam cracking, produce light olefins, such as ethylene and/or propylene, from a variety of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Ethylene and propylene are important commodity petrochemicals useful in a variety of processes for making plastics and other compounds. As the cost of petroleum crude oil increases, oxygenates, especially alcohols, have begun to be used in the conversion to various hydrocarbon chemicals, including light olefins such as ethylene and propylene, gasoline, and distillate boiling range hydrocarbons. The Methanol To Olefins (MTO) process is an alternative to obtaining these light olefins from methanol, which can be derived from other raw materials, including natural gas, coal, and even biomass (syngas). The conventional MTO process was developed by mobil oil company in 1977 as described in U.S. patent No. 4,062,905. Other oil companies, including UOP and Total, are also actively participating in this area: a useful summary of the Methanol conversion technology is given in Methanol To Olefins (MTO): development of a Commercial Catalytic Process, Simon R. Bar, Advanced Characterization, UOP LLC, model Methods in Heterogeneous Catalysis Research, FHI Collection 30 November 2007. More specifically, in the MTO process, methanol is first dehydrated to dimethyl ether (DME) in a second step to control the exotherm, and then the equilibrium mixture is reacted to light olefins. Current commercial implementations of the original MTO process share similarities with the FCC process in using a combination of a reactor comprising a zeolite catalyst and a regeneration zone for burning off coke formed during the first reaction step.

The article "Feeding methane in an FCC unit, Pan et al, 2008; petroleum Science and Technology,26: 170-. The feasibility analysis of MTO binding to FCC was based on their similarity and compatibility. The similarities between the two processes include high temperature, low pressure, high space velocity reaction conditions, and moderate acid strength and hydrothermal stability of the catalyst. But differ primarily in their catalyst structure. MTO catalysts are predominantly small or medium pore zeolites, while FCC catalysts are predominantly Y-type zeolites, i.e., large pore zeolites. It was found that the addition of methanol to the FCC produced more olefins. The results show that higher hydrocarbon yields and olefin selectivity can be obtained with methanol solution addition at high temperatures (550 ℃ to 600 ℃) and that the coke content is detrimental to the conversion of methanol to light olefins. The suitable position for converting the methanol into the olefin is the bottom of a riser, the temperature is higher, and the catalyst has no coke deposition.

The biomass raw material is used for papermaking, cellulosic ethanol production and other applications. The lignocellulosic matrix of a biomass feedstock is generally divided into hemicellulose and lignin. The former compound can be converted to paper or ethanol, while the lignin is discarded.

Lignin, which constitutes 30% by weight of plant biomass, is the largest source of bio-aromatics in nature and is more difficult to break down into high-value chemicals and fuels than glucose or (hemi) cellulose. Furthermore, most biorefinery layouts are based on the biochemical upgrading of the glucose fraction of biomass and consider lignin as a waste stream.

In second generation bioethanol plants, one approach is to use the heterogeneity of lignin polymers as a fuel approach in reductive depolymerization techniques. This involves expensive catalysts, hydrogen for sufficient deoxygenation and harsh process conditions for efficient lignin cleavage. Under these conditions, secondary reactions occur and are associated with high solvent consumption, rendering the process uneconomical.

FCC units can in principle also be used for the conversion of biomass sources, such as wood or lignin feedstocks.

The technical challenge is the solid nature of the feedstock and the different H/C/O ratio compared to fossil feedstock.

High selectivity to aromatic hydrocarbons (BTX) suitable for use in the transport of fuels or commodity chemicals has been demonstrated in the catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass (400-.

Pyrolysis is the process of thermal decomposition of a substance into its elemental constituents and/or smaller molecules for use in various processes for producing hydrocarbons from biomass, including, but not limited to, hydrocarbon fuels.

Pyrolysis requires moderate temperatures, typically above about 325 ℃, to sufficiently decompose the feed to produce products that can be used as hydrocarbon building blocks. In general, pyrolysis of biomass produces four major products, namely water, "bio-oil" (also known as "pyrolysis oil"), char, and various gases that do not condense except under extreme conditions.

Fast pyrolysis is a process for converting biomass into bio-oil. Fast pyrolysis is the rapid thermal decomposition of organic compounds to produce liquids, char, and gases in the absence of atmospheric air or added oxygen. Typically, fast pyrolysis uses a dry (< 10% moisture) biomass feedstock that is pulverized into small particles (between about 0.1-3 mm), moderate temperatures (325-. The pyrolysis reaction may be followed by a rapid quench to avoid further decomposition of the pyrolysis products and secondary reactions between the pyrolysis products. Fast pyrolysis can be run at atmospheric pressure, moderate temperatures, and low or no water usage. Bio-oil yields are typically 50-75% of the input biomass mass and are heavily dependent on the feedstock. Generally, known bio-oil production processes produce bio-oil with high oxygen and high water content; such oxygen and water content may lead to storage instability and phase separation problems.

For example, pyrolysis of woody biomass will produce a mixture of organic compounds, such as lignin fragments, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, phenols, furfural, alcohols and ketones, and water. Unfortunately, aldehydes and acids, among other compounds, may react with other components of the bio-oil, resulting in instability, corrosivity, and poor combustion characteristics.

The co-treatment of biomass pyrolysis oil with Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) in FCC units has been demonstrated on a laboratory and pilot scale. Upgrading pyrolysis oil appears to be possible in practice, but is technically economically challenging due to the acidity and high oxygen content of the pyrolysis oil, contamination with other compounds, and the tendency to form coke by-products. Damaging expensive cracking catalysts is costly and eliminates any profit margin for processing biomass and pyrolysis oil into high value hydrocarbons. Furthermore, challenges in this regard are associated with low miscibility of bio-oils with hydrocarbons, poor chemical stability, and excessive coke formation rates (resulting in improper plant heat balance). Separating or injecting the two feeds at different heights and performing a hydrotreating step to stabilize the bio-oil prior to FCC cracking may provide a method to overcome such problems. However, a prior hydrotreating step may result in a non-competitive process. In order to reduce the rate of coke formation, which is mainly caused by the H/C/O ratio, it is possible to consider co-feeding hydrogen or a hydrogen donor. In the latter, the beneficial effects of methanol in the feed on the thermal and catalytic coke content of the zeolite catalyst are one example. It is reported that when 80 wt% methanol is introduced into pyrolysis oil, the total coke reduction is significantly reduced (50-60 wt%).

International patent application WO2012/091815 discloses an integrated FCC biomass pyrolysis/upgrading process. The process uses a conventional FCC feed and a mixture of solvent and biomass to produce an upgraded fuel product. Slurry flow consisting of solid biomass particles and a solvent is sent into the catalytic cracking riser through a slurry pump, so that biomass pyrolysis and in-situ pyrolysis oil quality improvement are realized. Catalytic cracking of conventional petroleum feedstocks also occurs in riser reactors.

The present inventors have filed an international application numbered WO2019/053287a1, the invention relating to a process for producing a Crude Lignin Oil (CLO), the process comprising the steps of: providing a lignin-rich solid feedstock and subjecting the lignin-rich feedstock to a treatment in a polar organic solvent, such as a catalyst and/or hydrogen, in the absence of an effective amount of an added promoter, under operating conditions of an operating temperature of up to 210 ℃, an operating pressure of less than 50bar, and a residence time of up to 240 minutes, wherein the lignin to polar organic solvent feed ratio (w/w) ranges between 1:1.5 and 1: 5. The main object of the present invention is to provide an economically feasible method for sending lignin out of a biorefinery, which not only eliminates the logistical inconvenience caused by the transportation of solid lignin, but also eliminates the technical challenge of processing solids, thereby creating a potential feedstock platform bio-oil for the fuel market or the chemical industry.

The inventive step presented in this application involves using CLO as feed to the FCC process, either directly as pure feed or as co-feed in the short term as the share of oil decreases in the future. There are several benefits in that the CLO feed is a pumpable liquid that can be easily processed at the refinery. In particular, in the case of using methanol as the polar organic solvent, methanol CLO, which is a liquid composition of methanol and lignin oligomer, can be a good feedstock for the FCC unit, is used as a main product. Generally, FCC containing lignin results in excessive coke. An advantage of co-feeding a certain amount of methanol is that it effectively increases the H/C ratio of the feed mixture. This will reduce the coking rate, potentially improving the plant heat balance. Chemically, one would expect methanol to participate in catalytic conversion via a different pathway. First, methanol can be converted to light olefins of intrinsic value, but these olefins can also participate in further hydrocarbon conversion reactions, thereby reducing coking of the aromatic portion of the feed, such as by alkylation. The second approach is that methanol is a strong alkylating agent, which can react with aromatic hydrocarbons to prevent the fusion of mono-aromatic hydrocarbons with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (coke precursors) and other hydrocarbons, thereby effectively increasing the H/C ratio of the product. A third route may be the decomposition of methanol to produce hydrogen, which may also serve as a co-reactant. Also, dealkylation of the propyl side chain is an outstanding motivation in lignin monomer, providing an additional source of propylene. The first two chemical pathways may be governed by the type of zeolite catalyst. For example, the addition of 10-membered ring zeolites to conventional 12-membered ring large pore (faujasite) zeolites, which are primarily used for oligomer cracking, can help the alkylation reaction protect valuable monoaromatics while producing additional light olefins. In essence, the envisaged process provides the opportunity to convert lignin to mono-aromatics, while upgrading methanol partly to aromatics and partly to valuable light olefins. If a suitable coking rate can be established, the product composition can be adjusted by optimizing the amount of methanol, the catalyst mixture used and the reaction temperature.

Reference to the literature

E.T.C.Vogt and B.M.Weckhuysen,Chemical Society Reviews 44,7342 (2015).

Z.Ma,E.Troussard,and J.A.Van Bokhoven,Applied Catalysis A:General 423–424,130(2012).

C.M.Kinchin,L.C.Casavechia,A.de R.Pinho,H.L.Chum,M.S.Talmadge, M.B.B.de Almeida,and F.L.Mendes,Fuel 188,462(2016).

A.D.R.Pinho,M.B.B.De Almeida,F.L.Mendes,V.L.Ximenes,and L.C. Casavechia,Fuel Processing Technology 131,159(2015).

Y.Zhang,T.R.Brown,G.Hu,and R.C.Brown,Chemical Engineering Journal 225,895(2013).

P.S.Rezaei,H.Shafaghat,and W.M.A.W.Daud,Applied Catalysis A: General 469,490(2014).

Disclosure of Invention

The invention relates to an FCC process, comprising the following steps:

(a) adding Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) to an FCC unit, wherein the FCC unit comprises an FCC riser, a catalyst regenerator, and a reactor/stripper,

(b) optionally, a second feed comprising a conventional FCC feedstock is added to the FCC unit,

(c) adding the regenerated catalyst from the regenerator into an FCC riser for catalytic cracking and upgrading CLO and secondary feedstock to obtain upgraded product and deactivated catalyst,

(d) feeding the upgraded product from the FCC riser and the deactivated catalyst to a reactor/stripper and separating the upgraded product from the deactivated catalyst in the reactor/stripper,

(e) adding the deactivated catalyst from (d) to a regenerator to regenerate the deactivated catalyst to obtain a regenerated catalyst; and

(f) and collecting the modified product.

The invention has the advantages of

The present invention has many advantages and surprising effects.

Processing a crude lignin oil comprising only the lignin portion of lignocellulosic biomass has a profound effect on the total oxygen content of the feed compared to pyrolysis oil. When CLO is used as feed to the FCC process, the ash and inorganic impurities present in the wood do not migrate into the oil phase: the total oxygen content of the FCC feed is reduced (compared to pure biomass or pyrolysis oil containing about 45 wt% oxygen) due to the use of mainly the lignin portion of the biomass rather than other impurities in the oil (cellulose, proteins, minerals, ash, etc.).

CLO contains smaller oligomers in lignin (Mw reduced by about 50% (relative to industrial lignin feedstock)) which should help to mitigate coking.

CLO feedstocks have adjustable CHO ratios (by adjusting the methanol-lignin ratio) and can be used to improve FCC processes.

The bio-content of CLO feedstock has a relatively high calorific value (e.g. compared to wood or cellulose).

The CLO preferably comprises methanol, which solvent can serve as a hydrogen donor in the feed. The alcohol portion of the CLO can be converted to light olefins.

CLO solves a further problem as co-feed of the liquid lignin composition. For example, a slurry pump is not required to provide CLO for the FCC unit. CLO feed is a pumpable liquid that can be easily processed at a refinery.

Cofeeding the CLO with the FCC unit will reduce the coking rate and may improve the plant heat balance.

Drawings

Fig. 1 depicts an FCC unit of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

Detailed Description

The invention relates to an FCC process comprising the steps of:

(a) feeding Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) to an FCC unit, wherein the FCC unit comprises an FCC riser, a catalyst regenerator, and a reactor/stripper,

(b) optionally, a second feed comprising a conventional FCC feedstock is added to the FCC unit,

(c) adding the regenerated catalyst from the regenerator to an FCC riser for mid-catalytic cracking and upgrading CLO and secondary feedstocks to produce upgraded products and deactivated catalyst,

(d) feeding the upgraded product from the FCC riser and the deactivated catalyst to a reactor/stripper and separating the upgraded product from the deactivated catalyst in the reactor/stripper,

(e) adding the deactivated catalyst from (d) to a regenerator to regenerate the deactivated catalyst to obtain a regenerated catalyst; and

(f) and collecting the modified product.

FCC process

The fluid catalytic cracking or FCC process vaporizes and breaks down long-chain, high-boiling hydrocarbon liquids into shorter molecules by contacting the feedstock with a fluidized powdered catalyst at elevated temperature and moderate pressure.

Long chain carbon compounds include long chain hydrocarbons typically found in conventional petroleum-based FCC feed streams, as well as hydrocarbons, lignins, carbohydrates, lipids, fats, cholesterol, polyols, and other complex molecules found in biomaterials, including molecules found in biomass and other biologically-derived feed streams.

The FCC process may be carried out at 400-800 deg.C, preferably 500-650 deg.C and 0.5-3bar, more preferably 1-2 bar; preferably, step (c) is carried out at 400-800 ℃, more preferably 500-650 ℃ and 0.5-3 bar.

The FCC process may contact the lignin monomer or oligomer from the CLO with the catalyst for 1 to 60 seconds, preferably 1 to 10 seconds, more preferably 2 to 4 seconds. If two or more injection points are used along the FCC riser, there may be multiple contact times.

The FCC process may inject CLO at one or more locations at the bottom of the FCC riser, such as along FCC riser vertical 3/4, 2/3, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, or at the top of the FCC riser.

The CLO is preferably added by pumping in step (a). The FCC process may preferably use an oil pump to add CLO to the FCC riser.

The FCC process may have the FCC riser fed with conventional FCC feedstock and CLO in a weight ratio of between 100:1 and 1:100(FCC feedstock: CLO), preferably between 50:1 and 1:50, more preferably between 10:1 and 1: 10.

The FCC process may inject the CLO stream with a second conventional FCC feedstream.

Hydrogen may also be added to the FCC process to affect the CHO ratio of the feed to the FCC riser.

CLO

The present invention uses Crude Lignin Oil (CLO).

CLO is a crude lignin oil composition consisting of lignin and a polar organic solvent in a ratio of 1:10 to 1:0.3 w/v. This ratio between lignin and polar organic solvents results in an efficient FCC process.

CLO generally comprises 5-80 wt% lignin and 20-95 wt% polar organic solvent. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) of lignin in CLO is generally between 500 and 5000 daltons, preferably the weight average molecular weight (Mw) of CLO is in the range of 1000 and 2000 daltons, and the polydispersity index is in the range of 2.1 to 3. CLO preferably has a kinematic viscosity at 40 ℃ at a shear rate of 300(1/s) of 1.5 to 200 cST.

CLO may contain (methylated) C5 and/or C6 sugars.

The polar solvent may in principle be any solvent capable of producing a stable lignin composition with the (partially depolymerised) lignin. Preferably, the polar organic solvent is a polar organic solvent having at least one oxygen group. The polar organic solvent having at least one oxygen group is preferably selected from the group consisting of alcohols, ketones and esters, and combinations thereof. Examples of suitable alcohols are aliphatic alcohols, aromatic alcohols (e.g. phenols) and polyfunctional alcohols, e.g. glycols. The melting temperature of the solvent is preferably below 50 c, more preferably below 40 c.

The polar organic solvent having at least one oxygen group is preferably selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, t-butanol, isobutanol, phenol, glycols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, 1, 3-propanediol, butylene glycol, hexylene glycol, glycerol, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, acetone, and methyl ethyl ketone, and combinations thereof. Most preferably the polar organic solvent is selected from ethanol, methanol, glycols, phenols or mixtures of these.

CLO may contain some water in addition to the polar organic solvent. The water may be derived from lignin, or dissolved in a polar solvent (e.g. as an azeotrope with ethanol). Typically, the amount of water is less than 25 wt%, preferably less than 15 wt%, more preferably less than 10 wt% of the total of the lignin-rich solid feedstock and the polar organic solvent.

Preferably, the lignin and the polar organic solvent are at least 75 wt%, at least 85 wt%, at least 90 wt%, at least 95 wt%, at least 98 wt%, at least 99 wt% or 100 wt% relative to the total amount of CLO.

Preferably, the total amount of lignin, polar organic solvent and water relative to CLO is at least 95 wt%, at least 98 wt%, at least 99 wt% or 100 wt%.

Preferably, the CLO is a crude lignin oil composition comprising lignin and a polar organic solvent in a ratio of 1:10 to 1:0.3w/v, wherein the lignin is dissolved in the polar organic solvent.

CLO may be prepared in a solvolysis process comprising the steps of: providing a lignin-rich solid feedstock and subjecting the lignin-rich solid feedstock to a treatment in a polar organic solvent, such as a heterogeneous and/or homogeneous catalyst and/or hydrogen, in the absence of an effective amount of an added reaction promoter, and providing a lignin composition, said treatment comprising the step of contacting said lignin-rich solid feedstock with the polar organic solvent under operating conditions of an operating temperature of up to 210 ℃, an operating pressure of less than 50bar and a residence time of up to 240 minutes, wherein the feed ratio (w/v) of lignin (present in the lignin-rich solid feedstock) to polar organic solvent is between 1:1.5 and 1: 15.

During this solvolysis, mild depolymerization can occur, with minimal formation of coke and a large amount of lignin dissolved in the polar organic solvent.

In this solvolysis reaction, lignin is dissolved by polar hydrocarbons to form stable crude lignin oil or CLO. CLO is therefore essentially a mixture of two products. By adjusting the process conditions, the ratio between these CLO components can be controlled.

In the first stage of the solvolysis process, the lignin-rich solid feedstock is dispersed in a polar organic solvent and subjected to a mild depolymerization process to produce a crude liquid lignin oil (CLO). To initially convert lignin-rich solid feedstocks into lignin compositions, for example for use as liquid chemical intermediates, a simplified process involves cleaving weak ether linkages and decomposing lignin into lower molecular weight oligomers. Due to the lower bond enthalpy compared to the C-C bond, the ether bond is more easily cleaved. Cleavage of the bonds between lignins under subcritical polar organic solvent conditions is believed to be responsible for partial depolymerization. The relative yield of depolymerized lignin components (monomers or oligomers) can be controlled by selecting a suitable set of process conditions for the first step of the process. The key parameters of the process are temperature, residence time, lignin to solvent ratio and pressure.

Preferably, the operating temperature of the solvolysis process is 100-.

Preferably, the operating pressure of the solvolysis process is in the range of between 2 and 50bar, preferably in the range of between 5 and 40 bar.

Preferably, the residence time of the solvolysis process is in the range of 10-120 minutes, preferably 20-90 minutes, more preferably 21-40 minutes.

In a preferred embodiment of the solvolysis process, the lignin suspension is first prepared in a solvent selected from ethanol, methanol or mixtures thereof, and then the solvent (ethanol and/or methanol) may be (at least partially) replaced with a different polar organic solvent having at least one oxygen radical.

Surprisingly, the ratio of lignin to organic solvent during solvolysis can be very high. This means that the amount of solvent used to dissolve the solid lignin can be low. Preferably, the solid feedstock (mass) rich in lignin: the ratio of the polar organic solvent (volume) is between 1:2 and 1: 10. This ratio refers to the initial mixing ratio of lignin to polar organic solvent before the reaction (first stage). Preferably, the ratio of lignin to polar organic solvent ranges between 1:2 and 1:5, especially in case the organic solvent is selected from ethanol and/or methanol.

Thus, the solvolysis process of the invention comprises a process to produce a reversible lignin composition (crude liquid lignin oil, CLO) by mild solvolysis chemical modification, wherein lignin is dissolved in a specific ratio in a polar organic solvent and can be transported to the FCC riser in liquid form.

With respect to CLO compositions (solvent to lignin), the term "ratio" is always based on w/v ratio, i.e. weight per volume: it is expressed as grams of lignin or lignin fragments dissolved in 1mL of solvent. This ratio is measured at 25 ℃. For example, a 1:2 ratio means that 1 gram of lignin is dissolved in 2 ml of solvent.

It is advantageous to add CLO to the FCC riser, wherein said CLO is a medium crude lignin oil composition (CLO-M) consisting of lignin and polar organic solvent in a ratio of 1:10 to 1:5w/v, or said CLO is a heavy crude lignin oil composition (CLO-H) after distillation of excess solvent, consisting of lignin and polar organic solvent in a ratio of 1:2 to 1:0.3 w/v.

In a preferred embodiment, the reaction mixture obtained after solvolysis of the lignin-rich solid feedstock is subjected to a solid/liquid separation step to obtain a liquid phase and a solid phase. The liquid phase is CLO (lignin composition) and the solid phase comprises undissolved products from the lignin-rich solid feedstock.

In one embodiment, the solid/liquid separation step is selected from the group consisting of filtration, centrifugation, decantation, sedimentation, membrane, flash evaporation, or combinations thereof.

In one embodiment, the liquid phase is subjected to a separation step to further remove the polar organic solvent, wherein the separation step is selected from the group consisting of vacuum distillation, atmospheric distillation, rotary evaporation and flash evaporation.

In one embodiment, the step of removing the polar organic solvent is continued until the ratio between the reaction lignin product and said polar organic solvent is in the range of 1:2 to 1:0.3 to obtain a product identified as heavy crude lignin oil (CLO-H).

This ratio refers to the actual final amount of reacted lignin product dissolved in the polar solvent after the separation step.

Examples of lignin-rich solid feedstocks are based on lignocellulosic biomass feedstock pretreatment processes, such as acidic pulping, alkaline pulping (Kraft or Soda), Bergius-Rheinau processes, steam explosion, organosolv pulping, (dilute) acid-based hydrolysis, fractionation processes based on Ionic Liquids (ILs), liquid salts (e.g. zinc chloride hydrate) or eutectic solvents (DES), superheated or supercritical steam.

The CLO used in the present invention may be, for example, a medium CLO or a high CLO.

The medium crude lignin composition (CLO-M) typically comprises 8-30 wt% lignin and 70-92 wt% polar organic solvent, preferably 10-30 wt% lignin and 70-90 wt% polar organic solvent. The lignin in CLO-M preferably has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 1000 and 2000 daltons and a polydispersity index in the range of 2.1 to 3. The CLO-M lignin composition preferably has a kinematic viscosity at 40 ℃ at a shear rate of 300(1/s) of from 1.5 to 20, more preferably from 1.8 to 10 (cST).

CLO-M may comprise different polar solvents. Preferably, the polar organic solvent of CLO-M is selected from glycols and phenols, more preferably from ethanol and methanol. Preferably, the amount of water in the CLO-M is less than 10 wt.%, more preferably less than 5 wt.%, less than 2 wt.% relative to the CLO-M composition.

The removal of solvent in the second stage continues to produce lignin product in the organic solvent, which is still soluble and no precipitation of lignin occurs.

The lignin composition CLO-H typically comprises 30-80 wt% lignin and 20-70 wt% organic solvent, preferably 50-75 wt% lignin and 25-50 wt% organic solvent. The lignin in CLO-H preferably has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 1000-2000 daltons and a polydispersity index in the range of 2.1-3. The lignin composition preferably has a kinematic viscosity at 40 ℃ at a shear rate of 300(1/s) of between 20 and 200cST, more preferably between 50 and 150 or between 60 and 140 (cST).

CLO-H may comprise different polar solvents. Preferably, the polar organic solvent of CLO-H is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, methanol, glycols, and phenols. Most preferably, the polar organic solvent of CLO-H is selected from the group consisting of ethanol and methanol. Preferably, the amount of water in the CLO-H is less than 10 wt%, preferably less than 5 wt%, or less than 2 wt% relative to the CLO-H composition.

In one embodiment, the oxygen to carbon ratio (O: C ratio) of lignin in the CLO-M and CLO-H lignin compositions obtained according to the method described above is in the range of 0.25 to 0.45.

Second feed stream

Conventional FCC feeds may be used as the second feed stream and include conventional petroleum FCC feeds, Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO), Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil (HVGO), heavy vacuum oil, atmospheric distillation residues, coker gas oil, hexane, naphtha, light cycle oil, heavy cycle oil, fuel oil, decant oil, raffinate, cyclohexane, n-hexane, kerosene, diesel, water, steam, alcohols, polyols, and mixtures of these solvents.

The second feed stream comprises a conventional FCC feedstock, wherein said second stream may be injected vertically into the FCC riser at the bottom or along said FCC riser. The second feed stream may be injected at the same location as the CLO stream. The second feed stream may be injected at a different location than the CLO stream.

The conventional FCC feed to the FCC may be a portion of crude oil having an initial boiling point of 340 ℃ or greater at atmospheric pressure and an average molecular weight of about 200-600 or greater. This portion of the crude oil may be a heavy gas oil or a vacuum gas oil (HVGO).

Catalyst and process for preparing same

The catalyst may be a fluidized powdered catalyst. The catalyst may be an active amorphous clay-type catalyst and/or a high activity crystalline zeolite. It has surprisingly been found that zeolite catalysts are selective for the desired products in an FCC unit. The catalyst may comprise a large pore zeolite, such as a Y-zeolite, an active alumina material, a binder material comprising silica or alumina or a clay, such as kaolin.

The FCC process may have a regenerated catalyst comprising a zeolite, preferably an aluminosilicate zeolite.

The catalyst may be a medium or smaller pore zeolite catalyst such as ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-23, ZSM-35, ZSM-38, ZSM-48, ferrierite, erionite and ST-5 developed by Petroleos de Argentina, SA.

The catalyst preferably comprises a medium or smaller pore zeolite on a matrix comprising a binder material such as silica or alumina and an inert filter material such as kaolin. The catalyst may also comprise some other active material, such as zeolite beta.

The cracking reaction of the FCC process may produce some carbonaceous material (referred to as catalyst coke) which deposits on the catalyst and quickly reduces the reactivity of the catalyst, which is regenerated by blowing air into the regenerator to burn off the deposited coke. The regenerator may be operated at a temperature between 700 ℃ and 750 ℃ and a pressure between 2 and 3 bar.

FCC unit

FCC units may include "stacked" and "side-by-side" reactors, as well as other configurations. In a stacked reactor, the reactor and catalyst regenerator are contained in a single vessel, with the reactor located above the catalyst regenerator. Side-by-side reactors have separate reactors and catalyst regenerators, usually side-by-side, in two separate vessels.

A Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC)10 unit includes at least one FCC riser 12 having a longitudinal axis Y, a catalyst regenerator 11, a CLO stream unit 15, and a reactor/stripper 13. The FCC riser 12 may have a first end 12a and a second end 12b along the longitudinal axis Y. FCC riser 12 may receive CLO stream unit 15. CLO reacts with regenerated catalyst 17 in FCC riser 12 for catalytic cracking and upgrading to produce upgraded product 14. CLO may be injected into FCC riser 12 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis Y of FCC riser 15.

The FCC biomass unit may be injected into the CLO at one or more locations along the longitudinal axis Y of the FCC riser 12, such as 3/4, 2/3, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 along the longitudinal axis Y of the FCC riser 12.

Reactor/stripper 14 may be adapted to separate upgraded products from deactivated catalyst 18. The reactor/stripper 13 is preferably disposed on the FCC riser 12 on a longitudinal axis Y. Reactor/stripper 13 may be connected to FCC riser 12 at a first end 12a of said FCC riser 12.

The FCC riser 12 can receive a second conventional FCC feedstock 16, if desired. A second conventional FCC feedstock 16 may be associated with the second end 12b of the FCC riser 12. The conventional FCC feedstock 16 is reacted with a regenerated catalyst 17 for catalytic cracking and upgrading to produce upgraded product 14.

In some embodiments, catalyst regenerator 11 may regenerate deactivated catalyst 18 to regenerated catalyst 17. Preferably, the deactivated catalyst 18 may be transferred from the reactor/stripper 13 to the regenerator 11 through a first electrically operated valve, and the regenerated catalyst 17 from the regenerator 11 may be transferred to the FCC riser 12 through a second electrically operated valve.

In addition, the FCC unit 10 preferably includes a CLO stream unit 15 and preferably a pump 19 to deliver the CLO stream to the FCC riser 12.

The FCC biomass unit is preferably metered as CLO stream with a catalyst comprising 5-80 wt% lignin, preferably 50-75 wt% lignin and methanol; wherein wt% is relative to the total weight of the CLO stream.

The CLO stream may be delivered to the FCC riser using any pump, such as an oil pump.

The FCC biomass unit may have a CLO stream injected with a second conventional FCC feedstream.

The FCC biomass unit can have a regenerated catalyst comprising a zeolite, preferably an aluminosilicate zeolite.

The contact time of the lignin with the catalyst may be between 1 and 60 seconds, such as between 1 and 30 seconds, preferably between 1 and 10 seconds, more preferably between 2 and 4 seconds, or there may be multiple contact times if two or more injection sites are used along the FCC riser.

Reactor/stripping column

A reactor/stripper for separating the upgraded products from the deactivated catalyst is connected to the FCC riser at the top end of the FCC riser. The reactor/stripper is also connected to the regenerator.

The reactor/stripper may be a vessel in which the upgraded product steam is: (a) separated from the deactivated catalyst by passing through a series of two-stage cyclones in the reactor/stripper, and (b) the deactivated catalyst flows down through the stripping section to remove any hydrocarbon vapors before the deactivated catalyst is returned to the regenerator.

Regenerator

The regenerator is connected to the reactor/stripper and the FCC riser. The deactivated catalyst, which is separated from the gaseous components in the reactor/stripper and introduced from the reactor/stripper into the regenerator, removes coke from the deactivated catalyst in the regenerator. The regenerator delivers the regenerated catalyst to the FCC riser.

FCC product

The upgraded product of the FCC process may include one or more materials selected from the group consisting of depolymerized lignin, (deoxy aromatic) benzene, toluene, xylene, (oxy aromatic), phenols, alkylated phenols, gasoline, light cycle oil, light gas, #6 fuel oil, decant oil, naphtha, raffinate, cyclohexane, n-hexane, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, mixed butanes, petroleum coke, and combinations thereof.

Examples

Examples of some embodiments of the invention are given below. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, one of many examples of the invention, and the following examples should not be construed as limiting or restricting the scope of the invention.

In one embodiment, the CLO stream may be pumped into the FCC riser to effect lignin upgrading. Catalytic cracking of conventional FCC feeds also occurs in FCC risers. The solids and vapor products are separated in the FCC reactor by a cyclone. The solid product entrained with the catalyst particles is burned off in the regenerator and the vaporous (converted) product is distilled in the main fractionator into various streams such as naphtha, CLO and decant oil.

In another embodiment, the CLO stream is pumped to the FCC riser and lignin can be cracked and upgraded into fuel products; combining the CLO stream with a conventional FCC feed stream and regenerated catalyst in an FCC riser to crack and upgrade lignin to an upgraded fuel product in the FCC riser; separating the upgraded fuel product from the deactivated catalyst in a reactor/stripper and regenerating the deactivated catalyst in a regenerator; the regenerated catalyst is returned to the FCC riser.

The invention also relates to a Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit for upgrading CLO as defined above.