MOBILE HYDROCARBON REFINERIES AND RELATED METHODS

Abstract

A mobile refinery includes a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle. In addition, the mobile refinery includes a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers. The plurality of processing units are configured to refine crude oil into one or more fuels.

Description

BACKGROUND

Hydrocarbons underpin modern civilization. In particular, hydrocarbons such as crude oil and natural gas, are utilized to produce fuels (e.g., automotive fuel, jet fuel, diesel fuel, etc.). In addition, hydrocarbons may also be utilized to produce building materials, such as asphalt and polymers.

Before hydrocarbons can be utilized as useful products, the raw hydrocarbons may be subjected to one or more chemical processing steps. For instance, crude oil is not a homogenous substance. Rather, crude oil contains a number of different constituents, each having its own commercial uses. Thus, before crude oil (or one of its constituents) may be used in a commercial product, the crude oil may be subjected to a refining process which may include, among other things, separating the various hydrocarbon molecules by weight and removing unwanted contaminants.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a mobile refinery. In some embodiments, the mobile refinery includes a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle. In addition, the mobile refinery includes a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into one or more hydrocarbon products. The plurality of processing units includes an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers. The ADU includes a distillation tower configured to separate the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream. In addition, the plurality of processing units includes a heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers. The heater skid unit includes a heater in fluid communication with the crude oil source and the distillation tower so that the heater is configured to combust at least a portion of the residual stream to heat the crude oil and to output the crude oil to the distillation tower.

Some embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a method of refining crude oil provided from a crude oil source with a mobile refinery. The mobile refinery includes a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers. In some embodiments, the method includes (a) separating the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream by use of an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) of the plurality of processing units, the ADU being supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers. In addition, the method includes (b) heating the crude oil in a heater of a heater skid unit of the plurality of processing units before (a), the heater skid unit being supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers. In addition, the method includes (c) combusting at least a portion of the residual stream in the heater to heat the crude oil during (b). Further, the method includes (d) producing at least one fuel stream from the light stream by use of the mobile refinery.

Some embodiments are directed to a mobile refinery. In some embodiments, the mobile refinery includes a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into a product diesel stream. The plurality of processing units includes an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers. The ADU is configured to separate the crude oil into a sour diesel stream and a naphtha stream. In addition, the plurality of processing units includes a heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers. The heater skid unit is configured to combust at least a portion of the naphtha stream to heat the sour diesel stream. Further, the plurality of processing units includes a hydrotreater unit supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers. The hydrotreater unit is in fluid communication with the heater skid unit and is configured to remove sulfur from the sour diesel stream and produce the product diesel stream.

Embodiments described herein comprise a combination of features and characteristics intended to address various shortcomings associated with certain prior devices, systems, and methods. The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical characteristics of the disclosed embodiments in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. The various characteristics and features described above, as well as others, will be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description, and by referring to the accompanying drawings. It should be appreciated that this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes as the disclosed embodiments. It should also be realized that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the principles disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a detailed description of various embodiments, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a system for refining a hydrocarbon resource by use of a mobile refinery according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the system of FIG. 1 showing further details of the mobile refinery according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an atmospheric distillation unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 4-7 are schematic side and top views, respectively, of a layout of the atmospheric distillation unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 on a trailer according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic side and top views, respectively, of a layout of a heater skid unit and blending skid unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 on a trailer according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are schematic side and top views, respectively, of a layout of a generator unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 on a trailer according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 12-15 are schematic side and top views, respectively, of a layout of a hydrotreater unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 on a trailer according to some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of a layout of a hydrogen generator unit of the mobile refinery of FIG. 2 on a trailer according to some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of a method of refining crude oil provided from a crude oil source with a mobile refinery according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As previously described, hydrocarbons such as crude oil may be subjected to one or more refining processes before the they may be used in a commercial product, such as a fuel or building material. Traditionally, crude oil refining has been carried out at an established refinery that processes large volumes of crude oil to produce various products, including fuels. However, some crude oil resources are not located near suitable infrastructure (e.g., roads, pipelines, ports, etc.) that allow the crude oil to be transported to a traditional, fixed-location refinery. In some cases, crude oil resources may be located in deeply impoverished regions or even active warzones, which make the construction and operation of a traditional fixed-location refinery in the region, or the construction or maintenance of the necessary transport infrastructure to deliver the crude oil to a remotely located refinery unfeasible.

Accordingly, embodiments disclosed herein include mobile hydrocarbon refineries that are transportable directly to a hydrocarbon production or storage site and that may perform one or more refining processes on the hydrocarbons to locally produce commercially useful hydrocarbon products. In some embodiments, the mobile hydrocarbon refineries according to the embodiments disclosed herein may be transported to a hydrocarbon production or storage site via one or more semi-trailer trucks or other suitable vehicles. Thus, through use of the embodiments disclosed herein, a hydrocarbon resource that is positioned in a remote, impoverished, dangerous, or otherwise problematic location may be more readily refined into one or more products (e.g., hydrocarbon products) that may be used for industrial or other purposes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 10 for refining a hydrocarbon resource by use of a mobile refinery 100 is shown according to some embodiments. The system 10 may be considered mobile in that the system 10 (or one or more components or assemblies thereof) may be readily transported between different locations. In some embodiments, the system 10 is used to refine crude oil. However, it should be appreciated that system 10 may be configured to refine other hydrocarbon resources (e.g., natural gas, condensate, etc.) according to some embodiments.

The system 10 includes one or more crude oil sources 12 (or more simply “sources” 12) that are configured to hold and/or access a volume of crude oil for processing by the mobile refinery 100. In some embodiments, the sources 12 may include one or more tanks (or other suitable reservoirs), pipelines, or subterranean wellbores that are producing the crude oil to the surface. During operations, the sources 12 may output crude oil to the mobile refinery 100, and the mobile refinery 100 may then perform one or more processing or refining steps to convert the crude oil into one or more products (e.g., fuels, building materials, etc.), that are then output to suitable storage assemblies 20. In some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may produce fuels such as diesel fuel, gasoline, jet fuel (e.g., Jet A, Jet A-1, etc.). In addition, in some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may produce building products such as asphalt, tar, etc. In some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may be configured to process about 15,000 barrels of crude oil per day (however, both lower and higher capacities are contemplated in various embodiments).

As previously described above, the system 10 may be generally considered mobile, and thus may include a plurality of assemblies or units that may be transported on vehicles to reach the crude oil sources 12. Specifically, in some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 and even the storage assemblies 20 may be transportable on a plurality of vehicles 50, which may include semi-trailer trucks, train cars, or other suitable vehicles. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the vehicles 50 are semi-trailer trucks 50 that may be driven to the location of the crude oil sources 12, which may include an impoverished, remote, and/or dangerous region that may otherwise lack suitable infrastructure (e.g., fixed-location refineries, pipelines, etc.) to refine the crude oil provided by source 12. In some embodiments, the storage assemblies 20 may be fixed at (or proximate to) the location of the crude oil sources 12.

Referring still to FIG. 1, the mobile refinery 100 includes a plurality of units and assemblies that are transported to the crude oil source(s) 12 on vehicles 50 as previously described. In some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may include a collection of units and assemblies that, when assembled, are in fluid communication with one another and are configured to refine the crude oil into the one or more products as previously described. For instance, in some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 includes an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) 110, a heater skid unit 200, a blending skid unit 300, a generator unit 400, a hydrotreater unit 500, and a hydrogen generator unit 600. In some embodiments, the ADU 110, generator unit 400, hydrotreater unit 500, and hydrogen generator unit 600 are each transported to the crude oil source(s) on a separate vehicle 50, and the heater skid unit 200 and blending skid unit 300 are transported to the crude oil source(s) 12 together on a single vehicle 50. However, it should be appreciated that different arrangements of the units of mobile refinery 100 (e.g., units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600) are contemplated in other embodiments. Each of the units of mobile refinery 100 are described in more detail herein according to some embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of system 10 showing the interconnections of the units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 of mobile refinery 100 is shown according to some embodiments. The ADU 110 may receive a stream of crude oil (e.g., a “hydrocarbon feedstock”) from one or more of the sources 12 (FIG. 1). Within the ADU 110, the crude oil may be subjected to one or more processing steps, such as, for instance distillation (e.g., atmospheric distillation) and separation. As a result of these processing steps, the ADU 110 may convert the crude oil into one or more output streams such as a naphtha stream 112, a first output diesel stream 114, and a second output diesel stream 120. The residuals (or a portion thereof) from the ADU 110 may be used to provide asphalt or other building material compositions. In some embodiments, the naphtha stream 112 contains a 150-350° F. boiling point fraction, the first output diesel stream 114 contains a 350-450° F. boiling point fraction, and the second output diesel stream contains a 450-650° F. boiling point fraction.

To support the processing steps performed within the ADU 110, crude oil may be routed from the ADU to a first heater 202 positioned on the heater skid unit 200. In particular, the heater skid unit 200 may include the first heater 202 and a second heater 204 that may be used to heat one or more streams of the mobile refinery 100 during operations. The heaters 202, 204 may comprise furnaces, combustors, or other suitable heating devices or assemblies that may increase a temperature of a stream during operations. For instance, the first heater 202 may receive an incoming stream 122 of crude oil from ADU 110 and may combust a residual stream 126 that may be produced from one or more distillation units within the ADU 110 to thereby heat the crude oil and produce an output stream 124 of heated crude oil back to the ADU 110 for further processing as described in more detail below. A supplemental fuel supply 206 (e.g., diesel) may also be connected to the first heater 202 to facilitate heating of crude oil during a start-up of the mobile refinery 100. The supplemental fuel supply 206 may also be connected to the second heater 204 so as to provide fuel thereto during a start-up of the mobile refinery 100 as described in more detail below.

The naphtha stream 112 may be output from the mobile refinery unit 100 as a naphtha product stored in one of the plurality of storage assemblies 20 (FIG. 1). In addition, in some embodiments, the naphtha stream 112 (or part of the naphtha stream 112) may be combusted as fuel within the second heater 204 of the heater skid unit 200. In a conventional refinery, a naphtha stream 112 may be further produced and refined to increase the value that is extracted from the initial crude oil stream. However, without being limited to this or any other theory, use of the naphtha stream 112 (or a part thereof) to heat the crude oil (or a cut thereof) via the second heater 204 may reduce the reliance on other external fuel streams (e.g., natural gas) which may be unavailable or unreliable in the remote and/or hostile locations that the mobile refinery 100 may operate in.

Further, in some embodiments the naphtha stream 112 (or part of the naphtha stream 112) may be routed to the blending skid unit 300, where it is blended with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and/or other additives to produce a gasoline stream 308. In particular, within the blending skid unit 300, the naphtha and MTBE may be pressurized and charged to a mixer 306 via a pair of blending pumps 304. The MTBE may be supplied from a storage tank 302 that is positioned on or proximate to blending skid unit 300. Within the mixer 306, the naphtha, MTBE (and any other additives) may be blended to produce the gasoline stream 308 that is output from the mobile refinery 100 as a gasoline product stored in one of the plurality of storage assemblies 20 (FIG. 1). The mixer 306 may comprise any suitable assembly or device that is suitable for mixing the naphtha and MTBE (and any other additives) during operations. In some embodiments, the mixer 306 may blend the naphtha and MTBE at a suitable ratio (e.g., 10:1, 5:1, 4:1, 1:1, etc.) to produce the gasoline stream 308. In some embodiments, the storage tank 302 may include a capacity to hold from about 1,000 gallons to about 42,000 gallons of MTBE; however, other capacities are contemplated.

In some embodiments, on a volume basis, a blend of 10% MTBE, 15% methanol, and 75% gasoline with an octane number of 80 results in gasoline with an octane number of 95. A blend that results in octane number of 92 may include 10% MTBE, 10% methanol, and 80% gasoline with octane number of 80. A blend of 10% MTBE, 15% methanol, and 75% naphtha of octane number 65 may result in gasoline with an octane number of 80.

The first output diesel stream 114 may be split into a first product diesel stream 116 and a generator diesel fuel stream 118. The first product diesel stream 116 may be output from the mobile refinery 100 as a diesel product stored in one of the plurality of storage assemblies 20 (FIG. 1). The first output diesel stream 114 may include an elevated amount of sulfur (e.g., in the form of hydrogen sulfide or H₂S), and thus, may be referred to as a “sour diesel” stream 114. The generator diesel fuel stream 118 may be routed to the generator unit 400 to provide fuel to operate one or more electrical generators 402. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the residual stream 126 (e.g., which may comprise heavy naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, among other things as described in more detail herein) may be routed to the generate unit 400 (e.g., in addition or alternative to the diesel fuel stream 118) to provide fuel to operate the one or more electrical generators 402.

The electrical generators 402 may each include a diesel-power electrical generator that is configured to deliver about 1350 KW of electrical power during operations. Specifically, the generator diesel stream 118 may be routed to a fuel tank 404 (which may comprise a single tank or a plurality of tanks). The electrical generators 402 of the generator unit 400 may combust the diesel fuel stored in tank 404 to generate electrical power which may be used to operate the mobile refinery 100 (or components thereof) as well as other components and assemblies of system 10 (or even outside of system 10). In some embodiments, the electrical power generated by the generator unit 400 may be used to power (at least partially) additional processing units. For instance, in some embodiments, the electrical power generated by the generator unit 400 may be used to power a water desalination plant (e.g., for seawater).

During startup of the mobile refinery 100, an initial charge or volume of diesel fuel is placed within the fuel tank 404 to initially power the electrical generators 402. Once mobile refinery 100 is operating, the produced sour diesel stream 114 may replenish the fuel within storage tank 404 to maintain the operation of electrical generators 402.

The second output diesel stream 120 may ultimately be routed to the hydrotreater unit 500. In some embodiments, the second output diesel stream 120 may be similar (or even the same, compositionally) as the first output diesel stream 114. In some embodiments, the second output diesel stream 120 may be different than the first output diesel stream 114. For example, the first output diesel stream 114 may contain the 350-450° F. boiling point fraction, and the second output diesel stream 120 may contain the 450-650° F. boiling point fraction.

Thus, the second output diesel stream may also be referred to as a “sour diesel” stream 120. Initially, the second output diesel stream 120 may be routed to the second heater 204 within the heater skid unit 200 so that the temperature of the second output diesel stream 120 may be increased prior to feeding the second output diesel stream 120 to the hydrotreater unit 500. As previously described, in some embodiments, the second heater 204 may combust naphtha that is derived from the naphtha stream 112 (or supplemental fuel routed from the supplemental fuel supply 206). Within the hydrotreater unit 500, the second output diesel stream 120 may be routed through one or more reactors 502 that may remove sulfur and other contaminants to thereby produce a reduced sulfur diesel stream 514 which may be referred to herein as a “sweet diesel” stream 514. The reduced sulfur diesel stream 514 may be output from the mobile refinery 100 as a reduced sulfur (or sweet) diesel product stored in one of the plurality of storage assemblies 20 (FIG. 1). The hydrogen generator unit 600 may provide a hydrogen stream 602 (e.g., such as hydrogen gas) to the hydrotreater unit 500 to facilitate and/or support the operation of the hydrotreater unit 500.

In some embodiments, other streams may be sent to the hydrotreater unit 500 for further processing. For instance, in some embodiments, naphtha (e.g., heavy naphtha), kerosene, gas oil (or atmospheric tower bottoms), all or some of which may be sourced from the residual stream 126, may be provided to the hydrotreater unit 500 to produce additional, products such as, for instance, low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO).

In some embodiments, the hydrogen generator unit 600 may provide about 72,000 standard cubic feet per hour (SCFH) of hydrogen to support the operations of hydrotreater unit 500 and/or the mobile refinery 100 more generally. In some embodiments, the hydrogen generator unit 600 may utilize natural gas (e.g., ethane, methane, etc.) as a feed to produce hydrogen. For instance, in some embodiments, the hydrogen generator unit 600 may utilize form about 1 million to 2.5 million SCFH of natural gas as a feed. In some embodiments, the hydrogen generator unit 600 may utilize water as a feed (e.g., if natural gas is not available or is insufficient as a feed). For instance, in some embodiments, the hydrogen generator unit 600 may utilize about 7,680 gallons of water per day as a feed.

The system 10 may also include a flare (not shown) that may be used to burn off-spec fluids (e.g., during start up, shut down, or normal operation), waste fluids, or to burn off flammable fluids during an emergency (e.g., prompting a shutdown of the system 10 or mobile refinery 100). The flare (not shown) may be incorporated into the mobile refinery 100 or may be a separate unit or system that is fluidly connected to the system 10 (including mobile refinery 100). In some embodiments, the system 10 may include a thermal oxidizer unit (TOU) that is configured to incinerate some or all of the waste products from the mobile refinery 100 (e.g., sour water, off-gas, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic diagram illustrating further details of the ADU 110 is shown according to some embodiments. As previously described, the ADU 110 may receive crude oil from the one or more crude oil sources 12. One crude oil source 12 is depicted in FIG. 3 to simplify the drawings, but it should be appreciated that the ADU 110 may receive crude oil from a plurality of crude oil sources 12 such as is shown in FIG. 1.

Within the ADU 110, the crude oil may initially be routed through a charge pump 128. Indeed, the charge pump 128 may draw the crude oil from the crude oil source(s) 12 into the ADU 110 during operations. The charge pump 128 may output the crude oil into a pre-heater 130 to increase a temperature of the crude oil. The pre-heater 130 may comprise a heat exchanger that transfers heat to the crude oil from another stream within the mobile refinery 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2). For instance, the pre-heater 130 may heat the crude oil using the residual stream 126 during operations. In some embodiments, the pre-heater 130 may include a cross flow heat exchanger (or a plurality of cross flow heat exchangers), a shell-and-tube heat exchanger (or a plurality of shell-and-tube heat exchangers). For instance, in some embodiments, the pre-heater 130 may include a pair of shell-and-tube heat exchangers arranged in series and that employ a counterflow of crude oil and the residual stream 126 therethrough.

After being emitted from the pre-heater 130, a portion of the residual stream 126 may be routed to first heater 202 of the heater skid unit 200, and another portion of the residual stream 126 may be further cooled via a heat exchanger 132 and emitted from the ADU 110 to a storage assembly 133 (e.g., tank, pit, pipe, one of the storage assemblies 20, etc.). The heat exchanger 132 may include a fin fan cooler that is configured to transfer heat from the residual stream 126 to the surrounding atmosphere. The residual fluids stored in the storage assembly 133 may become very viscous if cooled to ambient conditions. Thus, in some embodiments, the storage assembly 133 may include suitable devices or systems (e.g., heater coils, heat exchangers, etc.) to maintain the stored residual above a minimum temperature (e.g., about 250° F.).

In some embodiments, the residual stream 126 (or a portion thereof) may be utilized in additional units or assemblies to make, for example, tar, kerosene, or asphalt. Asphalt that is produced from the residual stream 126 may be used as a building material (e.g., for roads or other driving surfaces). For instance, in some embodiments, the residual stream within storage assembly 133 may be flowed or otherwise provided to an asphalt production plant that may be positioned proximate (or remote) to the mobile refinery 100.

The heated crude oil may exit the pre-heater 130 and flow out of the ADU 110 to the first heater 202 of the heater skid unit 200. In some embodiments, an additional desalter module or system may be included upstream of the first heater 202 (e.g., such as between the pre-heater 130 and first heater 202, or upstream of the pre-heater 130) that is configured to reduce a salt-content of the incoming crude oil. Any suitable desalter module may be used, such as, for instance an electrostatic desalter.

The first heater 202 may combust the residual stream 126 (or a portion thereof) after it exits the pre-heater 130, and the heat of this combustion process may further increase the temperature of the crude oil so as to vaporize at least some of the hydrocarbon constituents or fractions of the crude oil. In some embodiments, the heater 202 may raise the temperature of the crude oil to about 700° F. The heated crude oil may exit the first heater 202 and heater skid unit 200 and flow back to the ADU 110 where it is flowed into a first distillation tower 136. Within the first distillation tower 136, the vaporized (or partially vaporized) crude oil output from the first heater 202 flashes such that vapors rise and liquids fall. The first distillation tower 136 may separate the heated output stream 124 into a first light stream 127 and the residual stream 126.

The residual stream 126 (which also be referred to as an atmospheric tower bottoms (ATB) stream) may include relatively heavy hydrocarbon molecules. In a conventional refinery, an ATB stream may be further processed and refined in order to extract additional products so as to increase the overall value of the crude oil. However, as described herein, the mobile refinery 100 may alternatively utilize the ATB stream (e.g., the residual stream 126) as a fuel to heat the incoming stream 122 of crude oil via the first heater 202 and pre-heater 130. Without being limited to this or any other theory, use of the residual stream 126 to heat additional incoming crude (via incoming stream 122) may further reduce (or eliminate) the reliance on additional external fuel sources (e.g., natural gas), which may be unavailable, insufficient, or unreliable in the remote and/or hostile regions or locations that the mobile refinery 100 may operate in as previously described.

In some embodiments, the first light stream 127 may comprise diesel, naphtha, and other constituents or contaminants (e.g., water, sulfur, etc.). The first distillation tower 136 may output the first light stream 127 at about 500° F. to about 550° F. in some embodiments. The first light stream 127 may be routed to a second distillation tower 138 that is connected in series with the first distillation tower 136. The second distillation tower 138 may separate a diesel stream 139 from a second light stream 141. The diesel stream 139 may be removed from the second distillation tower 138 via a pump 142 and routed through a heat exchanger 144 to cool the diesel stream 139. The heat exchanger 144 may include a fin fan cooler that is configured to transfer heat from the residual stream diesel stream 139 to the surrounding atmosphere. Downstream of the heat exchanger 144, the cooled diesel may be emitted from ADU 110 as the first output diesel stream 114 (which may be further split into the first product diesel stream 116 and the generator diesel fuel stream 118 as previously described). A portion of the diesel stream 139 output from pump 142 may be routed back to the first distillation tower 136 as a reflux stream 135 to condense lighter components of the residual stream 126 and thereby prevent or restrict these lighter components from flowing out of the first distillation tower 136 via the first light stream 127. Another portion of the diesel stream 139 output from pump 142 may be output from the ADU 110 as the second output diesel stream 120, which may then be heated in the second heater 204 of the heater skid unit 200 and then flowed to the hydrotreater unit 500 as previously described (FIG. 2).

The second light stream 141 may include naphtha and water along with other potential contaminants (e.g., sulfur). After being emitted from second distillation tower 138, the second light stream 141 may flow through a heat exchanger 140 to cool the second light stream 141, and the cooled second light stream 141 may then be routed to a separation drum 150. The heat exchanger 140 may include a fin fan cooler that is configured to transfer heat from the second light stream 141 to the surrounding atmosphere. The separation drum 150 may separate water from the naphtha in the second light stream 141 to produce the naphtha stream 112 as previously described.

The water may include sulfur (among other potential contaminants) and thus may be referred to as “sour water.” The sour water may collect within a boot 152 of the separation drum 150, and a pump 156 may draw the collected, sour water from the boot 152 and emit the sour water to a destination 158 (e.g., a flare, tank, further processing system, one of the storage assemblies 20, etc.). In some embodiments, the pump 156 may operate continuously or periodically. For instance, in some embodiments, the pump 156 may operate when the level of collected, sour water within the boot 152 reaches some limit or threshold (e.g., as indicated by a suitable level sensor or the like).

The naphtha stream 112 may be emitted from the separation drum 150 via a pump 154 and output from the ADU 110 as previously described. A portion of the naphtha stream 112 output from the pump 154 may be routed back to the second distillation tower 138 as a reflux stream 113 to condense hot vapors rising within the second distillation tower 138.

A light petroleum (LP) vent stream 160 may also be emitted from the separation drum 150. The LP vent stream 160 may include lighter hydrocarbon gases (e.g., methane and ethane). The LP vent stream 160 may feed one or more pilot flames within the first heater 202 and second heater 204 of the heater skid unit 200. Additionally or alternatively, the LP vent stream 160 (or a portion thereof) may also be routed to a separate location 162, which may include a flare, the atmosphere, one of the storage assemblies 20 (FIG. 1), or some combination thereof.

The above-described embodiment of the ADU 110 may be modified to accommodate different feed stocks and different production rates and capacities. For instance, in some embodiments, some or all of the heat exchangers 130, 132, 140 and/or pumps 128, 134, 142, 154, 156 may include multiple heat exchangers and/or pumps that are arranged in parallel or in series. Specifically, in some embodiments, the heat exchanger 130 may include two heat exchangers arranged in series, and the pumps 128, 134, 142, 154, 156 may each include two pumps arranged in parallel.

In some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may include additional processing units or components to those described above. For instance, in some embodiments, the mobile refinery 100 may include a naphtha reformer to increase an octane value of one or more of the naphtha-containing streams (e.g., streams 112, 126, 127, 141, etc.).

Referring again to FIG. 1, each of the units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 may be transported on vehicles 50, which may include semi-trailer trucks as previously described. In particular, in some embodiments, the units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 may be transported to the crude oil source(s) 12 atop one or more (e.g., a plurality of) trailers 700 that may be pulled or towed by the vehicles 50. In some embodiments (e.g., such as in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1), the ADU 110, heater skid unit 400, hydrotreater unit 500, and hydrogen generator unit 600 may each be transported on a separate trailer 700, while the heater skid unit 200 and blending skid unit 300 may be transported together on a single trailer 700.

Example layouts of some of the units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 on the corresponding trailers 700 are now described according to some embodiments. Without being limited to this or any other theory, each of the example layouts described herein may be configured to substantially balance the weight of the components of the corresponding units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 on the trailers 700 and may be configured to ensure that the components of the corresponding units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 may fit within dimensions that may be required (e.g., via suitable regulation of law) for transportation along a roadway.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, an example layout of the ADU 110 on the corresponding trailer 700 is shown according to some embodiments. Each trailer 700 may include a longitudinal axis 705, a first or front end 700a, and a second or back end 700b opposite front end 700a. A primary deck 702 extends axially from the back end 700a, and a secondary deck 704 extends axially from the front end 700b. The secondary deck 704 may be positioned vertically higher than the primary deck 702. One or more (e.g., a plurality of) wheels 706 are connected to an underside of the primary deck 702. The wheels 706 may engage with the ground and/or a road surface to facilitate pulling or towing of the trailer 700 from place-to-place.

The various components of the ADU 110 may be distributed on the primary deck 702 and the secondary deck 704. For instance, in some embodiments, each of the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 may be arranged axially adjacent one another along the primary deck 702 as a heat exchanger bank or group. Each of the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 may include fin fan heat exchangers that transfer heat to the ambient environment via an airflow generated by an on-board blower or fan 137. In addition, the separation drum 150 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially adjacent the back end 700b. The separation drum 150 may be supported on the primary deck 702, above the pump 156 that is configured to selectively draw the collected sour water from the separation drum 150 (e.g., particularly from boot 152 shown in FIG. 3) as previously described.

The first distillation tower 136 and the second distillation tower 138 may be supported side-by-side on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially between the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 and the separation drum 150. The distillation towers 136, 138 may each extend upward (e.g., normally upward) from the primary deck 702 and may each include a first or lower section 170 and a second or upper section 172. The lower section 170 may be supported on the primary deck 702, and the upper section 172 may be connected to and projected upward from the corresponding lower section 170. During operation of the ADU 110, the upper sections 172 of each of the distillation towers 136, 138 may be connected to and supported by the corresponding lower sections 170. However, the height of the fully assembled distillation towers 136, 138 may be too tall for transportation (e.g., particularly on roadways). Thus, during transportation of the ADU 110 (e.g., such as to and from the crude oil sources 12), the upper sections 172 of the distillation towers 136, 138 may be disconnected from the corresponding lower sections 170 and supported on the secondary deck 704. In some embodiments, the diameter (e.g., outer diameter) of the distillation towers 136, 138 may be about 3 feet (ft), and the height of the distillation towers 136, 138 (including the assembled lower section 170 and upper section 172) may be about 25 ft.

The heat exchanger 130 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially between the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 and the distillation towers 136, 138 along axis 705. The heat exchanger 130 may be supported on the primary deck 702, above the pump 155 which may draw the naphtha stream 112 out of the separation drum 150 as previously described (FIG. 3).

Further, the pumps 128, 142 may be supported side-by-side on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially between the distillation towers 136, 138 and the separation drum 150 along axis 705. As previously described, the pump 128 may draw crude oil from the crude oil source(s) 12 (FIG. 3), and the pump 142 may draw the diesel stream 139 out of the second distillation tower 138 during operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, in some embodiments, the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 may be positioned closer to the back end 700b of trailer 700, and the distillation towers 136, 138, separation drum 150, and heat exchanger 130 may be positioned closer to the front end 700a of trailer 700. Specifically, the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 may be positioned axially between the heat exchanger 130 and the back end 700b, and the distillation towers 136, 138 may be axially positioned between the separation drum 150 and the heat exchanger 130, relative to the axis 705. In addition, as best shown in FIG. 6, the pumps 128, 142, 154, 156 may be positioned underneath the heat exchangers 140, 132, 144 so as to more fully utilize available space on the primary deck 702.

Further, a local control panel 250 may be positioned on the trailer 700 (e.g., on the secondary deck 704). The local control panel 250 may include one or more controllers or control circuits that are configured to control the various components (e.g., pumps, valves, burners, etc.) positioned on the ADU 110. In some embodiments, operation of the ADU 110 may be fully controlled via the local control panel 250. In addition, in some embodiments, the local control panel 250 may be communicatively coupled to other control panels (described in more detail herein) that are positioned on the trailers 700 associated with the other units 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 of the mobile oil refinery 100 so that the local control panel 250 on the ADU 110 may be configured to control operations on some or all of the trailers 700 of the other units 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 of mobile oil refinery 100 during operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, an example layout of the heater skid unit 200 is shown on the corresponding trailer 700 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the first heater 202 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially adjacent to the back end 700b along axis 705. The second heater 204 may also be supported on the primary deck 702 and axially spaced from the first heater 202 such that the second heater 204 is axially positioned between the first heater 202 and the front end 700a of trailer 700.

The first heater 202 and second heater 204 may each include exhaust stack assemblies 208, 210, respectively, which may receive and route exhaust gases therethrough during operations. The exhaust stack assemblies 208, 210 may each be positioned atop the heaters 202, 204, respectively, during operations. However, the height of the exhaust stack assemblies 208, 210 when placed atop the heaters 202, 204, respectively, may be too tall for transportation (e.g., particularly on roadways). Thus, during transportation of the heater skid unit 200 (e.g., such as to and from the crude oil sources 12), the exhaust stack assembly 208 may be disconnected from the first heaters 202 and supported on the secondary deck 704 in a region that is positioned axially between the second heater 204 and the secondary deck 704. In addition, the exhaust stack assembly 210 of the second heater 204 may include a first or lower section 212 connected to the second heater 204 and a second or upper section 214 connected to and extending upward form the lower section 212. The upper section 214 may be hinged to the lower section 212 so that, during transportation of the heater skid unit 200, the upper section 214 may be rotated relative to the lower section 212 to support the upper section 214 on the second heater 204 and reduce an overall height of the exhaust stack assembly 210.

An auxiliary generator 216 and an air compressor 220 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially between the first heater 202 and the second heater 204. The auxiliary generator 216 may be utilized to generate electrical power to operate one or more components of the heater skid unit 200 or other components of the mobile refinery 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2) during start up and/or during an emergency (e.g., when electrical generators 402 of generator unit 400 are not operating). In some embodiments, the auxiliary generator 216 may be configured to generate about 48 KW of electrical power during operation and may include (or be connected to) a fuel tank that is also supported on the corresponding trailer 700. The air compressor 220 may be used to compress and deliver combustion air to one or both of the heaters 202, 204 to support the combustion process occurring therein.

A propane tank 222 may be positioned on the secondary deck 704 and positioned axially adjacent the front end 700a. The propane tank 222 may provide fuel to the pilot lights of the heaters 202, 204 when the LP vent stream 160 from separation drum 150 is not available (e.g., such as at start-up of the mobile refinery 100). In addition, the blending skid 300 may be positioned on the secondary deck 704 and positioned axially between the propane tank 222 and the primary deck 702. In some embodiments, only the pumps 304 of the blending skid 300 are supported on the secondary deck 704, and the other components of blending skid (e.g., mixer 306) may be transported on another trailer 700 or via some other transportation system (FIG. 2).

In some embodiments, a knockout drum (KOD) for the flare (not shown) of system 10 may be transported on the secondary deck 704 of the corresponding trailer 700 for heater skid unit 200. The knockout drum may be used to settle liquids that may be included in the fluids send to the flare, so that they may be collected and sent to suitable offsite storage. In some embodiments, the knockout drum may be positioned on the secondary deck 704 in addition to the blending skid 300 (or pumps 304 of blending skid 300) or may be positioned on the secondary deck 704 in place of the blending skid 300 (or pumps 304 of blending skid 300).

In addition, in some embodiments, the positions of the first heater 202 and second heater 204 may be switched on the corresponding trailer 700. Thus, in some embodiments, the first heater 202 may be positioned between the second heater 204 and the front end 700a of the corresponding trailer 700, and the second heater 204 may be positioned between the first heater 202 and the back end 700b of the corresponding trailer.

Further, as best shown in FIG. 9, a control panel 252 maybe positioned on the trailer 700 (e.g., on the secondary deck 704) for the heater skid unit 200. As was previously described for the control panel 250 on the corresponding trailer 700 of the ADU 110, the control panel 252 of the heater skid unit 200 may be configured to control the operation of the components of the heater skid unit 200 and may also be communicatively coupled to other control panels (described in more detail herein) that are positioned on the trailers 700 associated with the other units 110, 300, 400, 500, 600 of the mobile oil refinery 100 so that the local control panel 252 of the heater skid unit 252 may be configured to control operations on some or all of the trailers 700 of the other units 110, 300, 400, 500, 600 of mobile oil refinery 100 during operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 11, an example layout of the generator unit 400 is shown on the corresponding trailer 700 according to some embodiments. The electrical generators 402 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and axially spaced from one another along the longitudinal axis 705. The storage tank 404, which may contain diesel fuel for operating the electrical generators 402 may be supported on the primary deck 702 and axially positioned between the electrical generators 402 along the longitudinal axis 705. A switchboard assembly 406 may be supported on the secondary deck 704. The switchboard assembly 406 may include a walk-in space that has one or more switches, breakers, sensors, etc. for monitoring and controlling operation of the electrical generators 402 and/or the electrical power produced thereby. Thus, the switchboard assembly 406 may define or include a control panel for the generator unit 400 that is similar to the control panels (e.g., control panels 250, 252) for the other units 110, 200, 500, 600, as described herein. In some embodiments, the switchboard assembly 406 may also be communicatively coupled to other control panels (described in more detail herein) that are positioned on the trailers 700 associated with the other units 110, 200, 300, 500, 600 of the mobile oil refinery 100 so that the switchboard assembly 406 may be configured to control operations on some or all of the trailers 700 of the other units 110, 200, 300, 500, 600 of mobile oil refinery 100 during operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 12 and 13, an example layout of the hydrotreater unit 500 is shown on the corresponding trailer 700 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the hydrotreater unit 500 may include a pair of first heat exchangers 512 supported on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially adjacent the secondary deck 704. In addition, the hydrotreater unit 500 may include a pair of second heat exchangers 510 supported on primary deck 702 and positioned axially adjacent the pair of first heat exchangers 512 so that the pair of first heat exchangers 512 are positioned axially between the pair of second heat exchangers 510 and the secondary deck 704 along longitudinal axis 705. The pair of first heat exchangers 512 may include fin fan heat exchangers that transfer heat to the ambient environment via an airflow generated by an on-board blower or fan 137 as previously described. In some embodiments, the pair of first heat exchangers 512 may be utilized to cool feed effluent streams for the one or more reactors 502 of hydrotreater unit 500. In addition, the pair of second heat exchangers 510 may be utilized to heat or cool feed and effluent streams into and out of, respectively, the hydrotreater unit 500 during operations.

In addition, a plurality of drums or separators 504, 506, 508 are supported on the primary deck 702 and axially spaced along the longitudinal axis 705. In particular, the plurality of drums or separators 504, 506, 508 include a hydrotreater feed surge drum 504, a high-pressure cold separator 506, and a stripper overhead drum 508. The hydrotreater feed surge drum 504 may remove any entrained water or gases in the feed to the hydrotreater unit 500 and may provide surge volume of diesel feed. The high-pressure cold separator 506 may separate the lighted gas molecules (e.g., hydrogen) from liquid reactor effluent that may be output from the one or more reactors 502. The stripper overhead drum 508 may separate water from naphtha or other streams flowing within the hydrotreater unit 500.

The stripper overhead drum 508 may be positioned axially adjacent to the back end 700b of trailer 700, the hydrotreater feed surge drum 504 may be positioned axially between the stripper overhead drum 508 and the secondary deck 704, and the high-pressure cold separator 506 may be axially positioned between the hydrotreater feed surge drum 504 and the stripper overhead drum 508 along the longitudinal axis 705.

One or more first pumps 516 are supported on the primary deck 702 and are positioned axially between the plurality of second heat exchangers 510 and the hydrotreater feed surge drum 504 along the longitudinal axis 705. In addition, one or more second pumps 518 are supported on the primary deck 702 and are positioned axially between the high-pressure cold separator 506 and the stripper overhead drum 508. The one or more first pumps 516 may include diesel stripper reflux pumps and/or naphtha product pumps. The one or more second pumps 518 may include feed charge pumps and/or sweet diesel product pumps for the hydrotreater unit 500.

The hydrotreater reactors 502 and a diesel stripper tower 520 are supported side-by-side on the primary deck 702 and positioned axially between the hydrotreater feed surge drum 504 and the high-pressure cold separator 506 along the longitudinal axis 705. The hydrotreater reactors 502 may each include a fixed bed of catalyst that is configured to induce a hydrogenolysis reaction for the incoming diesel stream 120 (FIGS. 2 and 3). This reaction strips out sulfur from the diesel (e.g., in the form of H₂S) to produce a lower sulfur diesel (or sweet diesel). The diesel stripper tower 520 may strip out light molecules in the diesel product and may allow the product stream of diesel emitted from the hydrotreater unit 500 to have a Flash Point of approximately 125° F. in some embodiments. The light molecules (e.g., Off-Gas and naphtha) may be stripped out of the diesel via a reflux stream of naphtha within the diesel stripper tower 520, and the stripped naphtha may be combined with the naphtha stream 112 previously described (FIG. 2).

The hydrotreater reactors 502 and the diesel stripper tower 520 may each extend upward (e.g., normally upward) from the primary deck 702 and may each include a first or lower section 501 and a second or upper section 503. The lower section 501 may be supported on the primary deck 702, and the upper section 503 may be connected to and projected upward from the corresponding lower section 501. During operation of the hydrotreater unit 500, the upper sections 503 of each of the hydrotreater reactors 502 and the diesel stripper tower 520 may be connected to and supported by the corresponding lower sections 501. However, the height of the fully assembled hydrotreater reactors 502 and the diesel stripper tower 520 may be too tall for transportation (e.g., particularly on roadways). Thus, during transportation of the hydrotreater unit 500 (e.g., such as to and from the crude oil sources 12), the upper sections 503 of the hydrotreater reactors 502 and the diesel stripper tower 520 may be disconnected from the corresponding lower sections 501 and supported on the secondary deck 704.

Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 15, in some embodiments, the first pair of heat exchangers 512 may be positioned closer to the back end 700b of the trailer 700, and the plurality of drums or separators 504, 506, 508, the hydrotreater reactors 502, the diesel stripper tower 520, and the plurality of second heat exchangers 510 may be positioned closer to the front end 700a of the trailer 700. In addition, the pumps 516, 518 may be positioned under the first pair of heat exchangers 512 so as to more fully utilize available space on the primary deck 702.

Further, a local control panel 254 may be positioned on the trailer 700 (e.g., on the secondary deck 704). The local control panel 254 may include one or more controllers or control circuits that are configured to control the various components (e.g., pumps, valves, burners, etc.) positioned on the hydrotreater unit 500. In some embodiments, operation of the hydrotreater unit 500 may be fully controlled via the local control panel 254. In addition, in some embodiments, the local control panel 254 may be communicatively coupled to other control panels (described in more detail herein) that are positioned on the trailers 700 associated with the other units 110, 200, 300, 400, 600 of the mobile oil refinery 100 so that the local control panel 254 on the hydrotreater unit 500 may be configured to control operations on some or all of the trailers 700 of the other units 110, 200, 300, 400, 600 of mobile oil refinery 100 during operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 16, an example layout of the hydrogen generator unit 600 is shown on the corresponding trailer 700 according to some embodiments. The hydrogen generator unit 600 includes a hydrogen generator assembly 604 that is configured to generate the stream of hydrogen 602 during operations. In addition, the hydrogen generator unit 600 includes a hydrogen generator cooler 608 that is configured to cool one or more streams fed to, circulated within, or emitted from the hydrogen generator assembly 604. Further, the hydrogen generator assembly 600 includes a hydrogen compressor 608 that is to compress hydrogen produced by the hydrogen generator assembly 600, and a hydrogen compressor cooler 610 that is to cool the hydrogen compressed by the hydrogen compressor 608.

The hydrogen generator assembly 604 is supported on the primary deck 702 and extends from the back end 700b of the trailer 700. The hydrogen generator cooler 606 is supported on the primary deck 702 and is positioned between the hydrogen generator assembly 604 and the secondary deck 704. In addition, the hydrogen compressor 608 and hydrogen compressor cooler 610 are both supported on the secondary deck 704.

In addition, a local control panel 256 may be positioned on the trailer 700 (e.g., on the secondary deck 704). The local control panel 256 may include one or more controllers or control circuits that are configured to control the various components (e.g., pumps, valves, burners, etc.) positioned on the hydrogen generator unit 600. In some embodiments, operation of the hydrogen generator unit 600 may be fully controlled via the local control panel 256. In addition, in some embodiments, the local control panel 256 may be communicatively coupled to other control panels (described in more detail herein) that are positioned on the trailers 700 associated with the other units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500 of the mobile oil refinery 100 so that the local control panel 256 on the hydrogen generator unit 600 may be configured to control operations on some or all of the trailers 700 of the other units 110, 200, 300, 400, 500 of mobile oil refinery 100 during operations.

Referring now to FIG. 17, a method 800 of refining crude oil provided from a crude oil source with a mobile refinery is shown according to some embodiments. The method 800 may be performed using embodiments of the mobile refinery 100 described herein (FIGS. 1-16). Thus, in describing the steps of method 800, continuing reference will be made to FIGS. 1-16. However, it should be appreciated that method 800 may be performed using a mobile refinery 800 that may be different from one or more embodiments of the mobile refinery 100 previously described herein.

Initially, method 800 includes separating crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream by use of an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) of a plurality of processing units of the mobile refinery at block 802. The ADU may be supported on a first trailer of a plurality of trailers of the mobile refinery. For instance, as previously described for the trailer-supported ADU 110 of mobile refinery 100 (FIGS. 1 and 2), a first distillation tower 136 may separate the crude oil into a first light stream 127 and a residual stream 126.

In addition, method 800 includes heating the crude oil in a heater of a hearer skid unit of the plurality of processing units at block 804. The heater skid unit may be supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers. Also, method 200 includes combusting at least a portion of the residual stream in the heater to heat the crude oil at block 806. For instance, as previously described for the mobile refinery 100, the heater skid unit 200 may be carried on a separate trailer from the ADU 110, and may include a first heater 202 that is configured to combust at least a portion of the residual stream 126 output from the first distillation tower 136 to heat incoming crude oil before routing the heated crude oil (via output stream 124) to the first distillation tower 136.

Further, method 800 includes producing at least one fuel stream from the light stream by use of the mobile refinery at block 808. For instance, as previously described for the mobile refinery 100, the light stream 127 output from the first distillation tower 136 may be subjected to further separation in ADU 110 and potentially further processing in others of the processing units (e.g., hydrotreater 600, blending skid 300, etc.) to produce one or more hydrocarbon products, such as, for instance, fuel stream(s) (e.g., sour diesel stream 116, sweet diesel stream 514, gasoline streams output from blending skid 300, etc.

The embodiments disclosed herein include mobile hydrocarbon refineries that are transportable directly to a hydrocarbon production or storage site and that may perform one or more refining processes on the hydrocarbons to locally produce commercially useful products. Thus, through use of the embodiments disclosed herein, a hydrocarbon resource that is positioned in a remote, impoverished, dangerous, or otherwise problematic location may be more readily refined into one or more products that may be used for industrial purposes.

EXAMPLES

Various examples are described below to illustrate selected aspects of the various embodiments of system 10 and mobile refinery 100, including systems and methods of using embodiments of system 10 and mobile refinery 100.

In an example, the mobile oil refinery system utilizes a source of crude, hydrogen, and electricity to produce diesel. About 72,000 standard cubic feet (scf) of hydrogen may be required daily to meet the 800 barrels per day (BPD) of diesel per day production requirement. For this example, about 1 million to 2.5 million scf per hour of natural gas may be required daily to produce the necessary hydrogen using the hydrogen generator if a source of hydrogen is not available. About 7,680 gallons of water may be required daily to produce the necessary hydrogen using the electrolysis hydrogen generator if a source of hydrogen and a source of natural gas is not available. Approximately 72 gallons of Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) may be required to increase the oxygen level in the naphtha produced into a useful gasoline product. MTBE increases octane and oxygen levels in gasoline and reduces pollution emissions. It is used routinely throughout the Middle East by refiners and is easily accessible. In an example, natural gas is consumed by the mobile oil refinery.

In some examples, an embodiment of mobile refinery 100 may be configured to produce 800 BPD of diesel fuel. In these examples, the mobile refinery may be mounted on three (3) 40-foot flatbed trailers for each set (6 trailers total) which can be moved easily with common truck tractors. This, according to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may be a hybrid refinery that utilizes the functionality of continuous and batch units. With this functionality, fuel can be produced and loaded directly into tanker trucks (batch operation) or switched to continuous 24 hours per day operation whereby fuel is continuously produced and loaded into tanks or storage bladders at the site.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may include one (1) 800 barrel per day (BPD) Atmospheric Distillation Unit (ADU) trailer that includes an Atmospheric Distillation Unit (ADU). The ADU may separate most of the lighter end products such as gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil from crude oil. The pre-heated crude feed is charged into the atmospheric tower where it may be separated into off-gas, light straight-run naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, and heavy fuel oil bottoms. This tower contains fractionation trays, random packing, or structured packing and is equipped with a top pumparound and two side draws (for naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil products) if so designed.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may also include a naphtha stabilizer unit. The naphtha stabilizer receives the light straight-run naphtha from the ADU and separates remaining light products (pentane and lighter) from the naphtha creating a reduced vapor pressure naphtha suitable for atmospheric tank storage. The off-gas may be used as fuel gas or diverted to an emission control device.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery may also include a uniflux crude oil heater. Crude oil heating is an excellent application of the uniflux heater because of the convective heat transfer design. The uniform flux density around the process coil allows for even heating of the crude oil thus reducing coking of the process tubes. This efficient solution can run on multiple fuel sources and will enable the refinery to utilize some of the hydrocarbon components not required for gasoline and/or diesel.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may also include a programmable automation control (PAC) system. The PAC system may be a high-performance automation controller and I/O subsystem integrated with various operating systems (e.g., Windows® based software). The process modules and I/O system form the basis of a complete distributed control and recording environment capable of continuous analog, logic, and sequential control combined with secure data recording at the point of measurement; all designed to maximize system integrity. The PAC system is simple to use, and is engineered with some of the most advanced, yet proven technologies available. Among its many capabilities, it offers stunning visualization and seamless integration between the hardware and software, alongside the Visual intelligent local display and control. In addition, the PAC System may be an integral component of an expandable and flexible control system. This allows for new possibilities of open integration and efficiency that spans production operations and business.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may also include a power generation and miscellaneous equipment trailer. For instance, the refinery may include two 1.2 Megawatt generators which are mounted on the primary trailers with the ADUs. These generators may operate on natural gas if it is available or Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) produced from the refinery after the Hydrogen Generator and Hydrotreater are installed. The refinery may produce enough additional diesel to fuel the generators. The generators may also be able to operate on high Sulphur diesel.

According to these examples, the mobile refinery 100 may also include a blending skid. The Blending Skid may be a self-contained, safe, and efficient solution for fuel blending of multiple products. The blended fuel is derived through a predetermined recipe which is entered into a digitally controlled PLC or Programmable Logic Controller. The light naphtha produced in the refining process is also referred to as “straight-run gasoline” and can easily be made into usable gasoline with the addition of Ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) or Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), and in some cases on its own. ETBE and MTBE may be used as an oxygenate gasoline additive in the production of gasoline from crude oil to raise the octane level of the gasoline production to a usable level.

In some examples, the mobile refinery 100 may be configured to produce about 800 BPD of diesel fuel. The mobile refinery 100 may produce 33,600 gallons per day (800 barrels) of diesel. If 44,000 SCFH (1,056,000 scf per hour) of natural gas is available for the bi-fuel power generators, there may be excess daily diesel available. If not, the power generators units may operate with diesel. When using diesel, the power generators may require 7,200 gallons per day which will be subtracted from the daily output of the mobile refinery.

$\mathrm{Daily}\mathrm{Diesel}\mathrm{Production}-\mathrm{Daily}\mathrm{Power}\mathrm{Generation}\mathrm{Diesel}\mathrm{Requirement}=\mathrm{Daily}\mathrm{product}\mathrm{available}$ $44,000-7,200=36,800>33,600$

The mobile refinery 100 may be adjusted to produce different volumes of the products by adjusting the PAC. The production estimates may be based on settings that maximize the diesel output. The size of the mobile refinery 100 may be scaled to meet desired quantities and may be adjusted for various crudes, including those with high Sulphur content.

In some examples, the mobile refinery 100 may include four (4) additional trailers; two electrolysis hydrogen generator trailers and two hydrotreater trailers. Each electrolysis hydrogen generator unit may have about a 275 BPD production rate (about 550 BPD total) to ensure that the 800 BPD diesel requirement is met after supporting power generation requirements. The electrolysis hydrogen generator at least partially relies on water and electricity. For instance, the electrolysis hydrogen generator may utilize about 7,680 gallons per day of water and the power generation is 2.4MW in some embodiments.

A hydrogen generator may use a proton exchange membrane (PEM) to produce high purity hydrogen gas from water. The hydrogen generator may utilize up to about 300 gallons of water per day to generate sufficient volumes of hydrogen for producing the specified volumes of diesel. The water does not have to be processed as long as it is relatively free from particulate matter.

The hydrotreating trailers may remove chemically bound sulfur compounds from hydrocarbons. There are many reasons for removing the sulfur compounds, including reducing SO₂ emissions and meeting sulfur limits in kerosene and diesel. The trailers may be highly durable and can be moved with standard tractors. The trailers can also be configured with stabilizing/leveling legs to allow for operations on minor grades and elevations. The trailer mounted equipment includes fittings and piping to connect them for operational purposes without much effort or time. This modular refinery system is built for an agile operation anywhere.

In some examples, one or more of the trailers of the mobile refinery 100 may include the following components (where they apply):

• • Pressure Vessels;
  • Main Pumps and Spare Pumps;
  • Air Coolers·Heat Exchangers;
  • Process heaters with Emission Controls;
  • On-skid piping control valves, manual gate, globe, ball, and check valves;
  • Insulation and aluminum jacketing for piping, vessels, and exchangers as needed;
  • Skid-mounted equipment on heavy-duty steel frames with grating in high traffic areas;
  • Carbon steel equipment and piping will be sand-blasted and painted;
  • Instrumentation installed and wired to a skid-mounted junction box; and
  • Electrical equipment installed and wired to a skid-mounted Motor Control Enclosures.

As explained above and reiterated below, the present disclosure includes, without limitation, the following example implementations.

Example 1: A mobile refinery comprising: a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle; and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into one or more hydrocarbon products, wherein the plurality of processing units includes: an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers, the ADU including a distillation tower configured to separate the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream; and a heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers, the heater skid unit including a heater in fluid communication with the crude oil source and the distillation tower so that the heater is configured to combust at least a portion of the residual stream to heat the crude oil and to output the crude oil to the distillation tower.

Example 2: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the distillation tower comprises a first distillation tower and the light stream comprises a first light stream, and wherein the ADU also includes a second distillation tower in fluid communication with the first distillation tower so that the second distillation tower is configured to separate the first light stream into a diesel stream and a second light stream.

Example 3: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the plurality of processing units further includes a hydrotreater unit that is supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers.

Example 4: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein at least a portion of the residual stream is provided to the hydrotreater unit to produce a low sulfur fuel oil.

Example 5: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the heater skid unit includes a second heater in fluid communication with the second distillation tower and the hydrotreater unit so that the second heater is configured to heat at least a portion of the diesel stream and to output the diesel stream to the hydrotreater unit.

Example 6: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the ADU further includes a separation drum in fluid communication with the second distillation tower so that the separation drum is configured to separate a naphtha stream from the second light stream.

Example 7: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the second heater is in fluid communication with the separation drum so that the second heater is configured to combust at least a portion of the naphtha stream to heat the diesel stream.

Example 8: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the plurality of processing units further comprises a generator unit supported on a fourth trailer of the plurality of trailers, wherein the generator unit includes an electrical generator and a fuel tank, and wherein the fuel tank is in fluid communication with the second distillation tower so that the second distillation tower is configured to output at least a portion of the diesel stream to the fuel tank.

Example 9: A method of refining crude oil provided from a crude oil source with a mobile refinery, the mobile refinery including a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers, the method comprising: (a) separating the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream by use of an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) of the plurality of processing units, the ADU being supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers; (b) heating the crude oil in a heater of a heater skid unit of the plurality of processing units before (a), the heater skid unit being supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers; (c) combusting at least a portion of the residual stream in the heater to heat the crude oil during (b); and (d) producing at least one fuel stream from the light stream by use of the mobile refinery.

Example 10: The method of any of the Examples, wherein the light stream comprises a first light stream, and wherein (d) comprises separating the light stream into a diesel stream and a second light stream by use of the ADU.

Example 11: The method of any of the Examples, further comprising: (e) routing at least a portion of the diesel stream to a hydrotreater unit of the plurality of processing units, the hydrotreater unit being supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers.

Example 12: The method of any of the Examples, wherein the heater comprises a first heater, and further comprising: (f) heating the diesel stream in a second heater of the heater skid unit before (e); and (g) combusting at least a portion of the second light stream in the second heater during (f).

Example 13: The method of any of the Examples, wherein (g) comprises: (g1) separating a naphtha stream from the second light stream; and (g2) combusting at least a portion of the naphtha stream in the second heater.

Example 14: The method of any of the Examples, further comprising: (h) combusting at least a portion of the diesel stream to generate electrical power with a generator unit of the plurality of processing units, the generator unit being supported on a fourth trailer of the plurality of trailers.

Example 15: A mobile refinery comprising: a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle; and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into a product diesel stream, wherein the plurality of processing units includes: an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers, the ADU configured to separate the crude oil into a sour diesel stream and a naphtha stream; and a heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers, the heater skid unit configured to combust at least a portion of the naphtha stream to heat the sour diesel stream; and a hydrotreater unit supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers, the hydrotreater unit being in fluid communication with the heater skid unit and configured to remove sulfur from the sour diesel stream and produce the product diesel stream.

Example 16: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the ADU comprises a plurality of distillation towers that are connected in series and that are configured to separate the crude oil into a first light stream and a residual stream and to separate the first light stream into a second light stream and the sour diesel stream.

Example 17: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the ADU comprises a separation drum that is configured to separate the naphtha stream from the second light stream.

Example 18: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein each of the plurality of distillation towers includes an upper section and a lower section, the upper section being removable from the lower section to reduce a height of ADU for travel via the first trailer.

Example 19: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the heater skid unit is configured to heat the crude oil upstream of the ADU.

Example 20: The mobile refinery of any of the Examples, wherein the heater skid unit is configured to combust a stream separated from the crude oil via the ADU to heat the crude oil.

The preceding discussion is directed to various exemplary embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the examples disclosed herein have broad application, and that the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to suggest that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.

The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features and components herein may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in interest of clarity and conciseness.

In the discussion herein and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . ” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection of the two devices, or through an indirect connection that is established via other devices, components, nodes, and connections. In addition, as used herein, the terms “axial” and “axially” generally mean along or parallel to a given axis (e.g., central axis of a body or a port), while the terms “radial” and “radially” generally mean perpendicular to the given axis. For instance, an axial distance refers to a distance measured along or parallel to the axis, and a radial distance means a distance measured perpendicular to the axis. Further, when used herein (including in the claims), the words “about,” “generally,” “substantially,” “approximately,” and the like, when used in reference to a stated value mean within a range of plus or minus 10% of the stated value.

When ranges are disclosed herein, ranges from any lower limit may be combined with any upper limit to recite a range not explicitly recited, as well as, ranges from any lower limit may be combined with any other lower limit to recite a range not explicitly recited, in the same way, ranges from any upper limit may be combined with any other upper limit to recite a range not explicitly recited. Additionally, reference to values stated in ranges includes each and every value within that range, even though not explicitly recited. Thus, every point or individual value may serve as its own lower or upper limit combined with any other point or individual value or any other lower or upper limit, to recite a range not explicitly recited.

While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or teachings herein. The embodiments described herein are exemplary only and are not limiting. Many variations and modifications of the systems, apparatus, and processes described herein are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of protection is not limited to the embodiments described herein, but is only limited by the claims that follow, the scope of which shall include all equivalents of the subject matter of the claims. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the steps in a method claim may be performed in any order. The recitation of identifiers such as (a), (b), (c) or (1), (2), (3) before steps in a method claim are not intended to and do not specify a particular order to the steps, but rather are used to simplify subsequent reference to such steps.

Claims

1. A mobile refinery comprising: a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle; anda plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into one or more hydrocarbon products, wherein the plurality of processing units includes: an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers, the ADU including a distillation tower configured to separate the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream; anda heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers, the heater skid unit including a heater in fluid communication with the crude oil source and the distillation tower so that the heater is configured to combust at least a portion of the residual stream to heat the crude oil and to output the crude oil to the distillation tower.

2. The mobile refinery of claim 1, wherein the distillation tower comprises a first distillation tower and the light stream comprises a first light stream, and wherein the ADU also includes a second distillation tower in fluid communication with the first distillation tower so that the second distillation tower is configured to separate the first light stream into a diesel stream and a second light stream.

3. The mobile refinery of claim 2, wherein the plurality of processing units further includes a hydrotreater unit that is supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers.

4. The mobile refinery of claim 3, wherein at least a portion of the residual stream is provided to the hydrotreater unit to produce a low sulfur fuel oil.

5. The mobile refinery of claim 3, wherein the heater skid unit includes a second heater in fluid communication with the second distillation tower and the hydrotreater unit so that the second heater is configured to heat at least a portion of the diesel stream and to output the diesel stream to the hydrotreater unit.

6. The mobile refinery of claim 5, wherein the ADU further includes a separation drum in fluid communication with the second distillation tower so that the separation drum is configured to separate a naphtha stream from the second light stream.

7. The mobile refinery of claim 6, wherein the second heater is in fluid communication with the separation drum so that the second heater is configured to combust at least a portion of the naphtha stream to heat the diesel stream.

8. The mobile refinery of claim 7, wherein the plurality of processing units further comprises a generator unit supported on a fourth trailer of the plurality of trailers, wherein the generator unit includes an electrical generator and a fuel tank, and wherein the fuel tank is in fluid communication with the second distillation tower so that the second distillation tower is configured to output at least a portion of the diesel stream to the fuel tank.

9. A method of refining crude oil provided from a crude oil source with a mobile refinery, the mobile refinery including a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle and a plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers, the method comprising: (a) separating the crude oil into a light stream and a residual stream by use of an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) of the plurality of processing units, the ADU being supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers;(b) heating the crude oil in a heater of a heater skid unit of the plurality of processing units before (a), the heater skid unit being supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers;(c) combusting at least a portion of the residual stream in the heater to heat the crude oil during (b); and(d) producing at least one fuel stream from the light stream by use of the mobile refinery.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the light stream comprises a first light stream, and wherein (d) comprises separating the light stream into a diesel stream and a second light stream by use of the ADU.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: (e) routing at least a portion of the diesel stream to a hydrotreater unit of the plurality of processing units, the hydrotreater unit being supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the heater comprises a first heater, and further comprising: (f) heating the diesel stream in a second heater of the heater skid unit before (e); and(g) combusting at least a portion of the second light stream in the second heater during (f).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein (g) comprises: (g1) separating a naphtha stream from the second light stream; and(g2) combusting at least a portion of the naphtha stream in the second heater.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: (h) combusting at least a portion of the diesel stream to generate electrical power with a generator unit of the plurality of processing units, the generator unit being supported on a fourth trailer of the plurality of trailers.

15. A mobile refinery comprising: a plurality of trailers that are each configured to be towed by a vehicle; anda plurality of processing units supported on the plurality of trailers that are configured to refine crude oil from a crude oil source into a product diesel stream, wherein the plurality of processing units includes: an atmospheric distillation unit (ADU) supported on a first trailer of the plurality of trailers, the ADU configured to separate the crude oil into a sour diesel stream and a naphtha stream; anda heater skid unit supported on a second trailer of the plurality of trailers, the heater skid unit configured to combust at least a portion of the naphtha stream to heat the sour diesel stream; anda hydrotreater unit supported on a third trailer of the plurality of trailers, the hydrotreater unit being in fluid communication with the heater skid unit and configured to remove sulfur from the sour diesel stream and produce the product diesel stream.

16. The mobile refinery of claim 15, wherein the ADU comprises a plurality of distillation towers that are connected in series and that are configured to separate the crude oil into a first light stream and a residual stream and to separate the first light stream into a second light stream and the sour diesel stream.

17. The mobile refinery of claim 16, wherein the ADU comprises a separation drum that is configured to separate the naphtha stream from the second light stream.

18. The mobile refinery of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of distillation towers includes an upper section and a lower section, the upper section being removable from the lower section to reduce a height of ADU for travel via the first trailer.

19. The mobile refinery of claim 15, wherein the heater skid unit is configured to heat the crude oil upstream of the ADU.

20. The mobile refinery of claim 19, wherein the heater skid unit is configured to combust a stream separated from the crude oil via the ADU to heat the crude oil.