The present invention relates to a composition comprising lignin and a solvent where the lignin is functionalized with an ether group.

Disclosed are processes for extracting deasphalted crude oil from oil sand. Deasphalted crude oil can be extracted using a hydrocarbon recycle solvent stream having specified Hansen blend parameters, with the oil sand being contacted with the hydrocarbon recycle solvent stream in a contact zone of a vessel to separate not greater than 80 wt % of the bitumen present on the oil sand. The separated bitumen is considered a deasphalted crude oil stream, since it has an asphaltenes content substantially lower than that of the total bitumen initially present on the oil sand. The deasphalted crude oil stream can be treated using a hydrotreating catalyst or catalytic cracking catalyst to produce transportation fuel.

Digestion of cellulosic biomass solids may be complicated by release of lignin therefrom. Methods and systems for processing a reaction product containing lignin-derived products, such as phenolics, can comprise hydrotreating the reaction product to convert the lignin-derived products to desired higher molecular weight compounds. The methods and systems can further include separating the higher molecular weight compounds from unconverted products, such as unconverted phenolics, and recycling the unconverted phenolics for use as at least a portion of the digestion solvent and for further conversion to desired higher molecular weight compounds with additional hydrotreatment. The methods and systems can further include a further hydrotreatment step configured for additional lignin conversion and/or a further hydrotreatment step configured for generating hydrogen.

Digestion of cellulosic biomass solids may be complicated by release of lignin therefrom. Methods and systems for processing a reaction product containing lignin-derived products, such as phenolics, can comprise hydrotreating the reaction product to convert the lignin-derived products to desired higher molecular weight compounds. The methods can further include separating the higher molecular weight compounds from unconverted products, such as unconverted phenolics, and recycling the unconverted phenolics for use as at least a portion of the digestion solvent and for further conversion to desired higher molecular weight compounds with additional hydrotreatment. The methods and systems can further include generating hydrogen with the further hydrotreatment.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of propylene-based polymers from waste plastics feedstocks comprising the steps in this order of: (a) providing a hydrocarbon stream A obtained by treatment of a waste plastics feedstock; (b) providing a hydrocarbon stream B; (c) supplying a feed C comprising a fraction of the hydrocarbon stream A and a fraction of the hydrocarbon stream B to a thermal cracker furnace comprising cracking coil(s); (d) performing a thermal cracking operation in the presence of steam to obtain a cracked hydrocarbon stream D; (e) supplying the cracked hydrocarbon stream D to a separation unit; (f) performing a separation operation in the separation unit to obtain a product stream E comprising propylene; (g) supplying the product stream E to a polymerisation reactor; and (h) performing a polymerisation reaction in the polymerisation reactor to obtain an propylene-based polymer; wherein in step (d): •⋅ the coil outlet temperature is 2:: 800 and:::; 850° C., preferably 2:: 805 and:::; 835° C.; and •⋅ the weight ratio of steam to feed C is >0.3 and <0.8.

A method of recovering one or more insoluble oils from a liquid source using one or more membrane or membrane contactors, comprising the steps of: pumping the liquid source comprising the one or more oils to the membranes or membrane contactors, contacting the liquid source with a first surface of the membrane or membrane contactors, coalescing the one or more oils within the liquid source onto the first surface of the membrane contactors, pumping one or more recovery fluids through the membrane or membrane contactors in contact with the second surface of the membrane or membrane contactors, and removing a first stream of oil coalesced from the second surface of the membranes or membrane contactors.

A method is disclosed of purifying a recycled or renewable organic material, wherein the recycled or renewable organic material includes more than 1 ppm silicon as silicon compounds and/or more than 10 ppm phosphorous as phosphorous compounds. The method can include providing a feed of the lipid material; heat treating the organic material in presence of an adsorbent and the filtering organic material and hydrotreating the lipid material in a presence of a hydrotreating catalyst to obtain purified hydrotreated organic material having less than 20% organic material and/or less than 30% of the original phosphorous content of the organic material.

Disclosed herein are methods for producing hydrocarbons from a subterranean reservoir that is penetrated by an injection well and a production well. The methods comprise operating the injection well under a set of injection parameters and operating the production well under a set of production parameters to produce a production fluid that has an API gravity that changes over time (ΔAPI) as the method is advanced towards an ultimate recovery factor (RF.sub.o,u) for the reservoir. The methods further comprises modulating the injection parameters, the production parameters, or a combination thereof to decrease or increase the API gravity of the production fluid depending on whether ΔAPI and RF.sub.o,u satisfy a set of requirements as disclosed herein.

Digestion of cellulosic biomass solids may be complicated by release of lignin therefrom. Methods and systems for processing a reaction product containing lignin-derived products, such as phenolics, can comprise hydrotreating the reaction product to convert the lignin-derived products to desired higher molecular weight compounds. The methods can further include separating the higher molecular weight compounds from unconverted products, such as unconverted phenolics, and recycling the unconverted phenolics for use as at least a portion of the digestion solvent and for further conversion to desired higher molecular weight compounds with additional hydrotreatment.

The invention relates to a catalytic process for upgrading a renewable crude oil produced from biomass and/or waste comprising providing a renewable crude oil and pressurizing it to a pressure in the range in the range 60 to 150 bar, contacting the pressurized renewable crude oil with hydrogen and at least one heterogeneous catalyst contained in a first reaction zone at a weight based hourly space velocity (WHSV) in the range 0.1 to 2.0 h.sub.−1 and at a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 360° C., hereby providing a partially upgraded renewable crude oil, separating the partially upgraded renewable crude oil from the first reaction zone to a partially upgraded heavy renewable oil fraction, a partially upgraded light renewable oil fraction, a water stream and a process gas stream, introducing the separated and partially upgraded heavy renewable oil fraction and separated process gas to a second reaction zone comprising at least two reactors arranged in parallel and being adapted to operate in a first and a second mode of operation, the reactors comprising dual functioning heterogeneous catalyst(-s) capable of performing a catalytic steam cracking reaction in a first mode of operation or a steam reforming reaction in a second mode of operation, where the partially upgraded heavy renewable oil fraction from the first reaction zone is contacted with the dual functioning heterogeneous catalyst and steam at a pressure of 10 to 150 bar and a temperature of 350° C. to 430° C. whereby a catalytic steam cracking of the partially upgraded heavy renewable oil is performed in the reactors in the first mode of operation, hereby providing a further upgraded heavy renewable oil fraction, while separated process gas from the first and/or second reaction zone is contacted with the dual functioning catalyst and steam at a pressure of 0.1 to 10 bar and a temperature of 350 to 600° C. in the reactors in the second mode of operation and contacted with the dual functioning catalyst, thereby producing a hydrogen enriched gas, separating the further upgraded heavy renewable oil fraction from the catalytically steam cracking reactor to at least one light renewable oil fraction, a heavy renewable oil fraction, a hydrogen rich process gas and a water phase, separating hydrogen from the hydrogen enriched gas from the catalytic steam cracking zone and/or from the catalytic steam reforming and recycling it to the first reaction zone, alternating the reactors between the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation at predetermined time intervals thereby allowing for regeneration of the heterogeneous catalyst for the catalytic steam cracking in the first mode of op