Process and plant for producing hydrocarbon products from a feedstock originating from a renewable source, where a hydrogen-rich stream and on off-gas stream comprising hydrocarbons is formed. A portion of the hydrogen-rich stream is used as a recycle gas stream in a hydroprocessing stage for the production of said hydrocarbon products, and another portion may be used for hydrogen production, while the off-gas stream is treated to remove its H.sub.2S content and used as a recycle gas stream in the hydrogen producing unit, from which the hydrogen produced i.e. make-up hydrogen, is used in the hydroprocessing stage. The invention enables minimizing natural gas consumption in the hydrogen producing unit as well as steam reformer size.

A method for removing hydrocarbons from a solid phase and recovery thereof comprising the steps of

washing the solid phase contaminated with hydrocarbons by means of a composition comprising at least a surfactant so as to obtain a clean solid surface and a hydrocarbon-rich aqueous solution,
separating the hydrocarbon-rich aqueous solution from the clean solid phase, and
treating the hydrocarbon-rich aqueous solution by means of electrocoagulation/electroflotation to recover the hydrocarbons.

A method for producing oil, comprising injecting water and a solvent into a formation; producing a mixture comprising water, solvent, oil, and gas from the formation; separating the mixture into a first stream comprising oil, water, and a first portion of the solvent, and a second stream comprising gas and a second portion of the solvent, and exposing the second stream to water to remove the second portion of the solvent from the gas.

Methods are described for the production of a hydrocarbon product and selective rejection of low quality hydrocarbons from a bitumen-containing material, where product quality, production yield, processing input requirements, and environmental benefits are assessed for selecting a candidate method for deployment. The methods facilitate selection and deployment of sustainable hydrocarbon production operations rather than focusing on maximizing volumetric yield of hydrocarbons.

Aromatic compounds are prepared from a feed stream comprising biomass or a mixture of biomass and synthetic polymer in a process, comprising: a) subjecting the feed stream to a pyrolysis treatment in the presence of a cracking catalyst to yield a vaporous fraction comprising hydrocarbons with olefinic unsaturation and oxygen containing organic compounds and coke-laden cracking catalyst; b) separating the vaporous fraction from the coke-laden cracking catalyst; c) contacting the vaporous fraction with a second, aromatization catalyst in a conversion treatment to yield a conversion product comprising aromatic compounds; and d) recovering aromatic compounds from the conversion product, wherein the cracking catalyst is a naturally occurring material, selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, refractory oxides, minerals, industrial rock and mixtures thereof.

The present disclosure provides methods to transfer a pressurized slurry of plant-based biomass into a reactor vessel. The methods allow for the transfer of practical-sized pieces of biomass in a slurry pressurized to above about 300 psi.

A two-stage reactor is disclosed for the conversion of solid particulate biomass material. The reactor is designed to maximize conversion of the solid biomass material, while limiting excess cracking of primary reaction products. The two-stage reactor comprises a first stage rector, in which solid biomass material is thermally pyrolyzed to primary reaction products. The primary reaction products are catalytically converted in a second stage reactor.

The present disclosure provides a process and system for removing at least a portion of organosulfur compounds from an oil sands produced gas and transferring the organosulfur compounds to a bitumen-based liquid. One example of the system includes an absorber to contact the gas with an amount of liquid hydrocarbon sufficient to absorb some of the organosulfur compounds, producing an organosulfur enriched liquid hydrocarbon. The system includes a separator that accepts the organosulfur enriched liquid hydrocarbon and an emulsion that includes water and the bitumen-based liquid. The separator separates produced water from a bitumen-based mixture of organosulfur enriched liquid hydrocarbon and bitumen-based liquid. The system adds an amount of additional liquid hydrocarbon to separate the produced water from the bitumen-based mixture when the amount of liquid hydrocarbon added is less than the amount of liquid hydrocarbon needed to separate the produced water from the bitumen-based mixture.

Systems and methods for cooling and processing materials are disclosed.

Processes for obtaining substances from bark, especially bark high in suberin and lignin, which substances can be used for preparing biofuels are disclosed. The processes use a solvent system for dissolving the substances, which system can be recycled in the process. The solvent system comprises a base selected from tertiary aliphatic amines A composition comprising bark and the solvent system, which can be used in the processes, is also disclosed.