METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEMETALLIZATION OF CRUDE OIL Russian patent published in 1999 - IPC

FIELD: crude oil treatment. SUBSTANCE: invention aims and isolating rare-earth metals: vanadium, nickel, chromium, tungsten, and others to exclude catalyst contamination in further catalytic cracking process. Method is distinguished by that thermal (e.g. radiation-thermal) cracking residual mazut in the form of liquid carrying medium heated to 400+/-20 C and containing metal and metal oxide particles is placed into sealed heat- insulated vessel made in the form of two elliptic paraboloids disposed in one another to form annular space. Bottom of outer paraboloid is provided with spherical sector disposed in axial vessel plane. Bottom of inner paraboloid has hole with diameter comparable with that of spherical sector. In the upper part of vessel axially disposed hydroacoustic wave field emitter. Carrying medium when filling the vessel is affected by hydroacoustic wave field causing sedimentation of suspended solids, sedimentation being controlled by varying wave field parameters. Carrying medium and sedimented particles are withdrawn separately from vessel. The former are calcined in furnace to burn away organics. EFFECT: enabled separation of metals in the course of distillation and thermal cracking processes. 3 cl, 2 dwg