SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUSES FOR NEAR-ZERO EMISSION MODULAR OIL REFINERY WITH FLUE-GAS SEQUESTRATION

Abstract

A system for refining crude oil to minimize emissions of toxic compounds in the atmosphere during refining. The crude oil is treated with viscosity-reductant additives, reducing viscosity by up to 50% and increasing API gravity by more than 2 points. The method of spray-cracking and vacuum-flashing of crude oil, the system separates light and heavy end chains within the reactor. The vapor is condensed into designer fuels using a multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate-condenser or closed-loop distillation tower. Process heater directs flue gases through high-salinity fluids, such as a brine-processing device to capture, sequester, or mineralize the CO2, CO, NOx, and other contaminants from the flue gases. This results in a significant reduction in emissions, a further reduction to near-zero emissions (>95-98%) is achieved by the combination of (1) the closed loop processes, tank blanketing and capturing, sequestering and mineralizing emitted flue gases from the heater combustion-exhaust.

Claims

1. A system for refining crude oil to minimize emissions of toxic compounds into the atmosphere during refining, the system comprising a crude section comprising: a crude oil stock tank for storing crude oil feedstock; a plurality of heat exchangers configured to heat crude oil coming from the crude oil stock tank to an optimum temperature range; a chemical additive tank configured to store a viscosity-reductant additive to be contacted with the crude oil to breakdown heavy chain hydrocarbons in the crude oil to light chain hydrocarbons; a plurality of centrifugal pumps or a positive displacement pump, configured to mix the crude oil with the viscosity-reductant additive; a reactor configured and operative for spray-cracking and vacuum flashing of the crude oil to separate out the heavy chain hydrocarbons, the light chain hydrocarbons and by-products; a plurality of valves configured to control the flow of crude oil through the plurality of heat exchangers to the reactor; a condensate section comprises: a closed-loop vertical distillation tower configured to receive the light chain hydrocarbon vapor from the reactor, wherein the vapor enters the tower under vacuum and the light fractions rise to their condensable level and are collected in a plurality of different fractionation trays as targeted fuel products and pass on non-condensed vapors and gases; a plurality of fuel stock tanks, each configured to collect a corresponding one of the targeted fuel products; a plurality of gas void fraction (GVF) centrifuges, each configured to operate by density differentials and centrifugal polishing to separate targeted fuels of desired density value and hydrocarbon molecules of desired purity values; a plurality of output storage tanks, each configured to store respective targeted fuel products and by-products before being sent for sales; a vapor section comprises: a vapor trap tank configured to collect the non-condensed vapor and gases passed on from the closed-loop vertical distillation tower; a plurality of blowers, each configured to draw the vapor and gases from the vapor trap tank and increase velocity and pressure thereof; a plurality of methane heaters, each configured to receive the vapor and gases from a corresponding one of said blowers and to heat them for re-circulation into the reactor; a separator configured to remove any non-condensable gases from the vapor and gases collected in the vapor trap tank; and a process heater, configured to receive the non-condensable gases from said separator, through a vapor recovery unit, and burn them; a flue-gas sequestration section configured to sequester heater flue gases received from the process heater through high-salinity fluids, such as seawater, oil-field produced-water, groundwater, a solvent or brine to capture, sequester or mineralize CO2, CO, NOx and other contaminants from the flue gases.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flue-gas from the process heater are passed to a gas cooler prior to sending the heater flue gases through the high-salinity fluids for sequestering the flue gases.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the CO2, CO, and gases from the flue gases are converted into sodium bicarbonate in the flue-gas sequestration section.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vapor section comprises a scrubber to draw in the vapor recovery system through suction for removing water and unwanted gases from gas stream.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description of the drawings, in which:

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates a process flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

[0048] FIGS. 1A-1D illustrates enlarged quadrants of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A illustrates the lower right quadrant and illustrates primarily the section of initial crude flow through the process;

[0049] FIG. 1B illustrates the upper right quadrant and illustrates primarily the reactor section and outputs of the bunker fuel and asphalt from the reactor;

[0050] FIG. 1C illustrates the upper left quadrant and illustrates primarily the multi-stage horizontal reverse condenser section and corresponding outputs from each stage; and

[0051] FIG. 1D illustrates the lower left quadrant and illustrates primarily outputs of designer fuels through the gas void fraction (GVF) centrifuges and Fraction sulfur reducer (FSR) into the respective output storage tank.

[0052] FIG. 2 illustrates the reactor used in the crude oil refining process according to an embodiment herein.

[0053] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart that illustrates the method of automating the daily selection of the designer fuels and chemical-rich residuum from the process.

[0054] FIG. 4 illustrates natural gas makeup, tank blanketing, and vapor recovering units supplying excess gases and natural gas to the process heaters. Showing the process heaters flue gases being CO2 sequestered, mineralization, or other methods of CO2 removal.

[0055] FIG. 5 illustrates a process flow diagram illustrating the section of the initial vapor from the reactor through the distillation tower and back to the reactor with the corresponding outputs from each stage of the distillation tower and the crude preheating using asphalt from the reactor sump.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The following description includes the preferred best mode of one embodiment of the present invention. It will be clear from this description of the invention that the invention is not limited to these illustrated embodiments but that the invention also includes a variety of modifications and embodiments thereto. Therefore, the present description should be seen as illustrative and not limiting. While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, it should be understood, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0057] At the outset, for ease of reference, certain terms used in this application and their meanings as used in this context are set forth. To the extent a term used herein is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in the pertinent art have given that term as reflected in at least one printed publication or issued patent. Further, the present techniques are not limited by the usage of the terms shown below, as all equivalents, synonyms, new developments, and terms or techniques that serve the same or a similar purpose are considered to be within the scope of the present claims.

[0058] The articles a and an as used herein mean one or more when applied to any feature in embodiments of the present invention described in the specification and claims. The use of a and an does not limit the meaning to a single feature unless such a limit is specifically stated. The article the preceding singular or plural nouns or noun phrases denotes a particular specified feature or particular specified features and may have a singular or plural connotation depending upon the context in which it is used. The adjective any means one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity.

[0059] The embodiments herein achieve this by providing a system and process of refining the crude oil feedstock into high purity, high burning efficiency designer fuels namely Jet fuel/Kerosene fuel, diesel fuel (#2 diesel fuel), gasoline fuel, naphtha, bunker fuel (#4 diesel fuel) and chemical-rich residuum with reduced crude oil refining emissions.

[0060] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of the process (100) for refining crude oil to produce higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels in a micro-crude oil refinery. FIGS. 1A-1D are enlarged quadrants of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A is the lower right quadrant, FIG. 1B is the upper right quadrant, FIG. 1C is the upper left quadrant and FIG. 1D is the lower left quadrant. The connections between these quadrants are marked by unique encircles with capital letters A-P, each letter marking the continuity of the respective line across the corresponding edges of adjacent quadrants. Thus each line may be traced both within FIG. 1 and within and between FIGS. 1A-1D. Reference numbers of components are identical between FIG. 1 and FIGS. 1A-1D.

[0061] FIG. 1A illustrates the initial flow of crude oil through the process (100). The crude oil coming from the crude oil stock tanks (102) with an ambient temperature of 200? F. and pressure of 100-200 psi goes into the centrifugal pump or a positive displacement pump (110) where pressure is raised to 200-1000 psi. The crude oil from the centrifugal pump or positive displacement pump (110) may either flow to a pair of electrical heaters (106a &106b) for thermal cracking or to a heat exchanger (104) in which the movement of crude oil is controlled by a plurality of valves. When the crude oil passes through the preheat heat exchanger (104), it is preheated from the first stage of the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112) to 200-500? F. Then, the hot crude oil may either pass through a first path or the second path to raise the temperature to 200-600? F. When the crude takes the first path, it passes through the first electric heater (106a) and the second electric heater (106b) controlled by a plurality of valves passes through the heat exchanger (104) and reaches the reactor (108). When the crude takes the second path, it passes directly through another heat exchanger (104) heated using thermal fluids and enters into the reactor (108).

[0062] FIG. 1B illustrates the reactor section and outputs of the bunker fuel and asphalt from the reactor. The crude oil from the crude oil stock tanks (102) may pass through the centrifugal pump or positive displacement pump (110) to a bunker fuel stock tank (136), where the crude oil comes in contact with a Surfsol solvent injected from the Surfsol solvent tank (152). The hot crude with a temperature range from 200-600? F. enters the reactor (108) through plurality nozzles and devices which reduces the molecular size of the crude to 10-120 microns.

[0063] The pressure inside the reactor (108) is at a range from less than 0-29 inches of Hg. The atomized crude particles inside the reactor (108) are sprayed into the vacuum condition at the pressure of 200-1000 psi and temperature of 200-600? F. results in spray-cracking and vacuum-flashing of the crude oil. This technique of spray-cracking and vacuum-flashing breaks the complex molecules or the heavy chain hydrocarbons into simpler or light chain molecules. The vacuum flashing of the crude drops the boiling point of the crude so the temperature of the crude reaches 300-80? C. at this stage. The lighter chains are carried out of the reactor (108) through the separator (122a) into the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112) and the heavier carbon chains are forced to drop to the sump (108a) of the reactor (108). The residuum is collected into the sump (108a) containing heavier carbon chain compounds, which are re-circulated back into the reactor using the re-circulating centrifugal or positive displacement pump (110) to further extract the lighter chains from the crude. The residuum collected in the sump (108a) of the reactor is sent for primary processing. The residuum is sent out from the sump (108a) of the reactor through the centrifugal or positive displacement pump (110) and heat exchanger (104). The primary processing involves the recirculation of residuum throughout the process to further extract the desired components from the crude oil. Further, the first residuum is sent for secondary processing by again re-circulating the first residuum to obtain a chemical-rich residuum. The secondary processing yields a highly concentrated chemical-rich residuum from which many chemicals, and industrial and consumer petroleum products may be derived. The heavier end chains collected in the sump (108a) of the reactor after the recycling process are pumped as bunker fuel (#4 diesel) and collected into the bunker fuel stock tank (136). The asphalt may also be extracted from the chemical-rich residuum, which is collected into the asphalt output storage tank (154). Other by-products like paraffin can be separated in liquid form and may be added with designer fuels like Bunker fuel, Jet fuel, Diesel fuel, and Gasoline fuel to impart beneficial characteristics to the fuels.

[0064] FIG. 1C illustrates the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser section and corresponding outputs from each stage. The vapor leaves the reactor (108) and enters the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112) containing at least three stages to separate the crude oil into targeted designer fuels. The vapor containing the C1-C4 carbon chain does not condense in the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser and these lighter chains may be recovered into the vapor trap tank (114). The vapor from the vapor trap tank (114) is drawn by the small blower (120c) through a separator (122b) to remove any entrapped gases. The small blower (120c) sends the gases from the vapor trap tank (114) into a vapor recovery unit (VRU) (126) to be burned by the process heaters (128). The methane and other vapor are circulated from the vapor trap tank (114) by the main blowers (120a, 120b). The pair of main blowers (120a, 120b) increases the velocity and pressure of the gases which are passed through the pair of methane heaters (124a, 124b) which uses thermal fluids, to raise the temperature of the gases equal to the temperature inside the reactor (108). The exhaust containing harmless gases that are released from the pair of methane heaters (124a, 124b) is opened into the atmosphere. This step will not result in the cooling of the reactor. The heated gases from the methane heaters (124a, 124b) enter the reactor (108) through the plurality of nozzles from the sides of the reactor (108). These gases pass through the reactor carrying the atomized crude particles along with them at the velocity range from 3-12 feet per second and reach a separator (122a) inside the reactor. The shorter carbon chain molecules are easily passed through the separator (122a), while longer carbon chain molecules hit the separator (122a) and fall into the sump (108a) of the reactor (108).

[0065] The vapor from the reactor (108) enters into the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112). The multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112) may have three to four stages according to the targeted designer fuels that are to be produced. The multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate-condenser condenses side-ways flowing vapors through the condenser tube, such that the targeted low temperature of the condenser condenses the remaining vapor and drops them into the bottom section compartments of the condenser corresponding to the different fuel fractions contained in the crude oil. The conventional distillation towers heat the boiled crude oil vapor to rise in the vertical distillation towers, which condenses to produce various vapor fractions of petroleum fuels.

[0066] On the other hand, in a reverse condensate condenser, the heated crude oil droplets are cooled in separate compartments, so that they fall and condense at targeted temperatures to produce targeted fuel products that can be collected in separate storage tanks. Since hot crude is cooled down as it crosses the condenser, compared to conventional oil refinery distillation columns that condense fuel as it rises, the Micro Crude Oil Refinery in the present invention uses a multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser.

[0067] All the stages in the present invention as shown in FIG. 1C are targeted with the first stage taking the inlet temperature of the vapor from the reactor (200-600? F.) and condensing the vapor to a temperature range of 200-150? F. to produce diesel fuel (#2 diesel fuel) from the first stage of multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112) which gets collected into the diesel stock tank (134). The cooling medium is obtained from the heat exchanger (104). The second stage takes the temperature 200-150? F. from the first stage and uses a fin fan (116) or similar products to condense the vapor to 170-50? F. to obtain kerosene or jet fuel which gets collected into a Kerosene/Jet fuel stock tank (132). Further, the third stage uses chillers (118) or similar products to reduce the temperature from the second stage (170-50? F.) to 60-20? F. to produce naphtha or gasoline fuel which is collected into a naphtha/gasoline stock tank (130). The targeted vapor that is condensed in respective stages collects into respective stock tanks are then pumped into targeted storage tanks.

[0068] FIG. 1D illustrates the outputs of designer fuels through the Gas Void Fraction (GVF) (138) centrifuges and Fraction Sulphur Reducer (FSR) (140) into the respective output storage tank of the process (100). The four to five fuel products extracted in the process are pumped from respective stock tanks using centrifugal or positive displacement pumps (110) into the GVF (138) density separator/centrifuge. The GVF is used as a polishing agent that targets final fuel molecule configurations by density effectively ejecting and removing all unwanted densities of impurities and contaminants that are attached to the targeted fuel molecules, which impurities/contaminants may degrade fuel performance and increase combustion emissions. The centrifuge polishing removes these unwanted attachments from hydrocarbon fuel molecules, thereby preventing them from being combusted to release toxic emissions into the atmosphere. When light crude oil is used as crude oil feedstock, the process will generate #4 diesel fuel, #2 diesel fuel, kerosene/jet fuel, Naphtha, and gasoline fuel. These fuel products from the respective stock tanks are pumped through the gas void fraction (GVF) (138) centrifuges and may be re-circulated back into their respective stock tanks controlled through valves. The GVF (138) centrifuges remove unwanted carbon chain impurities based on the desired density of the fuel. The fuel products come in contact with desulfurization ester additives in the FSR (140) to remove unwanted pollutants. The additives reduce SOx emissions by up to 40% and reduce NOx emissions by up to 10%. The bunker fuel from the bunker fuel stock tank (136) is pumped through the GVF (138) and re-circulated to remove unwanted pollutants with C20 carbon chain and below carbon chain and also C50 and above carbon chains and then passed through FSR (140) and stored in the bunker (#4 diesel) fuel output storage tank (150). The diesel fuel (#2 diesel fuel) from the diesel stock tank (134) is pumped through the GVF (138) and re-circulated to remove unwanted pollutants with C16 and below carbon chains and also C20 and above carbon chains which then passed through FSR (140) and stored in diesel output storage tank (148). The Jet fuel or kerosene fuel from the Jet fuel/kerosene stock tank (132) is pumped through the GVF (138) and re-circulated to remove unwanted pollutants with C10 and below carbon chain and also C16 and above carbon chains which then passed through FSR (140) and stored in Jet fuel/Kerosene output storage tank (146). Naphtha or gasoline fuel from the naphtha or gasoline stock tank (130) is pumped through the GVF (138), followed by FSR (140), and further sent into two separate storage tanks, one is the gasoline output storage tank (144) and the other is naphtha output storage tank (142). The gasoline output storage tank (144) will remove the unwanted pollutants with C4 and below carbon chains and also C9 and above carbon chain which is sent to the naphtha output storage tank (142). These designer fuel products may be directly pumped through the GVF (138) and FSR (140) to a truck for sale or may be stored in respective storage tanks to be used for various applications. These designer fuels pumped through the GVF (138) pass through a fraction sulfur reducer (FSR) (140) to remove most of the sulfur in the fuel product and are stored in respective storage tanks which may be sent for sale to wholesale market and retail customers. These higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels with increased gas mileage burn cleaner, cooler with reduced per-gallon emissions of SOx, NOx, and other unwanted gases.

[0069] FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of the reactor (108) used in the crude oil refining process (100) to separate designer fuels according to an embodiment herein. The hot crude oil from the crude stage enters the reactor (108) through the plurality of nozzles and other devices, where the pressure inside the reactor is 0-29 inches of Hg and gets converted into atomized crude droplets of particle sizes of 10-120 microns. The vapor from the vapor trap tank (114) enters the reactor (108) through the pair of main blowers (120a, 120b). The vapor carries the atomized crude particles at a velocity of 3-12 feet per second to the separator (122a) located inside the reactor (108), where the atomized crude particles and the vapor are forced to fall into vacuum condition at the pressure of 200-1000 psi, which results in spray-cracking and vacuum-flashing at a pressure of 1000 psi. The spray-cracking and vacuum-flashing technique reduces hydrocarbon molecule sizes more efficiently and uses less energy than conventional refineries to crack hydrocarbons. The light short chains pass through the separator (122a) and are further passed into the multi-stage horizontal reverse condensate condenser (112). The separator (122a) forces the heavy long-chain carbon to fall through the sides of the reactor and get collected into the sump (108a) of the reactor. The long-chain carbon compounds collected in the sump (108a) are re-circulated back into the reactor using a centrifugal or positive displacement pump (110) for further recovery of the light chain ends. After the recycling step, the bunker fuel (#4 diesel fuel) and the asphalt are finally extracted.

[0070] The present invention discloses a process that is a combination of chemical, kinetic, and heat-based energy-efficient crude oil separation into higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels with reduced emissions. The chemical process mixes viscosity-reductant additives, like the solvent, Surfsol, with crude oil to separate long-chain hydrocarbon bonds that connect heavy asphaltenes, paraffin crystals, and aromatic contaminants to the crude oil carbon chains. This treatment reduces the processing load by returning the lighter-end hydrocarbons into solution for further processing by subsequent kinetic and heat-based crude oil separation into shorter-chain hydrocarbon fuels. The kinetic process of Surfsol treatment is achieved by centrifugal or positive displacement circulating pumps which mix the input crude oil with the chemical additives and the crude oil, causing the aromatics to drop out the impurities from the lighter-ends, producing high-purity, high-value shorter-chain hydrocarbon fuels that burn cooler and more efficiently. Using Surfsol solvent as the crude oil viscosity-reductant additive is one of the cheapest ways to treat asphaltenes and paraffins, compared to conventional energy-intensive refineries that require ultra-high temperatures and pressures. The insertion of GVF centrifuges causes centrifugal polishing of the designer fuels to only contain shorter carbon chains C1-C5 and remove longer >C24 carbon chains and other undesired impurities attached to the hydrocarbon molecules. The advanced centrifuges operate by density differentials. It may have a dial-in control panel in the GVF centrifuges to produce output fuel with desired density values by knocking out every molecule in the stream that does not have the density of the desired molecules. The post-treatment with ester additives removes SOx, NOx, and other remaining contaminants. The heat-based process in the present invention takes place at a temperature less than 550? F. and <20-psi operating pressure flashes off the last remaining gaseous hydrocarbon fractions from the heavy oil residuum into higher-purity fuels at lower pressures and temperatures than conventional high-pressure >900-psi and high-temperature >1100? F. crude oil refinery using fractionation distillation methods.

[0071] The crude oil molecules generally require electrons to be in a state of equilibrium. The conditioned Surfsol chemical additive is usually made with surfactants and conditioned water, where the conditioned fluid acts as the carrier fluid. The Surfsol solvent mechanically receives electrons from the electric current generated in real-time by the movement of the fluid through the mechanical conditioner. The Surfsol solvent converts hydrophilic oil attached to water molecules into hydrophobic oil that prevents oil molecules from bonding with water. In cases when the water molecules in conditioned fluids are overcharged with electrons, the fluid molecules will give off or donate to other deficient water molecules or go to the ground, such that the fluid's molecular electrons attain a state of equilibrium. On the other hand, when water molecules in Surfsol solvent are electron-deficient, the water will absorb electrons from the ground; such that the water's molecular electron state can be in equilibrium. The harmonic balance of water electrons allows water molecules to shrink to small and round sizes, which enables the water molecules to carry more Surfsol chemical additives and increase contact with the crude oil molecules. The harmonic balance of water electrons in Surfsol solvent breaks the emulsion of water-surrounding oil molecules so that the surfactant can penetrate and break the hydrocarbon bonds holding onto the asphaltenes, paraffin, and aromatic molecules, releasing these molecules from the surrounding water molecules at ambient temperature without any costly heat expenditure to condense the water from the oil. The conditioned water penetrates the emulsion surrounding the crude and breaks off the paraffin and asphaltene molecules producing higher-purity hydrocarbon molecules in the process.

[0072] The process produces high-purity designer fuel based on the input density of crude oil and the desired output densities of the designer fuels. The process may manipulate the densities of each of the fluids passing through the process beginning from the input crude oil densities to the desired preferred output fuel densities to obtain high-purity commercial fuels in the industry with low-price of production.

[0073] The entire crude oil refining process of producing higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels from the crude oil does not release any harmful emissions into the atmosphere. The lighter-end C1-C4 aromatic gases recovered in the process are used as cleaner-burning fuel to burn the process's heaters, whose combustion exhaust gases are vented to the atmosphere. The methane or Utility-grade natural gas-fired process heater is the only component in the process that vents its combusted exhaust gas to the atmosphere (less than 7 ppm NOX). In the situation when there are no sufficient amounts of aromatics contained in the crude oil to extract, then to make up for such a shortfall, the process may open valves for utility-delivered natural gas to run the heater. The aromatics may then be added to the utility gas at a higher pressure. Thus, this process has an excellent gas recycling step than other conventional methods, which enables efficient utilization of energy.

[0074] FIG. 3 is a flowchart that illustrates the automation method (200) using a production auditing or accounting control system operated with a software program that measures, records, and counts the crude oil and additive volumes entering the facility and the output of the higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels. The first step is electronic tracking of the delivered crude oil feedstock into the stock tanks of the refinery (202). The next step is analyzing the physical and chemical characteristics of the crude oil feedstock (204). The physical and chemical characteristics of the crude oil feedstock include Viscosity, API Gravity, Sulfur-content, Paraffin-content, Asphaltene-content, Aromatics-content, Water-content, Sediment-content, vanadium-content, nickel-content. Based on these characteristics, the automation process determines the constituent contents that may be removed from the crude oil and determines the amount of higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels, and their composition that can be produced. Further, determining the amount of heavy oil residuum and unwanted crude oil impurities and contaminants left over after the production of these designer fuels. These characteristics also assist in calculating the heat and pressure requirement for the process, the thicker crude oil generally requires more heat and pressure to move through the pipes. It is followed by determining the current market value and the price trends of each of the targeted fuel products and chemical-rich residuum (206). The next step is calculating the most valuable fuel products that could be made from crude oil feedstock based on the analyzed characteristics of crude oil feedstock and price trends (208). By cross-checking the real-time commodity price of each of the fuels, which may be bunker, jet, diesel, or gasoline fuel to determine which fuel has the best price for the refinery to make the maximum sales revenue by producing the most in-demand highest-value fuel of the day. Further, it determines the amount of the first residuum to be subjected to secondary processing (210) and followed by determining the amount of the chemical-rich residuum obtained after the secondary processing (212). It calculates the amount of the asphaltenes and paraffins to be extracted from the chemical-rich residuum (214). The next step is changing the output from the crude oil refinery to produce the highest valuable fuel product and the chemical-rich residuum which is calculated in percentage ranges (216). The output ratios of the fuel products and chemical-rich residuum by volume are measured each day according to the highest valuable fuel product that generates the maximum sale for the day (218). Finally, metering the processing and sale of higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels and chemical-rich residuum (220) is carried out by recording the weights and/or volumes of crude oil inputs, Surfsol solvent additive inputs, desulfurization ester additive inputs, electrical and thermal energy inputs, and corresponding fuel product and chemical by-product outputs. The identification is done using dye color or components for online purchases of the designer fuels which are to be barrelled. The designer fuels may be sold to wholesale markets or retail customers. The fuels may also be sold in the online market by speculators who want the fuel as collateral or may be sold to actual customers who are anxious about oil and gas supplies being interrupted during an emergency and want to use corporate fleet service to bring lower-cost wholesale gas prices to retail store customers.

[0075] FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of the flow of natural gas and excess gas from the process. Natural gas is used as a makeup gas to be used as a carrier gas for the process and is injected at the suction to main blowers (120a & 120b). Natural gas is also used to place a gas blanket on crude tank 102, gasoline tank 144, kerosene/jet fuel tank 146, diesel tank 148, fuel oil tank 150, and asphalt tank 154 thus preventing the release of toxins to the atmosphere. As produce is pumped out of the tank more gas is admitted to the tank to maintain a positive pressure on the tank preventing emissions from escaping from the tanks. As product is added to tanks the gas is released to the vapor recovery system to maintain the proper pressure on the tanks. The vapor recovery unit 126 takes suction on the vapor recovery system through a scrubber 402. The scrubber 402 or other devices will remove water and unwanted gases such as H.sub.2S from the gas stream. The pressure of the gas is increased by a compressor in the vapor recovery unit 126 and the gases are pumped to the suction of the thermal heater 128. Blower 120c takes the extra gas from the vapor trap tank 114 and pumps the gas into the natural gas stream to thermal heater 128 where the natural and process gases are burned. The flue gases from the thermal heater are directed to a flue gas cooler 404 in preparation for CO.sub.2 capture. Flue gas passes through a bath of seawater, producing water, solvent, or brine 406 to absorb the CO.sub.2 gas. From there the CO.sub.2 is converted into Sodium Bicarbonate. The Sodium Bicarbonate is in turn used to remove the last remnants of other harmful substances from the flue gases.

[0076] FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating the section encompassing the initial vapor from the reactor through the distillation tower and back to the reactor with the corresponding outputs from each stage of the distillation tower and the crude preheating using residuum from the reactor sump. Vapor from the reactor (108) enters the distillation tower (112a) under vacuum, and the light fractions rise to their condensable levels and are collected in a plurality of fractionation trays. The naphtha fuel is condensed and collected in the naphtha product tank (142). The gasoline fuel is condensed and collected in the gasoline product tank (144). The jet fuel is condensed and collected in the jet fuel product tank (146). The kerosene fuel is condensed and collected in the kerosene product tank (146). The diesel is condensed and collected in the diesel product tank (148). The bunker fuel is condensed and collected in the bunker fuel product tank (150). The heavier long-chain hydrocarbons fall to the bottom of the distillation tower (112a) and are pumped with a centrifugal or positive displacement pump (110) into the asphalt stream from the reactor (108) to the asphalt product tank (154).

[0077] The closed loop of the MOR process, the blanketing of tanks, and the capturing, sequestering, and mineralization of heater flue gases make this system zero emissions.

[0078] Moreover, the automation process calculates the amount of high-value fuel and chemical-rich residuum that is generated in the process by following steps: initially testing the mass, volume make-up, and the characteristics of the input crude oil feedstock. It is then followed by calculating the total volume of finished output fuels producible from the given amount of input crude oil. Then, subtracting the aggregated volume and weight totals of components comprising the output designer fuels. The next step is equating the volume and weight of all the left-over chemicals and carbon chains in the heavy oil waste residuum. The primary processing of the heavy oil residuum is carried by recycling, where the lighter ends are further removed by retreatment with crude oil, emulsion, and aromatics. Then, based on the amount of chemical leftovers in the residuum, the process calculates the amount of higher-value finished fuels that can be produced by secondary processing of the residuum. The secondary processing of the heavy ends completely releases and extracts as many recoverable light-ends and carbon chain fuels as are present in the first residuum. Thus, the secondary processing yields more finished fuels and highly concentrated chemical-rich residuum which can be used as hot or cold road asphalt.

[0079] In addition, the process calculates the amount of leftover asphaltenes that can be obtained from the chemical-rich residuum. It also calculates the amount of left-over paraffin that may be obtained from the heavy oil residuum and may use this paraffin in liquid form to add beneficial characteristics to fuels like bunker, jet, gasoline, and diesel fuel. The final processing for extraction of remaining light-ends, paraffin, and asphaltenes from the first residuum of processed crude oil produces a more highly-concentrated and higher-density secondary residuum containing higher-value chemicals that can be extracted by third-parties using tertiary residuum separation processes.

[0080] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for description and not for limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

EXAMPLES

[0081] Example 1: The table as shown below is an example, illustrates the breakdown of the higher-purity, cleaner-burning designer fuels (in %) that may be produced from the process, when light crude oil having >27 API gravity is used as the input crude oil feedstock. The ratio amounts of different fuels produced in the process are completely based upon the characteristics of the input crude oil, including viscosity, gravity, sulfur content, asphaltene content, and paraffin content. Based on these parameters, the automation process calculates the most optimal mix of output fuel depending on the real-time price and demands of the fuels. If the input crude oil has an API of <15-gravity, which Isa very heavy and thick crude oil, that would produce >60% of its volume as Asphalt and <40% for fuels. If the Crude oil has an API of >25 gravity, which is light crude oil, then that will produce a wide range of fuels as shown in the table below. This table may be used for determining profits and the amounts of ester additives to be added to the finished fuels.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Annual fuel production ratios from the process ANNUAL FUELS PRODUCTION RATIOS % of Output Finished Fuel Gal. Produced 3,600,000 5% Residuum 7,560,000 Barrels of Input Crude Oil Bitumen/Asphalt 10% Bunker Fuel 15,120,000 Red Diesel 151,200,000 35% #2 Diesel 52,930,000 Gallons of Heating Oil Bunker/Jet/Diesel/Gasoline 30% Jet Fuel A/B 43,360,000 Produced Fuels Output Naptha 20% Gasoline 30,240,000 % of Production 100% Total Gallons 151,200,000 Produced

[0082] Example 2: Table 2 as shown below discloses the density ranges of the designer fuels and the by-products that may be produced in the process from the given input of crude oil feedstock based on the physical and chemical characteristics of the input crude oil. The separated hydrocarbon fuel product is considered to be pure if the recovered hydrocarbon components have the same or substantially the same density range defining that component.

[0083] As shown in Table 2, gasoline having a density range of 45-49 lb/ft3 or 715-780 kg/m3 is therefore considered to be a pure fuel product. The high-purity output fuels produced in the process are produced by using the centrifuge settings to separate the hydrocarbon chains having the dialed-in or preferred density value that defines a high-purity bunker, jet, diesel, and gasoline fuel with little or no contaminants attached to the hydrocarbon molecules.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Density ranges of the designer fuels and the by-products produced in the process Density @15? C. Specific Volume P V Fuel (kg/m 3) (lb/ft 3) (m 3/1000 kg) (ft 3/per ton) Butane (gas) 2.5 0.16 400 14100 Coke 375-500 23.5-31 2.0-2.7 72-95 Diesel 1D 875 54.6 1.14 40.4 Diesel 2D 849 53 1.18 41.6 Diesel 3D 959 59.9 1.04 36.8 EN 590 Diesel 820-845 51-53 1.18-1.22 42-43 Fuel oil No. 1 750-850 47-53 1.2-1.3 42-47 Fuel oil No. 2 810-940 51-59 1.1-1.2 38-44 Gas oil 825-900 51-56 1.1-1.2 38-44 Gasoline 715-780 45-49 1.3-1.4 45-49 Heavy fuel oil 800-1000 50-63 1.0-1.3 42-46 Kerosene 775-840 48-52 1.2-1.3 42-46 Natural gas (gas) 0.7-0.9 0.04-0.06 1110-1430 39200-50400 Propane (gas) 1.7 0.11 590 20800

[0084] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for description and not for limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.