Patent ID: 6190542
Filing Date: 2001-02-20
Classification: B01J,C10G

Abstract:
A catalytic multi-stage process for hydrogenation and hydroconversion of heavy carbonaceous feed materials to produce lower-boiling hydrocarbon liquid products, the process comprising:(a) reacting a carbonaceous feed material together with a highly dispersed iron-based catalyst and hydrogen in a first stage back-mixed catalytic reactor maintained at reaction conditions of 700-850.degree. F. (370-460.degree. C.) temperature, 1000-3500 psig hydrogen partial pressure, 20-80 lb/h/ft.sup.3 ( 320-1280 kg/h/m.sup.3) reactor space velocity, and catalyst loading of 500-15,000 wppm iron relative to the feed, and providing a first reactor effluent stream containing vapor and liquid fractions;(b) phase separating said first stage reactor effluent stream into its vapor and liquid fractions in successive primary and secondary interstage separators to provide separator overhead and bottoms streams, and further reacting the remaining primary interstage separator bottoms liquid fraction in a second stage back-mixed catalytic reactor to provide a second reactor effluent stream containing vapor and liquid fractions;(c) phase separating said second stage reactor effluent stream into its vapor and liquid fractions to provide a second stage separator overhead stream and a bottoms liquid fraction, and combining the second stage separator overhead fraction stream with said secondary interstage phase separator bottoms fraction stream, and catalytically hydrotreating the combined streams in an in-line fixed bed catalytic multistage hydrotreating reactor to provide a hydrotreated liquid product; and(d) distilling said bottoms liquid fraction from said second stage phase separation step, and withdrawing low-boiling hydrocarbon liquid products from the process.