Patent Application
20250051653
This application claims the benefit of and priority to India patent application No. 202311052091 filed Aug. 2, 2023, the contents of which being incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
The present disclosure relates to the transportation of Naphtha and Crude Oil in batches. More particularly, the present disclosure discloses a system and a method for the simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline.
Naphtha is a hydrocarbon compound obtained in petroleum refineries as one of the intermediate products from the distillation of crude oil. The overhead liquid distillate from that unit is called virgin or straight-run naphtha and that distillate is the largest source of naphtha in most petroleum refineries.
Naphtha is obtained as a liquid intermediate between the light gases in crude oil and the heavier liquid kerosene. Naphtha normally refers to several different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum or coal tar boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. Naphtha is volatile, flammable, and has a specific gravity of about 0.7 The generic name ‘naphtha’ describes a range of different refinery intermediate products used in different applications. Full-range naphtha is defined as the fraction of hydrocarbons in petroleum boiling between 30° C. and 200° C. It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbon molecules generally having between 5 and 12 carbon atoms. It typically constitutes 15-30% of crude oil, by weight. Light naphtha is the fraction boiling between 30° C. and 90° C. and consists of molecules with 5-6 carbon atoms. Heavy naphtha boils between 90° C. and 200° C. and consists of molecules with 6-12 carbons.
Naphtha is used primarily as feedstock for producing high-octane gasoline blend stock (via the catalytic reforming process, and isomerisation process), also for the production of Hydrogen in refinery and fertiliser industry by steam reforming process. It is also used as a feed to the petrochemical industry for producing various olefins in steam crackers. Heavy naphtha material catalytically reformed into aromatic compounds such as Benzene, Toluene, and Xylene, and these are having a variety of industrial applications such as Polymers. Elastomers, Rubbers, Pharmaceuticals, and other industrial applications.
Due to increased demand for petrochemicals, refiners are getting more profits by converting the Naphtha to petrochemicals such as polyolefins (polyethylene and polypropylene) and aromatic solvents. In general, petroleum refineries and petrochemical complexes are situated nearby locations, and transferring or shipment of Naphtha between two locations is possible with ease. Due to increased demand for petrochemicals, the refiners are buying additional naphtha from the international market. In such cases, transferring Naphtha is a challenge from source to petrochemical production units, and it is more difficult for land-locked petrochemical complexes.
The transportation of naphtha and more generally the transportation of refined petroleum products takes place in pipelines known as “white product pipelines”. The same pipeline is used for the transportation of different refined products which are injected sequentially, therein batch-wise. A mixing region is formed at each interface between different batches, on arrival the contaminated product is known as “contaminate’ which, in principle, has to be reprocessed before it is used. This contaminate represents on average 5 to 10% of the total batch conveyed in the pipeline. Thus, to reduce the volumes of contaminates or to minimize the reprocessing thereof, it is suggested to use a large batch of Naphtha before and after followed by condensate or lighter crude oil. Previous, inventors have tried this simultaneous transfer of Naphtha and crude oil in between the batches of condensates (light crude oil) hydrocarbons have been partially successful. On arrival at the destination points the condensate hydrocarbon interfaces have been identified and a clean batch of Naphtha and crude oil are separated. The condensate hydrocarbon is likely to get contaminated with impurities, these contaminated batches are redistilled for their pure fraction and used for further application. However, this mentioned procedure is successful in straight-line pipelines for a shorter distance of few kilometres. In practical case scenarios, the cross-country pipelines have to transfer the products for more than thousands of kilometres, which undergoes several vertical slopes, which causes the stratification of different hydrocarbons due to differences in density and finally complete mixing of hydrocarbons takes place due to the complete miscible layers. The quality of the naphtha should also be monitored for its use at the destination location. The impurities such as sediment water and iron dust particles generated due to internal corrosion of the pipeline over a period. The inherent roughness of pipe inner wall also has traces of crude oil stuck into the roughness (pores) and is very difficult to remove completely. All these can pose serious problems and contaminate naphtha, which is not viable for use of the naphtha for feeding to steam cracker. To avoid such scenarios, one must design the process to avoid the intermixing of hydrocarbon layers and contamination of naphtha.
Transfer of a large amount of Naphtha through tankers is not economically viable, pipeline transfer is generally accepted due to it being easy to maintain and also highly economical. As mentioned the transportation of naphtha and more generally the transportation of refined petroleum products takes place in pipelines known as “white product pipelines”. Because of necessity, sometimes it is recommended to pump or transfer the Naphtha through crude oil pipelines, generally crude oil pipeline is designed to carry high-capacity throughput. The same pipeline can be used for the transportation of different products which are injected sequentially therein batchwise. A mixing region is formed at each interface between two different batches, on arrival at the destination the contaminated product is known as “contaminate’ which, in principle, has to be reprocessed before it is used. These contaminate represents on average 5 to 10% of the total batch conveyed in the pipeline. However, this idea is proposed in the literature reports (U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,591 B1), practicing the simultaneous transfer of Naphtha and crude oils in a pipeline is a challenge, due to inherent problems associated such as mixing of miscible layers (batches) of both the hydrocarbons. The problem would aggravate when transferring the material to long destinations due to vertical slope elevations generally encountered during the long-distance terrain transfer pipelines.
Pigging is a crucial process in crude oil pipelines for various reasons, every crude oil pipeline maintenance team conducts the pigging activity to meet its compliance requirement, the Pigging activity provides the following benefits: Maintaining pipeline integrity, ensuring pipeline safety, maximizing pipeline efficiency, reducing operating costs, and improves the product quality. While pigging operation the material sticked to inner walls of the pipes also get removed/scrapped off, thus providing the cleaning operations.
In view of the foregoing discussion, it is portrayed that there is a need to have a system and method for the simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline.
The present disclosure seeks to provide a system and method for the simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline. The simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha streams have been carried out by following the crude blend a light crude oil batch (replicating condensate) and it is followed by the naphtha batch, which is sent in between the batches of water zones in front end and tail end of the naphtha. Also, different types of pigs, specially designed to clean the asphaltenes, resins and other sticky wax components of crude oil from the inner walls of the pipelines. The brush type Bi-Di (Bi-directional) design pigs provide better cleaning of the asphaltenes, resins & wax from the inner surface of the pipelines. These specially designed pigs would also act as a physical separating unit or minimises the interlayer mixing of various hydrocarbons between the batches of crude blend, light crude oil and naphtha to a maximum possible extent. Thereby crude oil and naphtha streams can be transferred from one location to another location at much lower transportation costs using existing crude oil pipelines without much contamination to naphtha. This transferred naphtha meets the quality specifications to feed the steam cracker for petrochemical production.
In an embodiment, a system for the simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline is disclosed. The system includes a brush-type Bi-Di (Bi-directional) pig incorporated inside a cross-country crude oil pipeline followed by a blended crude oil batch configured for mechanically scraping the inner walls/circumference of the pipeline, wherein a batch of light crude oil medium with API gravity API>36-40, particularly API>39, is transported to dissolve adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules.
The system further includes a magnetic Bi-Di pig incorporated inside the cross-country crude oil pipeline to scrap adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules upon maintaining close contact with a pipeline inner shell.
The system further includes a batch of naphtha between batches of two water zones to prevent contamination.
The system further includes a roller cup-type Bi-Di pig at the front end of the batch of naphtha and water zone implemented to separate the naphtha and water.
The system further includes a CDU column configured to process a contaminated medium in a refinery to separate pure streams.
The system further includes a plurality of crude oil tanks, slop tanks, and naphtha tanks deployed at a receiving end for receiving and collecting blended crude oil, light crude oil, water, and naphtha, separated based on continuous monitoring of physical parameters and density meter readings.
The system further includes a refinery desalter unit to remove water medium and downstream CDU operations for stream separation upon receiving crude oil along with interface mediums of light crude oils.
The system further includes a steam cracker operation unit configured for downstream production of olefins and polyolefins upon receiving transferred clean naphtha batch.
In another embodiment, a method for simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline is disclosed. The method includes incorporating a brush-type Bi-Di (Bi-directional) pig inside a cross-country crude oil pipeline followed by a blended crude oil batch for mechanically scraping the inner walls/circumference of the pipeline.
The method further includes pumping a batch of light crude oil with specific API gravity for dissolving adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules followed by a first batch of water.
The method further includes scrapping adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules upon maintaining close contact with a pipeline inner shell by deploying a magnetic Bi-Di pig.
The method further includes pumping a batch of naphtha followed by a second batch of water at a tail end to prevent contamination during transfer.
The method further includes separating the naphtha and water by employing a roller cup-type Bi-Di pig at the front end of the batch of naphtha and water zone.
The method further includes processing contaminated medium in a refinery using a CDU column for pure stream separation.
The method further includes receiving blended crude oil, light crude oil, water, and naphtha at a receiving end thereby collecting in crude oil tanks, slop tanks for the interface, and naphtha tanks, separated based on continuous monitoring of physical parameters and density meter readings.
The method further includes sending crude oil along with interface mediums of light crude oils to a refinery desalter unit for water medium removal and downstream operations.
The method further includes directing transferred clean naphtha batch to steam cracker operation for downstream production of olefins and polyolefins.
An object of the present disclosure is to develop a method for the simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha streams using crude oil pipelines which are generally used only for crude oil pumping.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to deliver an expeditious and cost-effective system of transferring naphtha through crude oil pipelines, which are more suitable for transferring the large capacity of products without much contamination with foreign particles.
To further clarify the advantages and features of the present disclosure, a more particular description of the disclosure will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail in the accompanying drawings.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood when the following detailed description is read concerning the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
Further, skilled artisans will appreciate those elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present disclosure. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
To promote an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the disclosure and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
Reference throughout this specification to “an aspect”, “another aspect” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components proceeded by “comprises . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems or other elements or other structures or other components or additional devices or additional sub-systems or additional elements or additional structures or additional components.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail concerning the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
In an embodiment, a magnetic Bi-Di pig (104) is incorporated inside the cross-country crude oil pipeline to scrap adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules upon maintaining close contact with a pipeline inner shell.
In an embodiment, a batch of naphtha between batches of two water zones is used to prevent contamination.
In an embodiment, a roller cup-type Bi-Di pig (106) at the front end of the batch of naphtha and water zone is implemented to separate the naphtha and water.
In an embodiment, a CDU column (108) is configured to process a contaminated medium in a refinery to separate pure streams.
In an embodiment, a plurality of crude oil tanks (110), slop tanks (112), and naphtha tanks (114) deployed at a receiving end for receiving and collecting blended crude oil, light crude oil, water, and naphtha, separated based on continuous monitoring of physical parameters and density meter readings.
In an embodiment, a refinery desalter unit (116) is used to remove water medium and downstream CDU operations for stream separation upon receiving crude oil along with interface mediums of light crude oils.
In an embodiment, a steam cracker operation unit (118) is configured for downstream production of olefins and polyolefins upon receiving transferred clean naphtha batch.
In another embodiment, the cross-country crude oil pipeline is configured for transporting crude oil and naphtha upon pumping the batch of blended crude oil, the batch of light crude oil followed by a first batch of water, and the batch of naphtha followed by a second batch of water at a tail end.
Yet, in another embodiment, the water zones between batches of lighter crude oil and naphtha are incorporated to prevent mixing and ensure the quality of the transported naphtha meets the feed parameters of downstream processes.
In one embodiment, the brush-type Bi-Di (Bi-directional) pig (102) is deployed at a front, the active cleaning pig comprises a body containing six sealing discs, with three located at the front and three at the rear of the body. A plurality of circular brushes and a plurality of centrally located spring-loaded brushes for cleaning and debris removal within the pipeline. A suspension wheel assembly system is incorporated to maintain central alignment and reduce wear and tear on sealing discs during pigging operations. A plurality of provisions of bypass ports positioned at the front of the body for removal of bypassed crude onto accumulated debris.
In another embodiment, the magnetic Bi-Di pig (104) is deployed at a second comprises a body containing three sealing discs at both a front and rear end of the body and with brushes mounted on a centre of the body, providing 360 degrees coverage for cleaning the internal surface of the pipeline, wherein the brushes scrubbed the internal surface of the pipeline and removed any metal particles stuck inside of the pipeline. A plurality of magnets is deployed to remove any metal particle inside the pipeline.
The system further comprises a BI-DI DECA Magnet pig (120) deployed at a third comprises a body with a plurality of magnets on a centre part of the body, which carried the removed magnetic particles by the BI-DI DECA Brush Magnet pig.
In another embodiment, the roller cup-type Bi-Di pig (106) at the head of Naphtha comprises a body having a combination of sealing discs and cups which ensured proper sealing from liquid at a front.
In one embodiment, an outer diameter of the magnetic Bi-Di pig (104) is 2-5% higher than the inner diameter of the pipeline for uniform scrapping of adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules thereby dissolving by a lighter crude oil medium, wherein the outer diameter is made with a special type of compressible material which gets compressed and maintains close contact with the inner shell of the pipeline.
In another embodiment, the batch of naphtha considerable amount/size to be transferred is injected in between batches of two water zones, wherein at the front end of naphtha and water zone the roller Cup type Bi-Di pig is used and at a tail end of the naphtha is followed by water zone and then crude blend.
Yet, in another embodiment, a first region of the interface medium between the crude blend and lighter crude oil zone, and a second region of the interface between lighter crude oil and water zone are more likely to get contaminated, which is further processed in the refinery using the CDU column (108) for the separation of pure streams for simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha to the destination location.
At step 204, method 200 includes pumping a batch of light crude oil with specific API gravity for dissolving adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules followed by a first batch of water.
At step 206, method 200 includes scrapping adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules upon maintaining close contact with a pipeline inner shell by deploying a magnetic Bi-Di pig (104).
At step 208, method 200 includes pumping a batch of naphtha followed by a second batch of water at a tail end to prevent contamination during transfer.
At step 210, method 200 includes separating the naphtha and water by employing a roller cup-type Bi-Di pig (106) at the front end of the batch of naphtha and water zone.
At step 212, method 200 includes processing contaminated medium in a refinery using a CDU column (108) for pure stream separation.
At step 214, method 200 includes receiving blended crude oil, light crude oil, water, and naphtha at a receiving end thereby collecting in crude oil tanks (110), slop tanks (112) for the interface, and naphtha tanks (114), separated based on continuous monitoring of physical parameters and density meter readings.
At step 216, method 200 includes sending crude oil along with interface mediums of light crude oils to a refinery desalter unit (116) for water medium removal and downstream operations.
At step 218, method 200 includes directing transferred clean naphtha batch to steam cracker operation for downstream production of olefins and polyolefins.
In another embodiment, the blended crude oil is pumped at a flow rate of 1750 kl/hr, and light crude oil of density 810 to 840 kg/m3 density is pumped 20,000 KL to 30,000 KL followed by followed by water batches of 2000 KL to 4000 KL, and naptha of density 650 kg/m3 to 750 kg/m3 in batch sizes ranging from 35,000 KL to 55,000 KL, followed by the water of 1000 to 2000 KL at the tail end.
Blended Crude Oil is being pumped from the mother station and it passes through the 1017 KM cross-country crude oil pipeline and reaches at receiving terminal. The normal flow rate during the process is 1750 kl/hr.
During the Naphtha pumping sequence, the blended crude, as usual, is pumped followed by Light crude (Density 810 to 840 kg/m3) of quantity in range of 20,000 KL to 30,000 KL. The light crude is followed by water batch of 2000 KL to 4000 KL, thereafter, Naphtha (Density 650 kg/m3 to 750 kg/m3) of batch size 35000 KL to 55000 KL is pumped in the pipeline with again water of 1000 to 2000 KL in tail of Naphtha. The water batch in tail is followed by the normal blended crude. The normal flow rate as described above is maintained during the whole process.
A total of 4 nos. of Pigs are used in the process, 3 Nos. of which are used while pumping light crude, and one pig is launched after the completion of the batch of water at the head of Naphtha.
A special type of pig (Pig-1) is used at the front, which is a total of 6 nos. sealing Discs (3 at front and 3 at rear of pig), circular Brushes, and centrally located spring loaded Brushes and having Suspension wheel assembly system (which is not available in normal Bi-DI Pig). The weight of this PIG is 480 KGs (Approximately) which is more than regular BI-DI PIGs (200 to 250 kg). Bypass ports are provided at the front of the PIG, which otherwise in normal pigs are at the body to maintain the equal pressure at discs. A normal bi-di pig does not have so many components i.e. only 4 sealing discs (2 at front and 2 at rear) with spring loaded brush and no suspension wheel assembly, no circular brush, and no bypass port in front.
This special PIG is designed for good cleaning of the Pipeline. The suspension wheel system ensures that while moving inside the pipeline the PIG remains centrally aligned and less load on sealing discs will ensure less wear and tear of discs and the PIG will be able to carry all the debris along with it till the receiver. An Open Bypass port ensures that the Bypassed crude gets sprayed to the debris accumulated in front of the PIG and will push the debris till the receiver of the next station. Thus, ensuring proper cleaning.
The Bi-Di brush pig (Pig-2) is comprised of 3 Nos. sealing discs at both the front and rear end of Pig and with brushes mounted on center of the body, providing 360 degrees coverage for cleaning the internal surface of pipeline. These brushes scrubbed the internal surface of pipeline and removed any metal particle stuck there. Then, there is a pig (Pig-3) which is having magnets on the centre part of body, which carried the removed magnetic particles by the previous pig. In this, way the magnetic particles are removed using the pigs.
Then there is another pig, at the head of Naphtha which is having combination of sealing disc and cups which ensured proper sealing from liquid at front.
At receiving end, different tanks are lined up for receiving different products. Crude Oil is received in crude oil tanks (110), the interface is received in slop tank and the Naphtha is received in Naphtha tank. These all are separated basis continuous monitoring of the physical parameters through sample points and density meter.
A total 4 nos. of Pigs are used in the process, 3 Nos. of are used while pumping of light crude and one pig is launched after completion of batch of water ahead of Naphtha.
After brainstorming 4 nos. special PIGs (Supreme Cleaning PIG, BI-DI DECA Brush Magnet PIG, BI-DI DECA magnet PIG and Combo PIG) in-house for the Naphtha Transportation via Crude oil Pipeline Project is designed. Based on our experience and keeping in mind the prime objective of the system i.e., to deliver on spec Naphtha to refinery, user have brainstormed and developed these pigs in house.
This special PIG is designed for good cleaning of Pipeline. Suspension wheel system ensured that the while moving inside the pipeline the PIG remains centrally aligned and less load on sealing discs will ensure less wear and tear of discs and the PIG will be able to carry all the debris along with it till receiver. Open Bypass port ensured that the Bypassed crude getting sprayed to the debris accumulated in front of the PIG and will push the debris till the receiver of next station. Thus, ensuring proper cleaning.
Based on our experience and keeping in mind the prime objective of the system i.e. to deliver on spec Naphtha to refinery, user have brainstormed developed the pig in house.
The system includes a plurality of pigs coupled at the head, tail and in between the lighter crude oil, which can dissolve the asphaltenes/resin and waxes of crude oil blend, all these pigs are different in design for the simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha. The pig used followed by blended crude oil is called brush type Bi-Di pig and Brush type magnetic Bi-Di pig (104). At the front end, tail end and in between of the light crude oil, total three different type of Bi-Di pigs have been used followed by Naphtha batch, which is kept in between two water zones. Similarly, another Cup type Bi-Di pig is used at front end of naphtha batch immediately after first water zone.
In another embodiment, a method for the simultaneous transport of Crude Oil and Naphtha in a cross-country crude oil pipeline is disclosed. The method includes simultaneous transportation of crude oil and naphtha using crude oil pipelines using pipeline pigs as cleaning equipment, light crude oil as a diluting and dissolution media for heavy hydrocarbon molecules such as asphaltenes and resins, brush type pigs used for scrapping the adhered heavy asphaltenes and resins from the inner surface of the pipeline, and Bi-Di brush as a cleaning tool.
Overall, pigging is a critical process that helps to maintain the integrity and efficiency of crude oil pipelines while ensuring the safety and quality of the products transported through them. Pigging is a widely accepted activity that every pipeline team conducts very often. A special type of pigs has been designed: the pig used/followed by a blended crude oil batch is called brush type Bi-Di (Bi-directional) pig. This brush pig is made with brush type design, which is capable of mechanically scrapping the inner walls/circumference of the pipeline, followed by lighter crude oil medium and then another type of pig called magnetic Bi-Di design, these Bi-Di pigs whose outer diameters are slightly higher (2-5%) than the inner diameters of pipeline to be scraped and the outer diameter is made with a special type of compressible material which get compressed and maintains close contact with the inner shell of the pipeline. To scrap the inner surface of the pipelines so closely, any adhered asphaltene contaminant molecules are easily get removed and then get dissolved by a lighter crude oil medium. The light crude oil medium used for the purpose whose API gravity API>36-40, more particularly (API>39). A considerable amount of light crude oil is pumped. At the tail end of the lighter crude, another brush type magnetic Bi-Di pig is used. A naphtha batch of considerable amount/size to be transferred is injected, this naphtha batch is sent in between batches of two water zones as shown in the
The pigs used for this purpose at the front end (head) and tail of each batch are different in design. The pig used followed by blended crude oil is called a brush type Bi-Di pig, the design of each pig at the head, tail and in between the light crude oil of each batch is shown in the
The present disclosure can achieve the process of simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha streams using the crude oil pipelines which are generally used only for crude oil pumping.
The existing methods of transferring and transporting Naphtha are possible through tanks by roadways, and by using very large containers through sea routes. The more economical way of transferring naphtha is through pipelines and white product pipelines are more suitable for transferring the large capacity of refined products. The present disclosure is designed to use the existing crude oil pipelines for multi-product transferring, which enables low capex and usage of existing crude oil pipelines in a more economical way without (usage of) investing in another separate line.
Crude oil and Naphtha transport using light crude oil and water zone at the interface sections, the interface light crude oil more likely to get contaminated. This problem can be eliminated by processing the interface zone after receiving it at the receiving terminal. It can be processed and separated in the refinery at the crude distillation column for its various boiling component streams.
The simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha streams using light crude oil and water zone in between the two batches of crude oil and naphtha using the different types of pigs, specially designed to clean the asphaltenes, resins and other sticky crude oil components from the inner walls of the pipelines. The brush type Bi-Di design pigs provide more cleaning of inner surface of pipeline from asphaltenes/resin of different batches of blended crude oil and by dissolving them using lighter crude oil. Thereby more easily both these streams can be transferred from one location to another location at much lower transportation costs using existing crude oil pipelines.
The developed method provides simultaneous transportation of crude oil and naphtha using crude oil pipelines using pigs as a cleaning equipment
The developed method provides simultaneous transportation of crude oil and naphtha using light crude oil as a diluting and dissolution media for heavy hydrocarbon molecules such as resins and asphaltenes.
The developed method provides simultaneous transportation of crude oil and naphtha using brush-type pig for scrapping the adhered heavy asphaltenes and resins.
The developed method provides simultaneous transportation of crude oil and naphtha using a brush type, magnetic and cup type Bi-Di as a cleaning tool and separating tools between two different batches.
The size of lighter crude oil batch in the range >50000 KL to 25000 KL more precisely >35000 KL to 25000 KL, the water zone batch in range of >3500 KL and more precisely >2000 K L. The Naphtha batch size >50000-10000 KL and more precisely >20000 KL. The naphtha reached to destination meets the feed quality standards of steam cracker, in terms of its impurities such as iron and calcium etc.
The lighter crude oil used for the dissolution of asphaltene, resins and wax material is having API >38. The lighter crude oil is having specific ratio of SARA. The aromatic content of light crude is the main component responsible for dissolution of asphaltenes and resins of blended crude. The aromatic content of lighter crude oil is in the range of 20-30%.
The types of pigs used is shown in the
The process or method in which the transfer of crude oil and Naphtha simultaneously using crude oil pipelines, in which system contains a simultaneous injection of lighter crude oil followed by blended crude for dissolution of asphaltenes/resins and waxes of blended crude oils by using different type pigs especially brush type Bi-Di design pigs, magnetic brush type Bi-Di for removal of iron pieces and particles. The method or system used for simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha in crude oil pipeline using the water zone used as a polar region, which disable the mixing of water (polar) and hydrocarbon/naphtha (non-polar) material, thereby transfer of the naphtha is achieved, the quality of the naphtha meets the feed parameters of steam cracker to produce olefins. The method or system in which the lighter crude oil is used for dissolution of asphaltene and resins of crude blend, and its API gravity >34, and its SARA analysis contains more aromatic contents for the dissolution of asphaltenes and resins. The method and system in which simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha is achieved by selecting the batch size of each hydrocarbon zone, specified as per the above example embodiment. The method and system in which simultaneous transfer of crude oil and naphtha is achieved by selecting the type of Bi-Di pigs used as a physical separation unit between two layers of hydrocarbons.
The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, orders of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown: nor do all of the acts necessarily need to be performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whether explicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences in structure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope of embodiments is at least as broad as given by the following claims.
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above about specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any component(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or component of any or all the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202311052091 | Aug 2023 | IN | national |
