(19) |
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(11) |
EP 0 027 722 A3 |
(12) |
EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
(88) |
Date of publication A3: |
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10.06.1981 Bulletin 1981/23 |
(43) |
Date of publication A2: |
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29.04.1981 Bulletin 1981/17 |
(22) |
Date of filing: 16.10.1980 |
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(84) |
Designated Contracting States: |
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DE FR GB IT NL |
(30) |
Priority: |
19.10.1979 US 86455
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(71) |
Applicant: EXXON RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY |
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() |
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(72) |
Inventor: |
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- Broadhurst, Thomas Edwin
()
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(54) |
Process for dewaxing hydrocarbons employing low-speed scraped-surface chillers |
(57) A hydrocarbon oil dewaxing process comprises passing the waxy oil through a staged
vertical tower, injecting cold solvent at a plurality of stages along the vertical
tower under conditions of high agitation to achieve substantially instantaneous mixing
at each point, continuing the chilling, preferably at a rate of from 0.55 to 4.44°C
(1 to 8°F) per minute, by means of cold solvent injection until a temperature above
the filtering temperature but less than 22.2°C (40°F) above the filtering temperature
is reached. The oil is subsequently cooled to the wax separation temperature in rotating-element
scraped-surface chillers. The operating speed of the rotating elements in the scraped
surface chiller is in the range of from 8 to 14% of the original design operation
speed. Operation at this reduced speed improves wax separation rates by about 10 to
20%while not substantially adversely affecting the heat transfer performance of the
chillers.