| Title of Invention | "STRIPPING APPARATUS AND PROCESS" |
|---|---|
| Abstract | An apparatus and process (6) for stripping gases from solids comprises a structured packing (50) in a stripping section (3 8) of a vessel (24) The structured packing (50) comprises a phirahty of corrugated nbbons (42) with each corrugated nbbon having at least two faces (56) angular to each otheT The nbbons (42) at least partially obstruct passage of the solid parbcles Edges (58) of adjacent nbbons defining openings (60, 61) for the passage of contacted particles. |
| Full Text | BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to processes and apparatus for the fhndized contacting of catalyst with hydrocarbons More specifically, this invention relates to an apparatus and process for stripping entrained or adsorbed hydrocarbons from catalyst particles DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART [0002] A variety of processes contact finely divided particulate material with a hydrocarbon containing feed under conditions wherein a fluid maintains the particles in a fluidized condition to effect transport of the solid particles to different stages of the proces s Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is a prime example of such a process that contacts hydrocai bons in a reaction zone with a catalyst composed of finely divided particulate material The hydrocarbon feed fluidizes the catalyst and typically transports it in a riser as the catalyst promotes the cracking reaction As the cracking reaction proceeds, substantial amounts of hydrocarbon, called coke, are deposited on the catalyst A high temperature regeneration within a regeneration zone burns coke from the catalyst by contact with an oxygen-containing strsam that again serves as a fluidization medium Coke-containmg catalyst, referred to herein as spent catalyst, is continually removed from the reaction zone and replaced by essentially coke-fiee catalyst from the regeneration zone Fluidization of the catalyst particles by various gaseous streams allows the transport of catalyst between the reaction zone and regeneration zone [0003] A majority of the hydrocarbon vapors that contact the catalyst in the reaction zone are separated from the solid particles by ballistic and/or centrifugal separation methods within the reaction zone However, the catalyst particles employed in an FCC process have a large surface area, which is due to a great multitude of pores located in the particles As a result, the catalytic matenals retain hydrocarbons within their pores, upon the external surface of the catalyst and in the spaces between individual catalyst particles as they enter the stripping one Although the quantity of hydrocarbons retained on each individual catalyst particle is ver) small, the large amount of catalyst and the high catalyst circulation rate which is typically used in a modern FCC process results in a significant quantity of hydrocarbons being withdrawn from the reaction zone with the catalyst [0004] Therefore, it is common practice to remove, or strip, hydrocarbons from spent catalyst prior to passing it into the regeneration zone Improved stripping brings economic benefits to the FCC process by reducing "delta coke" Delta coke is the weight percent col e on spent catalyst less the weight percent coke on regenerated catalyst Reducing delta coke in the FCC process causes a lowering of the regenerator temperature Consequently, more of the resulting, relatively cooler regenerated catalyst is required to supply the fixed heat load in the reaction zone The reaction zone may hence operate at a higher catalyst-to-feed or catalyst to-oil (C/O) ratio The higher C/O ratio increases conversion which increases the production of valuable products Accordingly, improved shipping results m improved conversion [0005] The most common method of stripping the catalyst passes a stopping gas, usua Uy steam, through a flowing stream of catalyst, counter-current to its direction of flow Such steam stopping operations, with varying degrees of efficiency, remove the hydrocarbon vapors which are entrained with the catalyst and adsorbed on the catalyst Contact of the catalyst with a stopping medium may be accomplished in a simple open vessel as demonstrated by US 4,481,103 or with a oser reactor ascending through the stopping vessel [0006] The efficiency of catalyst stopping is typically increased by using vertically spaced baffles to cascade the catalyst from side to side as it moves down a stopping apparatus and counter-currently contacts a stopping medium Moving the catalyst hoozontally increases both residence time and contact between the catalyst and the stopping medium so that more hydrocarbons are removed from the catalyst In these arrangements, the catalyst and stopping gas travel a labyonthine path through a seoes of baffles located at different levels to effeci two-phase mixing Catalyst and gas contact is increased by this arrangement that leaves no open vertical path of significant cross-section through the stopping apparatus US 4,364,905 shows an example of a stopping device for an FCC unit that includes a seoes of outer baffles in the form of frusto-comcal sections that direct the catalyst inwardly onto a seoes of inner baffles The inner baffles are centrally located conical or frusto-comcal sections that divert the catalyst outwardly onto the outer baffles The stopping medium enters from below the lower baffbs and continues osing upwardly from the bottom of one baffle to the bottom of the next succeeding baffle US 6,680,030 B2 discloses a stopping device with hoozontal baffles composing grates and downcomers [0007] US 5,716,585 discloses utilizing a structured packing comprising stacked corrugated plates to facilitate contacting of catalyst and stripping medium in a stopping device. US 6,224,833 Bl also discloses a stopping device with a structured packing composing slotted planar portions intersecting each other A product sheet entitled "Support Plate Cross-Flow-Grid Type SP-CF" shows a grid for supporting a packed bed above the grid in a distillation or absorption column in which gas and liquid are phase components [0008] Byproduct coke in FCC units have been known to accumulate in relatively unfluidized zones to spall off in large pieces during abrupt changes in conditions to clog narrow flow channels Hence, structured packings m an FCC unit with narrow flow channels would increase the risk of such clogging Moreover, structured packings must be uniformly distributed within the volume of the stopping vessel Otherwise, poor distribution of cata yst and stripping gas flow may generate non-uniform vapor-so lids contact which can diminish stripping performance Uniformly installing structured packings with intersecting planar members in stopping devices with round inner walls can be difficult requiring intense labor [0009] The efficiency of a stnpper can be compared to models to gauge relative performance A perfect counter-current stnpper is modeled to operate with hydrocarbon 1 iden catalyst phase flowing down into the stnpper, stopping gas flowing up into the stopper, a catalyst phase stopped of all hydrocarbons and laden with all of the steam flowing down cut of the stopper and hydrocarbon flowing up out the stopper The perfect counter-current stop ser operates such that just enough stnpping gas to fluidize the catalyst is sufficient to displace all of the hydrocarbon on the catalyst The stnpped hydrocarbon nses in the stopper to the top outlet and the stnpping gas on the catalyst descends with the catalyst to exit the bottom Therefore, the theoretical amount of stopping gas for a perfect counter-cunent stnpper model becomes the low limitation for design of a stopper The solid straight line in FIGS 1 -3 represent the calculated perfect counter-current stopper performance [0010] Another way of evaluating stopper performance is through the use of a countei -current backmixed stages model This model treats the stopper as divided into discrete stages The gas in the catalyst phase descendmg into a stage is well mixed with gas nsing from the previous stage Gas descendmg and nsing into a stage including both stopped hydrocarbons and stnpping gas equilibrates to a stage gas composition The gas in the stage with the stige gas composition then descends with the catalyst phase leaving the stage The excess gas not required to fluidize the catalyst phase nses with the same stage gas composition to the next higher stage The counter-current backmixed stages model can be used to predict the effect of shipping gas rates and number of stages on overall stopping performance FIGS 1-3 shows the calculated performance for a backmixed-stages model based on seven stages by the dashed line Conventional baffle stopping vessels typically have seven stages Greater numbers of stages and/or stopping gas rates would bong the performance of the backmixed-stages model closer to the perfect counter-current performance represented by the straight line in FIGS 1-3 [0011] Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a structured packing for a stopping device that provides high efficiency stopping and minimizes the osk of clogging, [0012] It is an additional object of this invention to provide a structured packing that provides high efficiency stopping and can be easily assembled into a stopping vessel BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013] It has now been found that providing a structural packing composing obbons with angular bands and openings between adjacent edges to allow catalyst flow can be uniformly installed into a stopping vessel with relatively small occasion of clogging by spalling cok BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0015] FIGS 1-3 are plots showing stoppmg efficiencies of the present invention for vaoed catalyst fluxes [0016] FIG 4 shows a sectional elevation view of an FCC reactor and stopper arrangement in which the present invention may be incorporated [0017] FIG 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the stopper section taken from FIG 4 showing a first embodiment [0018] FIG 6 is an enlarged partial perspective view of structured packing m the stopper section of FIG 5 [0019] FIG 7 is an enlarged partial elevational view of the structured packing m the stopper section of FIG 5 [0020] FIG 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the stripper section taken from Fig 4 showing a second embodiment [0021] FIG 9 is a partial perspective view of two segments of structured packing shown in FIG 8 [0022] FIG 10 is a partial perspective view of two layers of structured packing shown in FIG 8 [0023] FIG 11 is a top plan partial view of the structured packing in FIG 8 [0024] FIG 12 is an elevational view of the structured packing of FIG 11 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0025] Looking first at a more complete description of the FCC process, the typical feed to an FCC unit is a gas oil such as a light or vacuum gas oil Other petroleum-derived feed streams to an FCC umt may comprise a diesel boiling range mixture of hydrocarbons or heavier hydrocarbons such as reduced crude oils It is preferred that the feed stream consists of a mixture of hydrocarbons having boiling points, as determined by the appropnate ASTM test method, above 230°C (446°F) and more preferably above 290°C (554°F) [0026] An FCC process unit comprises a reaction zone and a catalyst regeneration zone In the reaction zone, a feed stream is contacted with a finely divided fluidized catalyst maint, lined at an elevated temperature and at a moderate positive pressure In this invention, contacting of feed and catalyst usually takes place in a riser conduit, but may occur in any effective arrangement such as the known devices for short contact time contacting In the case of a iser, it comprises a principally vertical conduit as the mam reaction site, with the effluent of the conduit emptying into a large volume process vessel containing a solids-vapor separation device The products of the reaction are separated from a portion of catalyst which falls downwardly A stnpper is usually receives the spent catalyst to remove hydrocarbons from the catalyst Catalyst is transferred to a separate regeneration zone after it passes through the stripping apparatus [0027] The rate of conversion of the feedstock withm the reaction zone is controlled r. y regulation of the temperature, activity of the catalyst, and quantity of the catalyst relative lo the feed (C/0 ratio) maintained within the reaction zone The most common method of regulating the temperature in the reaction zone is by regulating the rate of circulation of catalyst frorr the regeneration zone to the reaction zone, which simultaneously changes the C/O ratio That is, if it is desired to increase the conversion rate within the reaction zone, the rate of flow of catalyst from the regeneration zone to the reaction zone is increased This results in more catalyst being present in the reaction zone for the same volume of oil charged thereto Since the temperature within the regeneration zone under normal operations is considerably higher than the temperature within the reaction zone, an increase in the rate of circulation of catalyst from the regeneration zone to the reaction zone results in an increase in the reaction zone temperature [0028J The chemical composition and structure of the feed to an FCC unit will affect ihe amount of coke deposited upon the catalyst in the reaction zone Normally, the higher the molecular weight, Conradson carbon, heptane insolubles, and carbon-to-hydrogen ratio of the feedstock, the higher will be the coke level on the spent catalyst Also, high levels of combined nitrogen, such as found in shale-denved oils, will increase the coke level on spent catalyst Processing of heavier feedstocks, such as deasphalted oils or atmosphenc bottoms from a crude oil fractionation unit (commonly referred to as reduced crude) results in an increase in some or all of these factors and therefore causes an increase in the coke level on spent catalyst [0029] The reaction zone, which is normally referred to as a "nser" due to the widespi ead use of a vertical tubular conduit, is maintained at high temperature conditions which gene ally include a temperature above 425°C (797°F) Preferably, the reaction zone is maintained at cracking conditions which include a temperature of from 480°C (896°F) to 590°C (1094T) and a pressure of from 65 to 500 kPa (9 4 to 72 5 psia) but preferably less than 275 kPa (39 9 ?sia) The C/O ratio, based on the weight of catalyst and feed hydrocarbons entenng the bottom of the nser, may range up to 20 1 but is preferably between 4 1 and 10 1 Hydrogen is not normally added to the nser, although hydrogen addition is known in the art On occasion, steam may be passed into the nser The average residence time of catalyst in the nser is preferably less than 5 seconds The type of catalyst employed in the process may be chosen from a v.inety of commercially available catalysts A catalyst compnsing a zeolite base matenal is prefeired, but the older style amorphous catalyst can be used if desired Further information on the operation of FCC reaction zones maybe obtained from US 4,541,922, US 4,541,923 and he patents cited above [0030] In an FCC process, catalyst is continuously circulated from the reaction zone to the regeneration zone and then again to the reaction zone The catalyst therefore acts as a vehicle for the transfer of heat from zone to zone as well as providing the necessary catalytic activity Any FCC catalyst can be used for the process The particles will typically have a size of less than 100 microns Catalyst which is being withdrawn from the regeneration zone is referred to as "regenerated" catalyst As previously descnbed, the catalyst charged to the regeneratior zone is brought into contact with an oxygen-containing gas such as air or oxygen-ennched air under conditions which result in combustion of the coke This results in an increase in the temperature of the catalyst and the generation of a large amount of hot gas which is removed from the regeneration zone as a gas stream referred to as a flue gas stream The regeneration zone is normally operated at a temperature of from 600°C (1112°F) to 800°C (1472°F) Additional information on the operation of FCC reaction and regeneration zones may be obtained from US 4,431,749, US 4,419,221 (cited above) and US 4,220,623 [0031] The catalyst regeneration zone is preferably operated at a pressure of from 35 to 500 kPa (5 1 to 72 5 psia) The spent catalyst being charged to the regeneration zone may contain from 0 2 to 2 0 wt-% coke This coke is predominantly compnsed of carbon and can contain from 3 to 12 wt-% hydrogen, as well as sulfur and other elements The oxidation of coke will produce the common combustion products carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and water As known to those skilled in the art, the regeneration zone may take several configurations, \* ith regeneration being performed m one or more stages Further vanety is possible due to the fact that regeneration may be accomplished with the fluidized catalyst being present as either a dilute phase or a dense phase within the regeneration zone The term "dilute phase" is intended to indicate a catalyst/gas mixture having a density of less than 300 kg/m3 (18 7 lb/ft3) In a similar manner, the term "dense phase" is intended to mean that the catalyst/gas mixture has a density equal to or more than 300 kg/m3 (18 7 lb/ft3) Representative dilute phase operatng conditions often include a catalyst/gas mixture having a density of 15 to 150 kg/m3 (0 9 to 9 4 lb/ft3) [0032] FIG 4 shows an FCC unit 6 to which the process and apparatus of this invention may be applied The FCC unit m FIG 4 represents only one of many FCC arrangements to which this invention can be applied Looking then at FIG 4, a regenerator standpipe 16 transfers catalyst from a regenerator 12 at a rate regulated by a slide valve 10 A fluidization medium from a nozzle 8 transports catalyst upwardly through a lower portion of a nser 14 at a relatively high density until a plurality of feed injection nozzles 18 (only one is shown) inject feed across the flowing stream of catalyst particles The resulting mixture continues upwa d through an upper portion of the riser 14 until at least two disengaging arms 20 tangentially discharge the mixture of gas and catalyst through openings 22 from a top of the riser 14 into a disengaging vessel 24 that effects separation of gases from the catalyst Most of the catalyst discharged from openings 22 fall downwardly in the disengaging vessel 24 into a bed 44 A transport conduit 26 carries the separated hydrocarbon vapors with entrained catalyst to one or more cyclones 28 in a reactor or separator vessel 30 The cyclones 28 separate spent catalyst from the hydrocarbon vapor stream A collection chamber 31 gathers the separated hydrocarbon vapor streams from the cyclones for passage to an outlet nozzle 32 and into a downstream fractionation zone (not shown) Diplegs 34 discharge catalyst from the cyclones 28 into a bed 29 m a lower portion of the disengaging vessel 24 which pass through ports 36 into the bed 44 m the disengaging vessel 24 Catalyst and adsorbed or entrained hydrocarbons pass from the disengaging vessel 24 into a stripping section 38 across ports 36 Catalyst from openings 22 separated in the disengaging vessel 24 passes directly into the shipping section 38 Hence, entrances to the stnpping section 38 include openings 22 and ports 36 Stnpping gas such as steam enters a lower portion of the stnpping section 38 through a distributor 40 and nses counter-current to a downward flow of catalyst through the stripping section 38, thersby removing adsorbed and entrained hydrocarbons from the catalyst which flow upwardly thiough and are ultimately recovered with the steam by the cyclones 28 The distnbutor 40 distributes the stnpping gas around the circumference of the stripping section 38 In order to facilitate hydrocarbon removal, a structured packing 50 compnsmg nbbons 42 are provided in the stnpping section 38 The spent catalyst leaves the stnpping section 38 through a port 48 to a reactor conduit 46 and passes into the regenerator 12 The catalyst is regenerated m the regenerator 12 as is known in the art and sent back to the nser 14 through the regenerator standpipe 16 [0033] FIG 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the stnpping section 38 of disengaging vessel 24 of FIG 4 Although the stnpping section 38 is shown to have the nser 14 ascending through it, the invention is applicable to stnpping sections without an internal nser The stnpping section 38 contains the structured packing 50 of corrugated nbbons 42 Corrugated nbbons refers to metal stnps formed with at least two bands 54 angular to or uncoplanar \nth each other To form corrugations, bands 54 may be bent or formed relative to each other or separate pieces may be fixed to each other such as by welding to define joints between bands The nbbons 42 partially obstruct downward passage of catalyst particles and upward passage of gas Preferably, bands 54 are disposed to obstruct passage of gas and catalyst Adjacent nbbons 42 have edges 58 that define openings 60 to allow passage of catalyst particles and gases The distributor 40 for distributing stopping gas is disposed below the structural packing 50 The nbbons 42 are arranged m arrays and one or more arrays of nbbons 42 define layers A, B Layers A, B may be stacked upon each other and may be onented differently InF'G 5, layers A and B are onented at 90° to each other Outer circumferential edges of the packing 50 are sheared or formed to conform to the inner circumference of the stnpping section 35 of the disengaging vessel 24 [0034] An enlarged view of two layers A, B of the structural packing 50 of FIG 5 is shown in a perspective view in FIG 6 and in an elevational view in FIG 7 Each nbbon 42 compnses bands 54 configured in undulating peaks 62 and valleys 64 Each band 54 includes a face 56 that obstructs passage of fluid and catalyst In the embodiment of FIGS 6 and 7, the bands 54 include laterals 55 arranged to provide peaks 62 at an upper landing 63 and valleys 64 at a lower landing 65, but the peaks 62 and valleys 64 may be provided at the apex of a joint of just two bands 54 The layers A, B each include paired nbbons 42a, 42b The lower landings 65 in upper nbbon 42a meet the upper landings 63 of lower nbbon 42b A stabilizing stnp 74 s disposed between upper landing 63 and lower landing 65 If paired nbbons 42a, 42b are ;ut out of a common piece of metal, a stabilizing stnp 74 may be obviated Ribbon 42a is disposed at a phase that is 180° out of phase to the phase of paired nbbon 42b Other phase relationships may be used Moreover, the axial spacing of a nbbon 42a is offset from the axial spacing of its paired nbbon 42b Consequently, edges 58 of nbbon 42a and edges 58 of ribbon 42b may be parallel and may define a plane therebetween The edges 58 of the laterals 55 and landings 63, 65 in nbbon 42a and the edges 58 of the laterals 55 and landings 63, 65 in nbbon 42b define openings 60 for the honzontal passage of fluid and catalyst Edges of laterals >5 and landings 63, 65 in alternating upper nbbons 42a and alternating lower nbbons 42b de fine openings 61 for the vertical passage of fluid and catalyst These openings 60, 61 are also defined by the faces 56 of the laterals 55 and upper and lower landings 63, 65 Dimples 76 may be provided in bands 54 Although shown in laterals 55 near valleys 64, the dimples 76 may be disposed in lower landings 65 It is also contemplated that edges 58 of laterals 55 may be secured to each other in which case laterals 55 would cross each other Moreover, although the ribbons 42 are preferably stacked horizontally in the stripping section 38, the nbbons A 2 may be arranged vertically in the shipping section 38 FIGS 6 and 7 show valleys 64 of lower ribbons 42b in layer A stacked on peaks 62 of upper nbbons 42a in layer B [0035] FIGS 8-12 show an alternative embodiment of a structured packing 50' that an be used in the stnppmg section 38 of FIG 4 All of the reference numerals that designate an element in FIGS 8-12 that corresponds to a similar element in FIGS 5-7 but have a different configuration will be marked with a pnme symbol (') Otherwise, the same reference numeral will designate corresponding elements in FIGS 5-7 and 8-10 that have the same configuration [0036] FIG 8 shows a perspective view of a structural packing 50'that corresponds to FIG 5 Each nbbon 42' includes a standard stnp 80 compnsing alternating segments 82, 84 each with an upper tab 86 and a lower tab 88 projecting in alternating directions Tabs 86, 88 and standard stnp 80 define faces 56' Faces 56' of tabs 86, 88 and stnp 80 obstruct the passage of stopping gas and catalyst Adjacent nbbons 42' are arranged together in an array to define layers A', B' Preferably, upper and lower tabs 86, 88 of a given segment 82, 84 are paral lei to each other, and standard stops 80 m the same layer A', B' are arranged in parallel Layers A' and B' are stacked on top of each other in the stopping section and may be onented differently FIG 8 shows the layers A' and B' perpendicular to each other [0037] FIG 9 is an enlarged partial perspective view of two segments 82, 84 of one nbbon 42' of FIG 8 Upper tabs 86a, 86b of adjacent segments 82, 84, respectively, project from the standard stnp 80 and may have opposite configurations and be angular to each other Lower tabs 88a, 88b of adjacent segments 82, 84, respectively, project from standard stnp 80 and may have opposite configurations and be angular to each other Tie rods 98 extend through apertures 100 in standard stnp 80 to secure nbbons 42' in an array The tie rod 98 may be welded to the standard stnp 80 Stabilizing stnps 90 are seated in and secured to troughs [02 defined by upper tabs 86a, 86b and lower tabs 88a, 88b of adjacent segments 82, 84 [0038] FIG 10 is a partial perspective view of two layers A' and B' each with three n ?bons 42a', 42b' and 42c' of FIG 8 Upper tabs 86a and lower tabs 88a (not visible m FIG 10) of alternating segments 82, 82 and upper tabs 86b and lower tabs 88b of alternating segmenls 84, 84 may have similar or identical configurations Upper tabs 86a, 86b and lower tabs 88a, 88b of aligned segments 82, 84 of adjacent nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' project from standard stnps 80 parallel to each other Edges 58' of upper tabs 86a,86b and lower tabs 88a, 88b of eater-cornered segments 82, 84 of adjacent nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' that converge are offset from each other and define openings 60' for the horizontal passage of stripping fluid and catalysit Moreover edges 58' of upper tabs 86a, 86b and lower tabs 88a, 88b of alternating segments 82, 82 and 84, 84 of the same nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' define openings 61' for the vertical passage of stripping fluid and catalyst These openings 60', 61' are also defined by the faces 56' of the upper and lower tabs 86a, 86b, 88a, 88b and standard strips 80 Stabilizing stnps 90 are nssted m troughs 102 defined by upper tabs 86 and lower tabs 88 of nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' and secured therein for purposes of stability Moreover, the dimension of the stabilizing stnp can be varied to adjust the degree of obstruction to fluid flow In other words, the dimension of the stnp is inversely proportional to the dimension of the openings 61' Smaller dimensions of openings 61' allow only smaller bubbles of stripping gas to ascend in the shipping section 38, thereby facilitating mass transfer of the gas in bubbles to stnp the catalyst The stabilizing stnp 90 may have a diamond profile Other profiles for the stabilizing stnp are contemplated [0039] FIGS 11 and 12 will be discussed together FIG 11 is a top plan view of two adjacent segments 82, 84 of three nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' FIG 12 is an elevational view of two layers A', B' of nbbons 42' The nbbons 42' in the top layer A' of FIG 12 are designated nbbons 42a', 42b' and 42c' The top tabs 86a of segments 82 in each nbbon 42a', 42b', 42c' all project from the standard stnp 80 in parallel but angular to the top tabs 86b of segments 84 The bottom tabs 88a of segments 82 in each nbbon 42a', 42b', 42c' all project in parallel Dut angular to the bottom tabs 88b of segments 84 The top tabs 86b of segments 84 in each ribbon 42a', 42b', 42c' all project from standard stnp 80 in parallel but angular to the top tabs 86a of segments 82 The bottom tabs 88b of segments 84 in each nbbon 42a', 42b', 42c' all project in parallel but angular to the bottom tabs 88a of segments 82 Opposing edges 92 of top tabs 86a, 86b stop short of each other to provide an imaginary peak 62' and opposing edges 92 of bottom tabs 88a, 88b stop short of each other to provide an imaginary valley 64' The stabilizing stnp 90 sits m the trough 102 defined by upper tabs 86 and lower tabs 88 A tie rod 98 extending through apertures 100 in the standard stnp 80 secures all of the nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' in an array Notches 99 in the tie rod 98 may facilitate engagement with apertures 100 The tie rod 98 may be welded to the standard stnp 80 In FIG 12, layer A' is seen stacked on layer B' Valleys 64' of nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' m layer A' rest on peaks 62' of layer B' Other oi additional supports structures may be suitable The onentation of layer A' is 90° to the onentation of layer B' Solid arrow C shows a catalyst path down the obstructive faces 56' of segment 82 and dashed arrow D shows a catalyst path down obstructive faces 56' of segment 84 The axial spacing of a segment 82 of nbbon 42a' is offset from the axial spacing of segment 84 of nbbon 42b' which is offset from the axial spacing of segment 82 of nbbon 42c' Consequently, opposing edges 58' of top tab 86a of segment 82 of nbbon 42a' and top tab 86b of segment 84 of nbbon 42b' and opposmg edges 58' of bottom tab 88b of segment 84 of nbbon 42a' and bottom tab 88a of segment 82 may be parallel and may define a plane between opposing edges 58' The opposing edges 58' of top tabs 86a, 86b and bottom tabs 88b, 88a of adjacent nbbons 42a', 42b' define openings 60'for the honzontal passage of fluid and cat* lyst Opposing edges 58' of top tabs 86a, 86b and bottom tabs 88a, 88b of the same segments 82, 84 of the same nbbons 42a', 42b', 42c' define openings 61 for the vertical passage of catalysi [0040] The nbbons 42, 42' are typically formed from alloy steels that will stand up to the high temperature conditions in the reaction zone The nbbons 42, 42' may be stacked in ihe shipping section 38 and by fixing in notches provided in a support structure Other supports may be suitable EXAMPLE 1 [0041] The shipper embodiments of the present invention were evaluated for perforirunce relative to ideal shipping performance We constructed a test apparatus embodying the shipping arrangements of the present invention as shown in FIGS 5-7, labeled Packing 1, and FIGS 8-12, labeled Packing 2 The test apparatus compnsed a cylinder having a 0 6 m (2 foot) diameter Packing 1 occupied a vertical height of 2 3 m (7 5 feet) and Packing 2 occupied 2 2 m (7 2 feet) Overall, the height of the cylinder was 8 m (26 3 feet) The test apparatus w£ s operated by circulating equihbnum FCC catalyst downwardly from a top inlet through the apparatus while air passed under the lowermost baffle upwardly through the baffles The recovery of adsorbed hydrocarbons was simulated by injection of helium tracer into the circulating catalyst followed by measurement of the helium concentration in the recovered air The stnpped catalyst was recovered from the bottom of the test apparatus and the concenti ation was measured to determine the efficiency of the stripping operation The air and helium along with entrained catalyst particles were recovered from the top of the apparatus and separated for recycle of the catalyst to the apparatus [0042] In FIGS 1-3, performance of two embodiments of the present invention is compared to perfect counter-current performance and ideal backmixed, seven-stages performance at catalyst fluxes of 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 lbs /ft 2/hr In FIGS 1-3, stripping efficiency is the percentage of gas stnpped from the catalyst, volume of stripping gis is the volume of shipping gas injected into the test stopper and volume of voids refers to the catalyst void volume Packing 1 refers to the embodiment shown in FIGS 5-7 and Packing I refers to the embodiment shown in FIGS 8-12 Gratings refers to the stripping vessel comprising gratings with downcomers disclosed in US 6,680,030 B2 [0043] In FIGS 1 and 2, Packing 2 performs as well as a perfect counter-current model at low volume of snipping gas/volume of voids ratio In FIGS 1 -3, at higher volume of stnppi ng gas/volume of voids ratios Packing 2 performs at least as well as the ideal seven back-mixed stages model FIGS 1 and 3 shows that Packing 1 performs just below Packing 2 and better than the gratings with downcomers m all but one exception in which two data points were obtained for gratings with downcomers . We Claims :- 1 A process for stripping hydrocarbons from particulate material, said process comprising contacting particles with a hydrocarbon stream, disengaging hydrocarbon product vapors from the particles after contact with said hydrocarbon stream to produce a stream of contacted particles containing hydrocarbons, passing the contacted particles through a stripping vessel (38) containing a structured packing (50) comprising a plurality of corrugated ribbons (42, 42'), each corrugaled ribbon having at least two bands (54, 80, 86, 88) angular to each other and at least partially obstructing passage of the contacted particles, adjacent ones of said ribbons defining openings (60, 61, 60', 61') for the passage of contacted particles, discharging a stnppmg fluid through said stnppmg vessel (38), recovenng stnppmg fluid and stnpped hydrocarbons from the stnppmg vessel (38), end recovenng stnpped particles from the stripping vessel (38) 2 The process of claim 1 wherein said plurality of nbbons (42, 42') are arranged in arrays and each array is arranged in layers (A, B, A', B') 3 The process of claims 1 or 2 wherein at least two of the layers (A, B, A', B') havu arrays in different onentations 4 The process of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein edges (58, 58') of adjacent ones of said nbbons (42, 42') define openings (60, 60') for honzontal passage of particles 5 The process of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein faces (56, 56') of adjacent ones of said nbbons define openings (60, 60') 6 The process of claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said two faces (56, 56') of said ribbon which are angular to each other both at least partially obstruct passage of the particles 7 The process of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said nbbons (42) compnse undulating peaks (62) and valleys (64) 8 The process of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 wherein said bands (80, 86, 88) of said nbbons 42' compnse tabs (86, 88) secured to a standard section (80) 9 The process of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 wherein edges (58') of portions of the same nbbon (42') define openings (61') for the vertical passage of particles 10 The process of claims 1 2, 3, 4 5, 6, 8 or 9 wherein adjacent ones of said ribbons (42a\ 42b') define openings (61 ) for the vertical passage ot contacted particles and adjacent bands (86, 88) in the same ribbon (42a 42b') define openings ofr the horizontal passage of contacted particles 11 A process for stripping hydrocarbons from particulate material, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the foregoing example and accompanying drawings. |
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| Patent Number | 270933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Indian Patent Application Number | 619/DEL/2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PG Journal Number | 05/2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 29-Jan-2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grant Date | 27-Jan-2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Filing | 22-Mar-2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name of Patentee | UOP LLC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Applicant Address | 25 EAST ALGONQUIN ROAD, DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS 60017-5017, U.S.A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inventors:
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| PCT International Classification Number | C10G 11/00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PCT International Application Number | N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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PCT Conventions:
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