A method of removing metals and amines from crude oil comprising adding an effective metal removing amount of one or more hydroxycarboxylic acids selected from lactic acid and malic acid and salts thereof to said crude oil; adding wash water to said crude oil; mixing said crude oil, acid and wash water to form an emulsion; and resolving said emulsion into an aqueous phase and crude oil having a reduced metals content.

Methods of producing organic materials, and in particular methods of producing petroleum materials and organic compounds such as aromatic acids, phenols, and aliphatic poly-carboxylic acids using an oxidative hydrothermal dissolution (OHD) process are disclosed.

A method to selectively remove metal compounds and sulfur from a petroleum feedstock is provided. The method comprising the steps of feeding a pre-heated water stream and a pre-heated petroleum feedstock to a mixing zone, mixing the pre-heated water stream and the pre-heated petroleum feedstock to form a mixed stream, introducing the mixed stream to a first supercritical water reactor to produce an upgraded stream, combining the upgraded stream and a make-up water stream in a make-up mixing zone to produce a diluted stream, wherein the make-up water stream increases the ratio of water to oil in the diluted stream as compared to the upgraded stream, and introducing the diluted stream to a second supercritical water reactor to produce a product effluent stream. The method can include mixing a carbon with the make-up water stream.

A continuous process for upgrading highly waxy crude oil by contacting the highly waxy crude oil with supercritical water fluid to produce low pour point, high value crude oil having low sulfur, low nitrogen, and low metallic impurities for use as hydrocarbon feedstock.

The invention relates to a continuous process for converting carbonaceous material contained in one or more feedstocks into a liquid hydrocarbon product, said feedstocks including the carbonaceous material being in a feed mixture including one or more fluids, said fluids including water, the process comprising: converting at least part of the carbonaceous material by: pressurizing the feed mixture to an operational pressure in the range 150-400 bar, heating the feed mixture to an operational temperature in the range 300-450 C., and maintaining said pressurized and heated feed mixture in the desired pressure and temperature ranges in a reaction zone for a predefined time; cooling the feed mixture to a temperature in the range 25-200 C. and expanding the feed mixture to a pressure in the range of 1-70 bar, thereby causing the carbonaceous material to be converted to a liquid hydrocarbon product; and separating from the converted feed mixture a fraction comprising liquid hydrocarbon product; where in a state of discontinued operation the inflow of feed mixture is terminated and the system is filled with a fluid; where the pressure and temperature is set to a predetermined desired level, where the temperature and the pressure are altered to the predetermined lower level at a predetermined rate and where the pressure during the altering is constantly kept at a level above the saturation pressure for the fluid at a given temperature.

Supercritical upgrading reactors and reactor systems for upgrading a petroleum-based compositions comprising one or more catalyst layers and, in some embodiments, one or more purging fluid inlets, where one or more catalyst layers at least partially sift and convert heavy hydrocarbon fractions to light hydrocarbon fractions to produce an upgraded supercritical reactor product. In some embodiments, upgrading reactor systems comprise one or more supercritical upgrading reactors and one or more supercritical standby reactors alternating functions such that a supercritical upgrading reactor is converted to a supercritical standby reactor and the supercritical standby reactor is converted to a supercritical upgrading reactor, where the supercritical upgrading reactor upgrades a combined feed stream while a supercritical standby reactor delivers a cleaning fluid into the supercritical standby reactor.

The present invention provides processes for catalytic deconstruction of biomass using a solvent produced in a bioreforming reaction.

The invention relates to a process for continuously converting carbonaceous material contained in one or more feedstocks into a liquid hydrocarbon product, said feedstocks including the carbonaceous material being in a feed mixture including one or more fluids, said fluids including water, the process comprising: converting at least part of the carbonaceous material by pressurising the feed mixture to an operational pressure in the range 150-400 bar, heating the feed mixture to an operational temperature in the range 300-450 C., and maintaining said pressurized and heated feed mixture in the desired pressure and temperature ranges in a reaction zone for a predefined time; cooling the feed mixture to a temperature in the range 25-200 C. and expanding the feed mixture to a pressure in the range of 1-70 bar, thereby causing the carbonaceous material to be converted to a liquid hydrocarbon product; and separating from the converted feed mixture a fraction comprising liquid hydrocarbon product; where prior to the pressurisation and heating of the feed mixture the system has been brought to an operational state by filling the system with a fluid while the system being at a temperature and a pressure below the operational temperature and pressure, and subsequently heating and pressurizing the fluid to the operational conditions at a predetermined heating and pressurisation rate, where the pressure is constantly kept at a level above the saturation pressure for the fluid at a given temperature; and where upon reaching the operational temperature and pressure the fluid inflow to the pressurisation is terminated and the feed mixture inflow to the pressurisation is initiated.

Hydrocarbon-containing feedstocks are processed to produce useful intermediates or products, such as fuels. For example, systems are described that can process a petroleum-containing feedstock, such as oil sands, oil shale, tar sands, and other naturally-occurring and synthetic materials that include both hydrocarbon components and solid matter, to obtain a useful intermediate or product.

It has been discovered that metals and/or amines can be removed or transferred from a hydrocarbon phase to a water phase in an emulsion breaking process by using a composition that contains water-soluble hydroxyacids. Suitable water-soluble hydroxyacids include, but are not necessarily limited to glycolic acid, gluconic acid, C.sub.2-C.sub.4 alpha-hydroxy acids, poly-hydroxy carboxylic acids, thioglycolic acid, chloroacetic acid, polymeric forms of the above hydroxyacids, poly-glycolic esters, glycolate ethers, and ammonium salt and alkali metal salts of these hydroxyacids, and mixtures thereof. The composition may also include at least one mineral acid to reduce the pH of the desalter wash water. A solvent may be optionally included in the composition. The invention permits transfer of metals and/or amines into the aqueous phase with little or no hydrocarbon phase undercarry into the aqueous phase. The composition is particularly useful in treating crude oil emulsions, and in removing calcium and other metals therefrom.