Premium
Heavy oil processing in steam and hydrogen plasmas
Author(s) -
Kubanek G.,
Munz R. J.,
Gauvin W. H.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450640513
Subject(s) - hydrogen , acetylene , chemistry , carbon monoxide , plasma , ethylene , soot , methane , steam reforming , carbon dioxide , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , hydrogen production , organic chemistry , catalysis , combustion , physics , quantum mechanics
Heavy oil in the form of finely divided spray was reacted with steam and hydrogen plasmas respectively. The heavy oil was preheated to 473 K at a pressure of 2 MPa and fed through pressure atomizers at flow rates between 0.002 and 0.08 m 3 /h into a dc plasma jet contained in a reactor 20 cm in diameter and 1.5 m long. The hydrogen and steam plasmas had maximum initial temperatures of 6000 K and 3450 K respectively and specific net energy inputs between 0.4 and 12.6 kWh/kg oil were used. With a hydrogen plasma, the heavy oil reacted to form acetylene, ethylene, methane, soot, and pitches, while with a steam plasma, carbon monoxide and dioxide were formed as well. Light liquid hydrocarbons were not in evidence. Increases in the hydrogen (or steam)‐to‐oil ratio and specific energy consumption increased the oil‐to‐gas conversions.