Heavy hydro-carbonaceous materials such as bitumen are upgraded in supercritical water in a continuous-flow reactor system. The present invention provides a reactor arrangement for and a method of converting bitumen and other highly viscous hydrocarbon containing materials into pumpable liquids to enable further processing of such materials while avoiding production of char. The process can be carried out in an underground reactor based on oil well technology. The reactor design and method facilitates mass transfer to dissolve bitumen in heated water and breaks down heavy hydrocarbons by controlling the temperature and pressure in zones within the flowing stream. The reactor may include an embedded electric heater.

A supercritical water separation process and system is disclosed for the removal of metals, minerals, particulate, asphaltenes, and resins from a contaminated organic material. The present invention takes advantage of the physical and chemical properties of supercritical water to effect the desired separation of contaminants from organic materials and permit scale-up. At a temperature and pressure above the critical point of water (374 C., 22.1 MPa), nonpolar organic compounds become miscible in supercritical water (SCW) and polar compounds and asphaltenes become immiscible. The process and system disclosed continuously separates immiscible contaminants and solids from the supercritical water and clean oil product solution. The present invention creates a density gradient that enables over 95% recovery of clean oil and over 99% reduction of contaminants such as asphaltenes and particulate matter depending on the properties of the contaminated organic material.

Methods to convert an oxygen containing organic compound(s) to one or more water-free liquid hydrocarbons products. They make use of a catalytic process in a two-stage reactor system having a first reactor and a second reactor in series. Process design is described for effective conversion of aqueous low energy-dense aqueous solutions containing oxygen containing organic compound(s) to liquid hydrocarbons; the process design preferably employs the solid acid catalysts comprised of microporous aluminosilicates denoted as zeolites mixed with silicon carbide binder in series of two reactor system with capability of complete water removal.

Methods for removing water and/or dissolved and solid contaminants from a liquid hydrocarbon such as condensate flowing through a fractionating column are disclosed. Pressure within the column and temperature at which the reboiler operates are observed to prevent boiling of the contaminated hydrocarbon thus obviating contaminant deposition on heated surfaces. Further methods directed to column operation and anti-fouling procedures augment the core method. Apparatus to effect the methods is also provided.

A system may include: a crude oil desalter; one or more sample points fluidically coupled to the crude oil desalter; and one or more fluid characterization units coupled to each of the one or more sample points, the one or more fluid characterization units being operable to measure at least one of density or flow rate of fluid from the sample points.

A system that includes a fuel treatment system. The fuel treatment system includes a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor that receives a fluid that includes fuel from a fuel supply and water from a water supply. The hydrodynamic cavitation reactor cavitates the fluid. Cavitation of the fluid cracks the fuel and forms radicals that combine with one or more substances in the fuel. A separator receives the fluid and separates the fluid into water, fuel, and one or more substances.

A system may include: a crude oil desalter; one or more sample points fluidically coupled to the crude oil desalter; and one or more fluid characterization units coupled to each of the one or more sample points, the one or more fluid characterization units being operable to measure at least one of density or flow rate of fluid from the sample points.

A method of upgrading a petroleum feedstock, the method comprising the steps of introducing a disulfide oil, a water feed, and a petroleum feedstock to a supercritical water upgrading unit, and operating the supercritical water upgrading unit to produce a product gas stream, a product oil stream, and a used water stream.

The present invention relates to the extraction of gasoline from a gas G, with (a) a step of extracting gasoline from the gas to be treated comprising methanol GM obtained from step (d), (b) a step of separating said fluid GL1 partially condensed in step (a), producing a first aqueous liquid phase Al , a first liquid phase H1 of hydrocarbon(s) a gaseous phase G1 obtained from the gas G; (c) a step of contacting a portion of the gas G to be treated with said first aqueous liquid phase A1, producing a second aqueous liquid phase A2, a gaseous phase of gas to be treated comprising methanol GM; (d) a step of mixing said gaseous phase of gas to be treated comprising methanol GM with the remainder of the gas G to be treated, producing a gas to be treated comprising methanol GM, (e) a step of stabilizing said first liquid phase H1 of hydrocarbon(s).

The invention relates a process for the catalytic hydrotreating of a feedstock of petroleum origin of diesel fuel type introduced into a stationary bed hydrotreating unit upstream of a feedstock of natural occurring oil(s) characterized in that the feedstock of natural occurring oil(s) contains acyl-containing compounds having 10 to 24 carbons including fatty acid esters and free fatty acids and said feedstock of natural occurring oil(s) is submitted to a refining by a hydrodynamic cavitation before its introduction into the stationary bed processing.