Patent · US9638415B2 · B2 · US

Method for transportation and agitation of refinery solids waste

(11) Publication number

US9638415B2

(21) Application number

14/827,388

(22) Filing date

2015-08-17

(30) Priority date

2013-01-15

(43) Publication date

2017-05-02

(45) Date of grant

2017-05-02

(51) IPC

B01F 13/00; B01F 15/00; B01F 15/02; B01F 3/12; B01F 7/00; B01F 7/16; B02C 23/20; B08B 9/08; B09B 3/00; B09B 5/00; B60P 3/24; B65G 67/02; B65G 67/04; B65G 67/20; B65G 67/24; F23G 5/02; F23G 5/033; F23G 5/44; F23G 7/00; F23G 7/05

(52) CPC

F23G Cremation furnaces; consuming waste products by combustion: 5/033, 2201/701, 2900/70601, 5/02, 5/446, 7/00, 7/05
B01F Mixing, e.g. dissolving, emulsifying or dispersing: 13/0016, 13/004, 15/00006, 15/00357, 15/0229, 15/0283, 15/0292, 15/0294, 2101/25, 2215/0042, 23/50, 23/53, 27/05, 27/09, 27/113, 27/211, 27/25, 27/805, 27/806, 27/87, 3/12, 3/1221, 33/50, 33/5023, 33/86, 35/2213, 35/71705, 35/7544, 35/7547, 35/75475, 7/00008, 7/002, 7/00341, 7/00666, 7/00733, 7/1605, 7/161, 7/169
B02C Crushing, pulverising, or disintegrating in general; milling grain: 23/20
B08B Cleaning in general; prevention of fouling in general: 9/08
B09B Disposal of solid waste not otherwise provided for: 3/0083, 3/35, 3/40, 5/00
B60P Vehicles adapted for load transportation or to transport, to carry, or to comprise special loads or objects: 3/24
B65G Transport or storage devices, e.g. conveyors for loading or tipping, shop conveyor systems or pneumatic tube conveyors: 67/02, 67/04, 67/20, 67/24

(73) Assignee

THE MAITLAND COMPANY LLC; THE MAITLAND COMPANY

(72) Inventors

RUMPH ROBERT M

(54) Title

Method for transportation and agitation of refinery solids waste

(57) Abstract

A method of transporting solid refinery waste includes loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer. The method may also include maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank. The method may also include delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility.

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Claims (6)

A method of transporting solid refinery waste, the method comprising: loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer; maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank; transporting the mobile tank loaded with the solid refinery waste such that during transporting the at least one buffer impedes migration of solid refinery waste between the plurality of compartments; and delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility; wherein upon delivering the mobile tank to the burning facility, the agitator is temporarily fastened to at least one connector on an outside of the mobile tank, the at least one connector being attached to an external side of an upper side of the mobile tank, and wherein the at least one connector is configured for connection to the agitator in a manner permitting the agitator to be controllably lowered from an upper position toward a floor of the mobile tank while the agitator is agitating.
The method of claim 1, wherein upon delivering the mobile tank to the burning facility, an assembly associated with the agitator is sealed to the manhole opening to substantially prevent hazardous gas from escaping from the mobile tank to an outside environment of the mobile tank during mixing.
The method of claim 1, wherein loading solid refinery waste into the mobile tank includes arranging an output end of a conveyor above the manhole opening in the mobile tank, and conveying shredded constituents of sold refinery waste into the mobile tank.
The method of claim 1, wherein the burning facility is further equipped with a pressure control system for maintaining a pressure inside the mobile tank lower than a pressure outside the mobile tank.
The method of claim 4, wherein the pressure control system is further configured to evacuate gas from the mobile tank when the diluent is added to the mobile tank.
A method of transporting solid refinery waste, the method comprising: loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer; maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank; transporting the mobile tank loaded with the solid refinery waste such that during transporting the at least one buffer impedes migration of solid refinery waste between the plurality of compartments; and delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility; and wherein loading solid refinery waste into the mobile tank includes arranging an output end of a conveyor above the manhole opening in the mobile tank, and conveying shredded constituents of solid refinery waste into the mobile tank.

Description

Aspects of this disclosure involve a mixing apparatus for mixing a substance including solid constituents. Methods described in this disclosure can be used for cleaning refinery tanks containing waste including solids on a tank bottom, and can further involve equipment and methods for disposing of the waste.

Residual wastes are often generated during industrial processes. In the context of oil refineries, the residual wastes may include byproducts of the refinement process. These wastes may be solids including, but not limited to, dirt, sand, grit, paraffin, wax, and/or emulsified oil. Solids accumulating inside of a ground tank settle on a tank bottom which, over time, may undermine the productivity of the tank. For example, a tank 120 feet in diameter with a height of 40 feet, may accumulate tens of feet of build up at the tank bottom, reducing its capacity and rendering it inefficient or unsuitable for use. In the context of gasoline refineries, a catalyst is often used to start a reaction to initiate the processing of gasoline. Such catalysts may include an aluminum catalyst known as CC catalyst, or other precious-metal catalysts such as an FCC catalyst or palladium catalyst. When the catalyst is added, it can be in the form of a solid (e.g., a dry powder), which can later be extracted using one or more filters following the completion of the gasoline refinery process.

In some instances, a breach may occur in one of the pieces of equipment that allows catalyst to flow from a cat cracker during the processing. This flow is sometimes referred to as slop oil.

Citations (64)

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US2003156492A1
US2005207272A1
US2007000545A1
US2013170315A1
US2014133266A1
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US2015036457A1
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US5100303A
US5147133A
US5253812A
US5275487A
US5282681A
US5340213A
US5366289A
US5385402A
US5489152A
US5496133A
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US5526989A
US5603568A
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Record as JSON

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  "publication_number": "US9638415B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Method for transportation and agitation of refinery solids waste",
  "abstract": "A method of transporting solid refinery waste includes loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer. The method may also include maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank. The method may also include delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method of transporting solid refinery waste, the method comprising: loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer; maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank; transporting the mobile tank loaded with the solid refinery waste such that during transporting the at least one buffer impedes migration of solid refinery waste between the plurality of compartments; and delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility; wherein upon delivering the mobile tank to the burning facility, the agitator is temporarily fastened to at least one connector on an outside of the mobile tank, the at least one connector being attached to an external side of an upper side of the mobile tank, and wherein the at least one connector is configured for connection to the agitator in a manner permitting the agitator to be controllably lowered from an upper position toward a floor of the mobile tank while the agitator is agitating.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein upon delivering the mobile tank to the burning facility, an assembly associated with the agitator is sealed to the manhole opening to substantially prevent hazardous gas from escaping from the mobile tank to an outside environment of the mobile tank during mixing.",
    "3. The method of claim 1, wherein loading solid refinery waste into the mobile tank includes arranging an output end of a conveyor above the manhole opening in the mobile tank, and conveying shredded constituents of sold refinery waste into the mobile tank.",
    "4. The method of claim 1, wherein the burning facility is further equipped with a pressure control system for maintaining a pressure inside the mobile tank lower than a pressure outside the mobile tank.",
    "5. The method of claim 4, wherein the pressure control system is further configured to evacuate gas from the mobile tank when the diluent is added to the mobile tank.",
    "6. A method of transporting solid refinery waste, the method comprising: loading solid refinery waste into a mobile tank having at least one sloped floor wall and a plurality of compartments separated by at least one buffer; maintaining a head space between a top level of the solid refinery waste and a top wall of the mobile tank; transporting the mobile tank loaded with the solid refinery waste such that during transporting the at least one buffer impedes migration of solid refinery waste between the plurality of compartments; and delivering the mobile tank to a burning facility that maintains a reserve of diluent and that is equipped with an agitator configured for lowering into the mobile tank through a manhole opening, to thereby permit the diluent to be conveyed into the headspace and mixed with the solid refinery waste, thereby enabling a resulting mixture to be off-loaded for burning at the burning facility; and wherein loading solid refinery waste into the mobile tank includes arranging an output end of a conveyor above the manhole opening in the mobile tank, and conveying shredded constituents of solid refinery waste into the mobile tank."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Aspects of this disclosure involve a mixing apparatus for mixing a substance including solid constituents. Methods described in this disclosure can be used for cleaning refinery tanks containing waste including solids on a tank bottom, and can further involve equipment and methods for disposing of the waste.\n\nResidual wastes are often generated during industrial processes. In the context of oil refineries, the residual wastes may include byproducts of the refinement process. These wastes may be solids including, but not limited to, dirt, sand, grit, paraffin, wax, and/or emulsified oil. Solids accumulating inside of a ground tank settle on a tank bottom which, over time, may undermine the productivity of the tank. For example, a tank 120 feet in diameter with a height of 40 feet, may accumulate tens of feet of build up at the tank bottom, reducing its capacity and rendering it inefficient or unsuitable for use. In the context of gasoline refineries, a catalyst is often used to start a reaction to initiate the processing of gasoline. Such catalysts may include an aluminum catalyst known as CC catalyst, or other precious-metal catalysts such as an FCC catalyst or palladium catalyst. When the catalyst is added, it can be in the form of a solid (e.g., a dry powder), which can later be extracted using one or more filters following the completion of the gasoline refinery process.\n\nIn some instances, a breach may occur in one of the pieces of equipment that allows catalyst to flow from a cat cracker during the processing. This flow is sometimes referred to as slop oil.",
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