The increase in manufacture of motor and boiler fuels, and of various kinds of raw materials for petrochemistry and organic synthesis, under circumstances of limited possibilities for petroleum production, can be achieved only at the expense of further deepening of petroleum processing by involving heavy petroleum residues, including fuel oils, in the processing.

In the world practice, the following processes for the processing of heavy residues are widely used: Thermal cracking is a high-temperature processing of petroleum raw material to obtain products of less molecular weight. The range of cracking temperatures is from 570 to 900 K.

The processes of thermal cracking fall under two main types: - low-temperature cracking, including visbreaking, at a temperature of 710 to 770 K and at a pressure of up to 3 MPa, the duration of the process being from 90 to 200 seconds; and. high-temperature cracking, including coke formation, at a temperature of 800 to 900 K and at a pressure of 0.12 to 0.16 MPa.

Hydrocracking is a catalytic processing of heavy oils and residual distillation products in the presence of hydrogen (in circulating environment).

The temperature of hydrocracking processes is from 570 to 730 K, pressure is from 6 to 25 MPa, and the catalysts used are zeolites containing cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, tungsten and other active elements.

Pvrolysis is a process of transformation of petroleum hydrocarbons at temperatures from 900 to 1200 K. Low-temperature (< 1000 K) and high- temperature (above 1000 K) pyrolysis are distinguished. Duration of the pyrolysis is from 10-3 to 10 seconds.

Pyrolysis is used for the production of hydrocarbon gases, gasoline and gas oil fractions. Pyrolysis in tubular furnaces has been developed, investigated and widely distributed in industry.

Hiqh-velocitv pyrolvsis Pyrolysis processes of petroleum raw material are now intensively investigated, developed and applied in the world practice, which processes allow increasing the depth of petroleum processing and the productivity of equipment and reducing expenses for the implementation of the process.

High-temperature degradation pyrolysis is directed at providing the maximum output of target products such as synthesis gas, olefins, light petroleum products, etc. , by applying the most severe conditions (in respect to the temperature and duration of the process) in comparison to various kinds of thermal processing of petroleum raw material.

The heating rate of raw material in the high-velocity pyrolysis is about 104 -105 calories/sec and more, the reaction time is 10-3-10-1 seconds, and the thermal flow is about 106 Watts/m2 and more.

The process of High-velocity pyrolysis comprises the following main steps: - providing a heat-transfer medium having temperature of 1600 to 2000 C and higher; - fast and effective mixing raw material and heat-transfer medium at the contact time of 0.008 to 0.05 sec; - pyrolysis at temperatures of 900 to 1100°C and higher; - termination of pyrolysis by quenching of the reaction mixture to 300°C by injection directly into a reaction zone of quenching agents, such as water or various hydrocarbon compositions.

Various implementations of high-velocity pyrolysis, basically directed to production of raw material for organic synthesis (target product being ethylene), are known in the world practice, such as"Hoechst" (Germany),"Montecatini"

(Italy),"Kove" (Japan),"Huels" (Germany), "Kureha"-"Chitoda" (Japan),"Dow Chemicals" (USA), etc.

Another modification of the above described high-velocity pyrolysis is called"a high-temperature reactor pyrolysis (HTR-Pyrolysis)"and was developed in 90's at the Baltic Technical University ("Voenmech") and some other research institutes and construction bureaus in Russia.

The above technological process involves homogeneous pyrolysis conducted in a high-velocity, high-temperature reactor.

The main advantages of the above technology are: - the high efficiency of the process, with rather low overall dimensions of the basic reactor equipment; - low cost of obtained products; - high controllability of the technological process, based on the use of a combination of physical-chemical, hydraulic and thermal processes.

The HTR-pyrolysis is characterised by the following major factors: The temperature of degradation reactions and subsequent synthesis (of up to 2500 K); the temperature is maintained within the margin r of not more than 20-30 K, depending on the characteristics of raw material, oxidizer and fuel, and on the target products; Time of retention of raw material in the reaction zone; taking into account the temperature, time of retention is maintained within the range of 5-10 x 10-3 sec; Pressure in the reactor, which is chosen so as to provide the minimal coke formation and maximum yield of target products; The HTR-pyrolysis further included the steps of : - introduction of initiating additives, including hydrogen, methanol, various hydrocarbon mixtures, water, into the reaction zone; - adjusting the process parameters by selection of fuel/oxidizer ratio in the formation of"a working body".

RU 2188846 describes a method for processing of hydrocarbon raw material, in particular of gas oils, black oil and other fractions of heavy hydrocarbon raw material by thermal pyrolysis. The known method for the processing of hydrocarbon raw material containing fractions boiling at a

temperature higher than 350°C includes formation of high-temperature heat- transfer medium by burning fuel in oxygen, preliminary heating of hydrocarbon raw material to a temperature higher than its melting point but lower than the temperatures of coke or tar formation, and simultaneous submission of the high- temperature heat-transfer medium and preheated hydrocarbon raw material in a reaction zone of the pyrolysis chamber, with subsequent quenching of reaction products at a lower temperature. The specific feature of the known process is that the heating of hydrocarbon raw material up to a temperature of 700 to 2500°C in the reaction zone is carried out at a rate of (4-5) x10 5 degrees/sec.

The raw material is heated by mixing it with high-temperature gaseous "working body"obtained by burning of fuel. The HTR-pyrolysis is performed in a gas phase, that is in highly homogenous conditions of processing of raw material that provides the high selectivity of the process. The composition of a reaction mass can be optimized to increase the yield of target fractions (gasoline, diesel <BR> <BR> fuel, etc. ) by selection of an oxidizer: fuel ratio in the generator of working body (reactor runaway unit), as well as by addition of the initiating additives (hydrogen, <BR> <BR> methanol, etc. ) to the raw material. The presence of these components in the reaction zone accelerates the degradation process and results in the reduction in the coke formation.

The raw material is injected in the reactor in the heated and highly dispersed (vapourised) condition that servesto decrease the coke formation.

The reactions of cracking and synthesis occur at high temperature, high rate and minimal retention time in the reaction zone. As a result, dimensions, volume and weight of the equipment can be considerably reduced.

The high temperature intensity requires the use of special materials and additional means to provide reliability and safety of the equipment.

However, the known process has the following drawbacks. High temperature of the reaction mixture results in the increase of the volume of gaseous pyrolysis products and in the reduction of yield of petroleum liquid fractions, which, according to the patent, does not exceed 49 % of the total weight of raw material. High temperature of the reaction mixture causes increased coke formation, even despite of the use of lowered temperature in the preliminary heating of raw material. Since the use of petroleum for the production

of a working body is not stipulated in the known process, it does not allow applying the known process in northern areas of petroleum production and carrying out its processing on a place for own needs and needs of region, and also for the production of thermal and electric energy. Besides, the known process is aimed at an increase in the contents of olefins in the liquid fraction of high-temperature pyrolysis.

Disclosure of the invention The object of the present invention is the reduction in the yield of olefins and increase in the yield of light liquid fractions of target products such as motor fuel.

Another object of the invention is widening the range of raw materials that can be processed.

Still another object of the invention is providing the possibility of usingthe process in the areas of production of petroleum, including in northern areas and improvement of quality of processing of petroleum.

Still another object is reduction in the coke formation during processing.

These objects are achieved by a process for the processing of hydrocarbon raw material including heavy crude oil, heavy petroleum residues and natural bitumen, the process comprising providing a high-temperature flow of a heat-transfer medium, pre-heating the hydrocarbon raw material to a temperature sufficient for its pulverizing, simultaneous feeding the high- temperature heat-transfer medium and preheated hydrocarbon raw material into a reaction zone of a pyrolysis chamber with subsequent quenching of reaction products, characterized in that the preheating is carried out to a temperature sufficient for the pulverization of the raw material, the preheated raw material is fed into the reaction zone in the absence of oxygen in a finely dispersed form, and is heated by the heat-transfer medium to a temperature of 700 to 850°C at a rate of (0,1-1) x105 degrees/sec, resulting in degradation of high molecular weight components, at a ratio of the raw material/heat-transfer medium, providing subsequent rapid decrease in the temperature of the reaction mixture to 400-500°C to provide the synthesis of low molecular weight components.

Preferably, the particle size of the pulverized raw material is from 2 to 150 microns, more preferably, from 2 to 5 microns.

Preferably, the duration of reaction in the heating zone is from 2,5 x 10-3 to 10~1 sec.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the high-temperature heat-transfer medium is generated in a gas generator and the heat-transfer medium is fed into the pyrolysis chamber as a high-rate flow, into which the hydrocarbon raw material being introduced.

To produce the high-temperature heat-transfer medium, natural methane- based gas, fuel gases, black oil and petroleum are used as a fuel.

Pyrolysis process is carried out within a pressure range of from 0,1 kPa to 0,3 MPa, or even possibly within a broader range of from 0,1 kPa to 2 MPa.

It is further possible to carry out heating of the reaction chamber to a temperature of 700 to 900°C.

Preferably, after the temperature of 700°C is achieved in the reaction zone, quenching components are introduced into the reaction flow to cool the reaction mixture to a temperature level of 450°C. It is further possible during the quenching process to introduce starting hydrocarbon raw material to be processed or its fractions into the reaction flow for deeper processing of the raw material. Also it is possible to introduce water or steam into the reaction flow during the quenching process.

Once the quenching has been carried out, hydrogen is introduced into the reactor to decrease the content of olefins in reaction products.

After pyrolysis products are cooled to a temperature of 450°C, quenching components are introduced into the flow and the pyrolysis products are further cooled to a temperature of 350°C.

After the secondary quenching process, preheated combustible slates are further introduced into reaction products for carrying out desulfurization of reaction products.

The process of the invention can be implemented in an apparatus for processing hydrocarbon raw material, including heavy petroleum, heavy petroleum residues and natural bitumen, the apparatus comprising:

- a unit for the formation of a high-temperature flow of the heat-transfer medium, - a unit for preheating hydrocarbon raw material to a temperature sufficient for its pulverization, - a high-temperature pyrolysis chamber comprising means for feeding preheated hydrocarbon raw material into a reaction zone of the pyrolysis chamber and means for feeding quenching materials, wherein the high-temperature pyrolysis chamber comprises means for pulverizing the preheated raw material in the chamber, and - the process is carried out in the absence of oxygen, the raw material being heated by the heat-transfer medium to a temperature of 700°C at a rate of (0, 1-1) x105 degrees/sec, the raw material/heat-transfer medium ratio providing a further fast decrease in the temperature of the reaction mixture to 400°C.

The present process for the petroleum processing has the following advantages.

First, the process for the high-temperature processing is based on the principle of pyrolysis of heavy oils and distillation residues at a temperature of up to 2000°C without oxygen access.

Second, the present process combines the advantages of the technology of liquid rocket engines with the possibility to use available and cheap raw material, in particular: - practically any medium, including starting raw material, can be used as a cooling agent in the reactor; - any heavy petroleum, heavy petroleum residues, etc. , can be used to produce combustion products ("working body"); - the heat transfer is achieved by convection exchange from a working body to a raw material to be processed without use of heat exchanging technical devices; - uniform temperature field is obtained in the produced products of combustion (of fuel and oxidizer); - the burning process can be controlled with a high velocity; - the temperature of combustion products can be varied very rapidly from the maximum feasible to the minimal feasible.

Further, according to the invention, preferably, the configuration of the reactor provides for: - injection of the raw material at different locations along the length of the reactor, to select the location providing the highest efficacy of the technological process; - additional injection of supplemental reagents improving parameters of the technological process; -changing the retention time of raw material in the technological process by varying the length of the reactor; - producing the working body by using the acceleration unit of different design; - making replacement in case of default or occurrence of malfunction in the reactor.

Brief description of drawings Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a pilot plant for processing heavy petroleum according to the process of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows an example embodiment of the pilot plant for processing heavy petroleum according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Characteristics of the raw material According to the requirements of technical specifications of 000 "Surgutgasprom", the distillation residue transported in 200 kg barrels from "Surgut ZSK"was used as a starting material. Samples of this product were sent in 20-kg plastic canisters to the analytical center of 000"Kirishinefteorgsintez", to the Russian Research and Development Institute of Electrification of Agriculture, Russian Academy of Agricultural Science (RANH), Moscow, and to The Russian Petroleum Research and Development Institute of Geological Survey (VNIGRI).

The physico-chemical characteristics of the distillation residue from "Surgut ZSK"are presented in Table 1. The fractional composition of the

distillation residue and physico-chemical characteristics of narrow fractions are presented in Table 2. The data in the Tables are presented by"Surgut ZSK".

Analysis of the physico-chemical characteristics of the distillation residue.

In the analysis, the data on physico-chemical characteristics of a distillation residue from the column K-1 of"Surgut ZSK"were used.

The distillation residue K-1 is a component of furnace boiler oil M-100 having the increased content of paraffin hydrocarbons and a low sulfur content.

The low flash point of the product (below 45°C) is either a consequence of an undue operation of an atmospheric pressure column or corresponds to specifically aimed operation of the plant.

In any case, the product cannot be certified as a furnace boiler oil M-100 or as an oil propellant for open-hearth furnaces because of the low flash point.

However, low content of sulfur makes the product a rather advisable component of boiler oils in petroleum processing plants in processing sulfurous and high- sulfur oils. Because of the considerable content of paraffines the methods of further processing of the K-1 distillation residue cannot be recommended for the purpose of producing grease oils, coke and bitumen. At the same time it is a good raw material for catalytic cracking (via vacuum gas oil), hydrocracking, visbreaking and modern modifications of pyrolysis. Therefore, under conditions of "Surgut ZSK", the possibility of processing of raw material by the process according to the invention has been studied, following the high-temperature pyrolysis technique based on HTR. The HTR method envisages a number of variants of the pyrolysis and, depending on a target problem, maximal yield of bright oils. On the basis of the technical specifications, the pour point for these products was equal to-60°C.

2. A description of the block diagram Fig. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating the method of processing of the above described raw material according to the invention. The basic steps and features of the process are: - preparing and feeding a raw material, oxidant, fuel, quenching water, hydrogen, and other additives;

- providing a high-temperature"working body"having pre-selected characteristics; - heating the raw material to the pyrolysis temperature by mixing with the "working body" (pulverization, preheating etc. ) ; - carrying out of pyrolysis reactions at a stable temperature; - quenching to 400-500°C by introducing quenching liquid into reaction mass, with a decrease in the temperature of the reaction mass; - cooling through a wall of a heat exchanger; - extraction of solid phase (carbon black separation) from the reaction effluent ; - cooling, stabilization, separation of water and separation into fractions.

According to the above-mentioned process steps, the pilot plant comprises the following units and sections (Fig. 1): accelerating unit 11, section 12 for storage and feeding raw material, HTR unit 13, carbon black separation unit 14, unit 15 for separation of product and water.

Accelerating unit 11 The purpose of unit 15 is the formation of a working body. The unit comprises an auxiliary HTR and a compressor for supplying air or oxygen.

"Working Body"or synthesis gas is formed by combustion of methane (provided from the plant line) in oxygen (provided by the compressor). The process runs at a temperature of up to 2000 K and a pressure from 0,1 kPa to 2,0 MPa. The working body with the above specified properties is fed into the HTR unit after premixing with the raw material and hydrogen from the plant line.

Natural methane-based gas, fuel gases, boiler oil, or petroleum are used as a fuel to generate a high-temperature heat-transfer medium.

The working body consists of the products of combustion (oxidation) of fuel and oxidant.

By utilizing the process, it is possible - to select an economically expedient working body temperature scheme; - to use a system for feeding methanol/water mixture to produce the working body with the given characteristics providing efficient pyrolysis of the distillation residue of K-1 column ;

- to utillize fat gas of"Surgut ZSK"as a fuel for producing the working body.

Use of hydrogen allows utilizing residual hydrogen from"Surgut ZSK", thereby solving economical and ecological problem.

A system for preheating and feeding distillation residue The present device provides preheating the distillation residue to a temperature of 60°C by using the heat of output product stream and feeding the residue to mix with the working body in the reactor unit of a reaction chamber. At temperatures of up to 1500°C, degradation of molecules of heavy hydrocarbons occurs.

Water injected into the reactor forms water steam and stabilizes the process. The temperature of a steam/gas mixture exiting from the reactor is 350- 400°C. The mixture is fed to the carbon black separation unit.

Testing a sample of the product mixture has shown that the reactor provides processing the distillation residues to a yield of light hydrocarbons not less than 70 %.

The heat emitted in the process can be utilized for preheating the raw material to be processed, to increase the temperature of the condensed hydrocarbons in subsequent processes to make them compliant with the technical requirements of the standards, or otherwise utilized.

The process is performed at temperatures of 1500-2000°C, pressures from 1 to 10 MPa, duration of degradation of hydrocarbon raw material molecules of 10-15 milliseconds.

The distillation residue is fed to the working body reactor. The velocity of the feed stream is 180 kg per hour, 4320 kg per day. The residence time of the working body in the reactor does not exceed 10-15 milliseconds. Temperature of the working body is 3000 K. The pyrolysis temperature is 1800-2100 K.

Downstream the working body reactor, after 10-15 milliseconds, the pyrolysis products enter a quenching reactor wherein the temperature of pyrolysis of the distillation residue is reduced to the level excluding occurrence of any process involving chemical reaction.

Section 12 for storage and preparation of raw material The section consists of 2 heat-insulated containers (up to 100 M3) having a means for preheating steam (water) and a pump station.

The raw material (distillation residue) is supplied at a temperature of not lower than 60° under pressure of, e. g. 1.8 MPa, to a means for preparing a finely dispersed pulverised material to mix it with the working body in the HTR unit. The feeding of the raw material in a finely dispersed form provides for considerableincrease of its heating velocity and, consequently, the velocity of pyrolysis, thereby lowering the residence time of raw material in the reaction zone. According to the invention, the time of proceeding the reaction in the heating zone is from 2,5 x 10-3 to 10-1 seconds. The raw material is preheated using the heat of the product stream.

A cavitator or a pulveriser or a similar device providing the particle size of the pulverised raw material from 2 to 150 microns, preferably from 2 to 5 microns, is used as the pulverisation device.

High Temperature Reactor (HTR) unit 13 The unit comprises HTR 13 along with supplemental means for feeding, cooling and quenching liquid, such as water. It is also possible to feed raw material, methanol water and other fluids for the quenching. HTR is a hollow non- insulated cylinder with a capillary cooling system, the cylinder having the following dimensions: a diameter of up to 40 cm, preferably up to 30 cm; a length of 120 cm. The process of degradation of the raw material occurs at temperatures up to 2000 K, pressures from 0,1 to 2 MPa, preferably up to 0,3 MPa, and pyrolysis time of from 2,5 x 10-3 up to 10~1 sec (for example, 10-15 milliseconds).

The heat is provided by the working body fed from the accelerating unit. At the exit from HTR the reaction mixture is quenchedto 400-500°Cby addition of water thereto. The quenching is required for creating the operating conditions necessary for separation of the carbon black and the subsequent synthesis of hydrocarbons.

In the HTR, cracking of the heavy hydrocarbons occurs to form light saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, with subsequent saturation of them with

hydrogen, which is fed mainly with the working body (synthesis gas) and additionally, from a plant line.

The hydrogen is supplied directly into the unit for mixing it with the distillation residue, to increase the quality and quantity of the light petroleum fractions obtained.

After the quenching reactor, the pyrolysis products enter a cyclone, in which solid carbon particles are separated. The pyrolysis products can further be fed into the second quenching stage, where a further decrease in their temperature occurs, and thereafter are fed to a cooler and into a system for separation into liquid hydrocarbons and water. Modifications and variations in the design of this unit are possible.

Carbon black separation unit 14 The unit consists of a cyclone and a carbon black collector. The process is performed at a temperature 400-500°C and a pressure e. g. of 1 MPa. The mixture purified from carbon black and metals, e. g. vanadium and nickel, is directed to the product and water separation unit.

Desulfuration unit Optionally, after the process of secondary quenching is performed, or after separation of the carbon black, the product stream can be treated in a desulfuration unit wherein preheated pyroshales are introduced into the reaction stream for desulfuration of the reaction products.

Product and water separation unit 15 This unit comprises a heat exchanger for preheating the raw material, air and water condensers, and a finished product separator. The main process is performed in the separator at the temperature of 35°C and pressure of from 0,1 MPa to 2 MPa, in particular e. g. 0,8 Mpa. Under these conditions, water is separated and directed to a recycle line of the plant, while the gas phase is directed to a fuel line of the plant.

The resulting product is a mixture of naphtha fractions and diesel oil. This product is stored in a tank battery of the plant wherefrom the product can be supplied to a unit for producing motor fuels, or shipped as a light oil.

3. Description of the block diagram for processing of the distillation residue Fig. 2 shows the block diagram of an installation for processing the distillation residue in Voronezh Design Bureau"Khimavtomatica". Natural gas (methane) in a mixture with the gas separated from separator 8 and hydrogen from a plant line enters through a burner device 11 in a stream of air generator 1 of the"working body", where as a result of intensive burning, the"working body" (synthesis gas) is formed, having a temperature of up to 2000 K and a pressure of up to 0,3 MPa. Raw material from container 9 is fed for preheating by a pump 10 to a heat exchanger 5 for preheating, where it heats up to the temperature of 250°C, and then is directed to the HTR reaction zone 2, wherein the raw material is processed in accordance with the reaction scheme"degradation-synthesis", when mixed with the"working body"having temperature of up to 2000 K and pressure of from 0,1 to 0,3 MPa.

As seen in the block diagram, hydrogen, water, or methanol water is fed into different HTR zones for initiation of desirable reactions. The walls of HTR and "working body"generator are cooled with a refrigerant, for example by water, through a capillary system. The reaction mixture from HTR 2 is directed to quenching device 3, where a process of"quenching" (stopping of reactions) is performed by instantaneous cooling by water or another refrigerant.

The quenching device 3 consists of one or two zones. If it includes one zone, one-step cooling to 400-500°C is performed in this zone for separation of carbon black and hydrocarbon synthesis. Alternatively, if there are two zones, stoppage of reactions is performed in the first zone by introducing water or other quenching liquid, and in the second zone, the reaction mixture is prepared for carbon black separation and synthesis.

After exiting the quenching device 3, the reaction mixture having the temperature of 400-500°C enters a solid phase precipitation cyclone 4 where a process of removal of carbon black and other solid impurities occurs.

Further, the product mixture successively passes through a heat exchanger 5 for preheating raw material, air cooler 6, water cooler 7, and at the temperature of 35°C and pressure of up to 0.8 MPa, enters separating and settling tank 8.

In the separation and settling tank 8, the product is stabilised by removal of gas phase, which is directed to the head part of the installation. Water is removed from the bottom of the separation and settling tank 8, and after sludge is settled, fed to recycling system.

The product from the middle part of the separator is removed to a predefined cut-off level and is sent to reservoirs of product material of the plant or for other purposes.

4. Experiments and analysis of obtained results 4. 1. Technique for producing"working body" A series of tests was performed on laboratory HTR (up to 10 g/sec) to produce the"working body". In the experiments, a method of producing "synthesis gas"by combustion of methane in air was used. Operating conditions were as follows : coefficient of air excess, L, 0.35 ; temperature up to 1400°C ; pressure from 50 to 100 bar.

The main process was carried out in the high-temperature reactor. It is a hollow cylindrical vessel provided with a device for introduction of a working mixture and of degradation products. The walls of the vessel are provided with an express cooling system. A reactor claimed in the utility model of Russian Federation 2 206 387 can be used as the reactor.

The temperature profile of the process is automatically controlled by feeding"quenching"water immediately into HTR. The drawing of HTR design, with the input and output streams indicated, can be seen in the above mentions patent RU 2 206 387.

The synthesis gas having the following composition, % vol. is obtained in the tests: H2-23 %; CO-16 %; CH4-1 %; C02-3 %; H20-4 %; ZNOX-53 %.

The temperature of the synthesis gas can be increased up to 2500°C, if required. The presence of a considerable amount of hydrogen (up to 23 %) is a desirable factor for the subsequent step of degradation of the distillation residue.

4. 2 ; Degradation of the distillation residue in laboratory HTR The distillation residue was tested in K-1 column in"Surgut ZSK"using auxiliary HTR (10 g/sec), in September 25-30,2001.

The technological process was performed in the following conditions: Feed rate of raw material-5-10 g/sec Pressure-10 bar Temperature-1600 K The distillation residue of K-1 (results of the analysis of raw material is presented in Table 1) was used as the raw material. The ignition is performed with the use of an alcohol/methane mixture, compressed air being used as an oxidant. The qualitative and quantitative composition of the obtained mixture was analyzed using computer analysers. Physical constants were not evaluated because of small quantities of the obtained products.

As a result of pyrolysis of the distillation residue, the product is obtained (approximate composition is appended) comprising up to 50% of light oils (including butanes) and considerable amount of lower olefins, including ethylene, propylene and butenes having good outlooks for organic synthesis. It is expected that the content of olefines can be reduced considerably by using the working body having hydrogen content of 22-24 %.

4.3. Estimated material balance of pyrolysis of the distillation residue from K-1 The material balance is calculated with carbon oxides, water and nitrogen compounds being excluded.

No. Component Conversion of the raw material, % wt.

1. C1-C2 3-5 2. Ethylene 8-11 3. Propane 5-7 4. Propylene 4-8 5. Butane 5-8

6. Butenes 12-16 7. Hydrocarbons IBP-195°C 20-23 8. Hydrocarbons 195-270°C 9-11 9. Hydrocarbons 270-360°C 5-9 10. Hydrocarbons 360+°C 5-7 11. Carbon black & vapour conversion losses 10-12 The components of items No. 7-9 are main products, the components of item 10 are utilized as recycled raw material, the components of items 2,4 and 6 are utilized as a raw material for producing gasoline hydrocarbons by catalytic conversion, and the components of items 1,3 and 5 are utilized as a fuel for producing the heat-transfer medium.

5. Description of the example embodiment of the invention 12 kg of distillation residue was heated to 70°C and fed to a reactor 2 through a pulverization device. The temperatureof the working body in the reactor was 2000°C. The temperature of the distillation residue increased up to 1120 K after feeding the raw material into the process of hydrocarbon cleavage as a micro-explosion.

Immediately thereafter, the quenching was carried out during 10 milliseconds by feeding a quenching agent (in this example, distilled water) into the reactorf, , with a drop in the temperature of the raw material to 800K. After that reaction mixture from the reactor is fed through a pipeline into a heat exchanger, where the temperature decreased to 311°C. Thereby, 9-12 kg of a liquid fraction was obtained.

The distillation residue in total weight of 12 kg from"Surgut ZSK", with a pour point of +29°C was used as the raw material ; the tar content was 17,96 (% wt); the asphaltenes content was 3,82 (% wt). The results of the process for processing the distillation residue are presented in the Tables.

Table 3. Process variables.

Variables values Stoichiometric coefficient, a 0,95 Temperature of pyrolysis, K 1120

Quenching temperature, K 800 Temperature after a heat exchanger, K 311 Rate of feeding the distillation residue, kg/hour 90 Time of pyrolysis, milliseconds 10 Pressure in the reactor, bar 3 Temperature of the distillation residue, °C 70 Table 4. Material balance No. Item kg % 1 Distillation residue 12,00 100 % 2 Liquid fraction 9,12 76 % 3 Gas 2,58 21, 5 % 4 Carbon black and losses 0,3 2, 5 % Total 100 % Table 5. Physical-chemical characteristics No. Parameters Liquid fraction 1 Kinematic viscosity, mm2 sec (at 20°C) 1,09 2 Specificgravity, g/cm3 0,991 3 The water-soluble alkali and acids absent 4 Ash content in inorganic part, %, no more 0,34 5 Actual composition (distilled substance) at 91 °C 76 % 6 Content of mechanical impurities, % 0,51 7 Water content, % 23, 66 8 Organic part, % 76 9 Pour point, °C-37°C Table 6. Composition of the gas phase of the pyrolysis product No. Components quantity, % wt.

1 Methane 2,6 2 Ethane 14,1 3 Ethylene 12,8 4 Propane 9,7

5 Propylene 5,5 6 Butane (including isobutanes) 1,3 7 Butenes 1,2 8 Water (H20) 1,2 9 N02-NOx 53,6 TOTAL 100 % Table 7. Fractional and group composition of liquid phase of the pyrolysis product No. Characteristics actual data 1 Initial boiling point, °C 18 2 10 % boiling point, °C 26 3 50 % boiling point, °C 73 4 76 % boiling point, °C 91 5 Final boiling point, °C 119 6 Content of saturated compounds (methane-naphthenic), % wt 36,4 7 Aromatic content, % wt 38,7 8 Olefin content (unsaturated, % wt) 24,4 9 Tar content, % wt 0,5 The analysis of the test results and yield of light products of processing of the distillation residue from the column K-1 of"Surgut ZSK", as well as the other data confirming percentages of light liquid hydrocarbons and other compounds obtained during the processing of the distillation residue, lead to the following conclusions : The yield of light liquid hydrocarbons is not be less than about 76 % Synthesis gas yield, about 20 % Solid waste products not more than about 5 % It is believed also that the inventive method of processing the distillation residue from"Surgut ZSK"provides for 100 % processing of raw material, with losses of solid particles up to 5 %. The high-temperature reactor provides the process for high efficiency processing the distillation residue.

In contrast to existing processes for the degradation of molecules of heavy hydrocarbonaceous raw material, the proposed process and installation for

processing heavy crude oils are universal and can be used for degradation of molecules of any heavy hydrocarbon fuel cuts without variations in design.

The energy expenditures for a ton of raw material are economically justified.

The proposed process and installation ensure the yield of hydrocarbons, including gases, of not less than 90-95 % of the starting feed. The actual losses (carbon black, sulfur, other solid particles) do not exceed 5-10% of the starting feed.

Variations in the process conditions make it possible to obtain not only light fractions of petroleum, but also other target chemical products with pre- selected properties, in particular, ethylene and acetylene.

Not only gaseous, but also liquid yields can be used as the power supplies (for preparing a"working body"). The reactor does not require design alterations for variation of temperature and velocity of degradation of hydrocarbonaceous raw material molecules.

The thermal energy expended for degradation of hydrocarbonaceous raw material, can further be utilized in the process of producing finished products.

The degradation process is performed in the absence of oxygen that elevates the yield of light fractions and moderates the formation of carbon black.

The reactor provides motor fuels with a considerable decrease in harmful <BR> <BR> impurities (sulfur etc. ) even if they were present in the starting feed stock. Due to the use of the high-temperature reactor, heavy fractions are absent from the final products.

All the devices, systems and blocks required for operation of the reactor and production of final products, are commercially available and are made serially by specialised plants. The high-temperature reactors are made in modular design that allows varying quantities of processed raw material.

Length of the reactor with inserts is 1200 mm. Bore diameter is up to 400 mm. The presence of Laval nozzle (a constricted part at the end of the reactor) allows creating a backpressure. The proposed HTR and the installation based on it allow processing distillation residue to liquid fractions of petroleum.

While the forgoing specification has described preferred embodiment (s) of the present invention, one skilled in the art may make many modifications to the

preferred embodiment without departing from the invention in its broader aspects.

Thus, for example, other equipment may be used to provide similar conditions at each step of the proposed method of processing hydrocarbonaceous material.

The appended claims therefore are intended to cover all such modifications as fall within the true scope and spirit of the invention.