Direct olefin reduction of thermally cracked hydrocarbon streams

Abstract

A process that catalytically converts olefinic (Alkenes, typically liquid at standard temperature and pressure) material in thermally cracked streams to meet olefin content specifications for crude oil transport pipelines. A thermally cracked stream or portion of a thermally cracked stream is selectively reacted to reduce the olefin content within a reactor operating at specific, controlled conditions in the presence of a catalyst and the absence of supplemental hydrogen. The process catalyst is comprised of a blend of select catalyzing metals supported on an alumina, silica or shape selective zeolite substrate together with appropriate pore acidic components.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A process for producing an upgraded hydrocarbon product, comprising:
 supplying an olefin-containing bitumen stream to a catalytic reactor for contacting a catalyst material without the addition of supplemental hydrogen to convert olefins and produce a treated hydrocarbon stream with a reduced olefin content, the catalyst material comprising:
 a support material; and 
 a catalytic metal material comprising:
 an olefin cracking metal catalyst to crack olefins into smaller hydrocarbon components; and 
 a reforming metal catalyst for converting the smaller hydrocarbon components into longer-chain hydrocarbons by reaction pathways that include polymerization, cyclization, aromatization; 
 
   withdrawing the treated hydrocarbon stream from the catalytic reactor.   
     
     
         22 . The process of  claim 21 , further comprising cooling the treated hydrocarbon stream after withdrawal from the catalytic reactor to produce a cooled treated hydrocarbon stream, and separating the cooled treated hydrocarbon stream into a vapour stream and a liquid stream. 
     
     
         23 . The process of  claim 21 , further comprising adding a supplementary stream comprising low carbon number molecules to the olefin-containing bitumen stream prior to supplying to the catalytic reactor. 
     
     
         24 . The process of  claim 23 , wherein the low carbon number molecules comprise olefins. 
     
     
         25 . The process of  claim 23 , wherein the low carbon number molecules comprise methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, butane or butylene or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         26 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor comprises a vessel sized for flows between liquid hourly space velocities of 0.1 h −1  and 2 h −1 . 
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor is operated between atmospheric pressure and 70 bar. 
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 27 , wherein the olefin cracking metal catalyst comprises silver and the reforming metal catalyst comprises gallium. 
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor is operated between 70 bar and 140 bar. 
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 29 , wherein the olefin cracking metal catalyst comprises silver and the reforming metal catalyst comprises platinum or palladium. 
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor is operated at temperatures between 300° F. and 662° F. 
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the olefin-containing bitumen stream is in liquid phase when entering the catalytic reactor. 
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor comprises:
 a main catalytic bed comprising the catalyst material; and   an upstream pre-treatment unit configured to remove contaminants, the upstream pre-treatment unit comprising a catalytic bed or an absorbent bed and being configured to remove at least sulfur-based molecules having deleterious effects on the catalyst material.   
     
     
         34 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the olefin cracking metal catalyst comprises at least one noble metal. 
     
     
         35 . The process of  claim 34 , wherein the reforming metal catalyst comprises at least one platinum group metal or at least one post-transition metal, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         36 . The process of  claim 35 , wherein the at least one platinum group metal is selected from the group consisting of palladium and platinum. 
     
     
         37 . The process of  claim 35 , wherein the at least one post-transition metal is gallium. 
     
     
         38 . The process of  claim 35 , wherein the support material has acidic activity. 
     
     
         39 . The process of  claim 35 , wherein the support material comprises alumina-based material, silica-based material or zeolite material or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         40 . The process of  claim 39 , wherein the support material is formed as an extruded structure. 
     
     
         41 . The process of  claim 35 , wherein the catalytic metal material is present in an amount of at least 0.1 wt % and less than 10 wt % on a total weight basis of the catalyst material. 
     
     
         42 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein conversion of the olefins in the catalytic reactor is at least 75 wt % based on the total amount of olefins in the olefin-containing bitumen stream supplied into the catalytic reactor. 
     
     
         43 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein conversion of the olefins is performed without supplemental hydrogen donor compounds added to the catalytic reactor. 
     
     
         44 . The process of  claim 21 , wherein the catalytic reactor comprises:
 an inlet to introduce the olefin-containing bitumen stream;   a reactor body in fluid communication with the inlet to receive the olefin-containing bitumen stream, the reactor body containing a flow distribution assembly and a fixed reactor bed comprising the catalyst material for flowing the olefin-containing bitumen stream to contact the reactor bed; and   an outlet in fluid communication with the reactor body for removal of the treated hydrocarbon stream.