U.S. patent application number 10/104703 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-25 for production of one or more useful products from lesser value halogenated materials.
Invention is credited to Clark, James Everett, Henley, John P., Jewell, Dennis Wade, Lipp, Charles William, Salinas, Leopoldo III, Snedecor, Tarver Gayle JR., Timm, Edward E..
Application Number | 20020098133 10/104703 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22082369 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020098133 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jewell, Dennis Wade ; et
al. |
July 25, 2002 |
Production of one or more useful products from lesser value
halogenated materials
Abstract
A process and apparatus are described for converting a feed that
is substantially comprised of halogenated materials, and especially
byproduct and waste chlorinated hydrocarbons as are produced from a
variety of chemical manufacturing processes, to one or more higher
value products via a partial oxidation reforming reaction step.
These products can be in the form of a useful or salable acid
product and/or a product synthesis gas comprised of carbon monoxide
and hydrogen, or the reaction product including the same hydrogen
halide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen components can be employed as
a feed in the synthesis of a different useful or salable
product.
Inventors: |
Jewell, Dennis Wade;
(Angleton, TX) ; Henley, John P.; (Midland,
MI) ; Timm, Edward E.; (Freeland, MI) ;
Snedecor, Tarver Gayle JR.; (Angleton, TX) ; Salinas,
Leopoldo III; (Lake Jackson, TX) ; Lipp, Charles
William; (Lake Jackson, TX) ; Clark, James
Everett; (Ludington, MI) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECTION
P. O. BOX 1967
MIDLAND
MI
48641-1967
US
|
Family ID: |
22082369 |
Appl. No.: |
10/104703 |
Filed: |
March 22, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10104703 |
Mar 22, 2002 |
|
|
|
09207792 |
Dec 9, 1998 |
|
|
|
60068405 |
Dec 22, 1997 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
422/600 ;
422/198 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C01B 7/135 20130101;
C01B 2203/0465 20130101; C01B 7/191 20130101; C01B 2203/1205
20130101; C01B 3/32 20130101; C01B 2203/0415 20130101; C01B 7/093
20130101; C01B 2203/0233 20130101; C01B 2203/025 20130101; C01B
7/035 20130101; C01B 7/01 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
422/188 ;
422/189; 422/190; 422/198 |
International
Class: |
B01J 008/00; B01J
008/04; F28D 021/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for converting a feed comprised substantially of
halogenated materials to one or more useful products, comprising:
a) a partial oxidation reforming reactor zone for converting the
feed, oxygen from an oxygen source and optionally a supplemental
hydrogen-containing co-feed as required to enable the conversion
under reducing conditions of substantially all of the halogenated
materials in the feed to one or more corresponding hydrogen
halides, to a reaction product comprised of said one or more
hydrogen halides, water, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen; b) a source
of the feed; c) means for supplying the feed, the oxygen source and
the optional supplemental hydrogen-containing co-feed to the
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone; d) a hydrogen halide
quench cooling apparatus for quenching the reaction product from
the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone; e) a carbonaceous
soot and inorganic ash purge for removing soot and ash from the
quenched reaction product; f) an absorber for receiving
substantially all of the reaction product from the quench apparatus
and absorbing hydrogen halide in the reaction product into a
hydrogen halide-lean aqueous solution to produce a more
concentrated hydrogen halide acid solution as a bottoms stream; g)
a stripper for receiving the absorber overheads and neutralizing
residual hydrogen halide in the overheads; and h) acid clean-up
apparatus for receiving the more concentrated hydrogen halide acid,
bottoms stream from the absorber and for removing contaminant
materials therefrom to produce a concentrated hydrogen halide acid
product.
2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the partial
oxidation reforming reactor zone is comprised of a first reactor or
reactor section characterized by intimate mixing of the reactants
therein and a second reactor or reactor section exhibiting plug
flow characteristics.
3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the partial
oxidation reforming reactor zone is comprised of a first reactor
wherein substantially all of the halogenated feed materials are
converted and of a discrete, second soak reactor.
4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein the inlet to the
first reactor and the inlet to the hydrogen halide quench cooling
apparatus following the soak reactor are so positioned with respect
to one another, that halogenated materials provided to the inlet of
the first reactor are prevented from passing unconverted to the
inlet to the hydrogen halide quench cooling apparatus.
5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the inlet to the
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone and the inlet to the
hydrogen halide quench cooling apparatus are sufficiently removed
from one another or are arranged spatially so that unconverted
halogenated materials are substantially prevented from bypassing
from the reactor zone inlet to the quench cooling apparatus inlet
directly.
6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the hydrogen halide
quench cooling apparatus includes a flooded weir quench and a
venturi quench in combination.
7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the hydrogen halide
quench cooling apparatus further includes a flux force/condensation
scrubber between the flooded weir quench and the verturi
quench.
8. An apparatus as defined in either of claim 6 or claim 7, further
comprising a demister apparatus following the venturi quench, for
preventing carryover of entrained carbonaceous soot therefrom to
downstream equipment.
9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a feed
conditioning system, including a grinder, agitated feed tank and
classification device operating in combination to prevent
particulate materials of a given size and larger which may
otherwise be contained in the halogenated materials from entering
the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone.
10. An apparatus for converting a feed comprised substantially of
halogenated materials to one or more useful products, comprising:
a) a source of a feed comprised substantially of halogenated
materials; b) a partial oxidation reforming reactor zone for
converting the feed, oxygen from an oxygen source and optionally a
supplemental hydrogen-containing co-feed as required to enable the
conversion under reducing conditions of substantially all of the
halogenated materials in the feed to one or more corresponding
hydrogen halides, to a reaction product comprised of said one or
more hydrogen halides, water, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen; c)
means for supplying the feed, the oxygen source and the optional
supplemental hydrogen-containing co-feed to the partial oxidation
reforming reactor zone; d) a hydrogen halide quench cooling
apparatus for quenching the reaction product from the partial
oxidation reforming reactor zone; e) a carbonaceous soot and
inorganic ash purge for removing soot and ash from the quenched
reaction product; f) an absorber for receiving substantially all of
the reaction product from the quench apparatus and absorbing
hydrogen halide in the reaction product into a hydrogen halide-lean
aqueous solution to produce a more concentrated hydrogen halide
aqueous acid solution as a bottoms stream; g) a stripper for
receiving the absorber overheads and neutralizing residual hydrogen
halide in the overheads; and h) desorption and distillation
apparatus for receiving the more concentrated hydrogen halide
aqueous acid solution bottoms stream from the absorber and removing
sufficient water therefrom to provide an essentially anhydrous
hydrogen halide product as an overhead stream.
11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the bottoms from
the desorption and distillation apparatus is recycled in whole or
in part to the absorber as the hydrogen halide-lean aqueous
solution.
12. An apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the partial
oxidation reforming reactor zone is comprised of a first reactor or
reactor section characterized by intimate mixing of the reactants
therein and a second reactor or reactor section exhibiting plug
flow characteristics.
13. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the partial
oxidation reforming reactor zone is comprised of a first reactor
wherein substantially all of the halogenated feed materials are
converted and of a discrete, second soak reactor.
14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the inlet to the
first reactor and the inlet to the hydrogen halide quench cooling
apparatus following the soak reactor are so positioned with respect
to one another, that halogenated materials provided to the inlet of
the first reactor are prevented from passing unconverted to the
inlet to the hydrogen halide quench cooling apparatus.
15. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the inlet to the
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone and the inlet to the
hydrogen halide quench cooling apparatus are sufficiently removed
from one another or are arranged spatially so that unconverted
halogenated materials are substantially prevented from bypassing
from the reactor zone inlet to the quench cooling apparatus inlet
directly.
16. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the hydrogen
halide quench cooling apparatus includes a flooded weir quench and
a venturi quench in combination.
17. An apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein the hydrogen
halide quench cooling apparatus further includes a flux
force/condensation scrubber between the flooded weir quench and the
verturi quench.
18. An apparatus as defined in either of claim 16 or claim 17,
further comprising a demister apparatus following the venturi
quench, for preventing carryover of entrained carbonaceous soot
therefrom to downstream equipment.
19. An apparatus as defined in claim 11, further comprising a feed
conditioning system, including a grinder, agitated feed tank and
classification device operating in combination to prevent
particulate materials of a given size and larger which may
otherwise be contained in the halogenated materials from entering
the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/207,792, filed Dec. 9, 1998, which was a
continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
60/068,405, filed Dec. 22, 1997, for "Reforming of Halogenated
Hydrocarbon Wastes".
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates broadly to processes for the
conversion of halogenated materials to other, higher value products
and uses. More particularly, the present invention is concerned
with processes and apparatus for the consumption of byproduct and
waste halogenated materials, especially chlorinated hydrocarbons,
and to processes for thermally or catalytically reforming waste
materials in general as a means for disposing of such
materials.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ART
[0003] With regard to halogenated organic wastes, and more
particularly in regards to chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes, in
recent years the disposal of these materials has come under
increasingly strict regulatory and environmental pressures, and
correspondingly has become more expensive to accomplish.
[0004] A conventional method of disposal involves the high
temperature incineration of the chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes with
other chemical wastes, according to a process which is generally
depicted in FIG. 1. Thus, chlorinated hydrocarbon waste liquids and
gases are supplied with air and non-chlorinated hydrocarbon
materials to an incinerator 10, and steam (indicated as stream 13)
is generated from the hot incinerator gases in a boiler 12. A lower
grade hydrochloric acid stream 14, containing from 10 to 18 weight
percent of hydrogen chloride, is produced in an absorber 16 through
absorption of hydrogen chloride from the incinerator gases in water
(stream 18). Residual hydrogen chloride and chlorine is scrubbed
from the gases in a scrubber 20 with an alkali metal hydroxide
stream 22, and is neutralized, oxidized and removed in a wastewater
stream 24. The scrubbed incinerator gases in stream 26 are then
conveyed to the atmosphere via a blower 28 and stack 30.
[0005] Where the chemical wastes to an incinerator are
substantially comprised of chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes, it has
been appreciated for some time that if a more concentrated aqueous
hydrochloric acid stream could be economically produced in lieu of
the weak hydrochloric acid stream 14, this would be desirable for
recovering some of the value which is otherwise lost in the
incineration of waste chlorinated hydrocarbons. Accordingly,
several processes have been proposed and are commercially available
or known for producing 20 to 35 weight percent hydrochloric acid as
well as still more valuable anhydrous acid. Illustrative processes
are shown and summarized in Kolek, "Hydrochloric Acid Recovery
Process", Chemical Engineering Progress, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 47-49
(February 1973); a system developed and employed by Hoechst AG has
also been described in Ertl, "Incineration Plant for Liquid and
Gaseous Chlorinated Wastes", Proceedings of the 1997 International
Conference on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies
(1997). Hoechst's system is shown in FIG. 2, and described in
greater detail below.
[0006] In recent years especially, though, incineration processes
in general have been progressively less favored from both an
environmental and regulatory perspective, and the incineration of
chlorinated materials in particular has become an even greater
concern because of issues surrounding the production of trace
organics such as the various dioxins and furans. Accordingly,
extensive efforts have been made to develop alternative,
non-combustive waste disposal processes. The processing of
halogenated hydrocarbon wastes and of chlorinated hydrocarbon
wastes in particular, however, has been specifically addressed in
the art relating to these alternative, non-combustive waste
disposal processes in only a couple of instances.
[0007] Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,244 to Shaw et al. discloses a
process for dissociating wastes in a molten metal bath in the
manner of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,574,714 and 4,602,574 to Bach et al. and
especially in the manner of U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,620 to Nagel et
al., but wherein a fluid vitreous phase is provided which includes
calcium oxide, aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide. The chlorine
from a chlorine-containing waste is described as being dissociated
from the chlorine-containing waste in the molten metal bath and as
being captured in the fluid vitreous phase as an inorganic
chlorinated compound, for eventual removal with the fluid vitreous
phase in a concentrated form.
[0008] In addition to the molten metal bath waste processing
technology area, a significant effort has also been devoted over a
number of years to the development of waste gasification technology
as an alternative to incineration. In relation to this technology
area, U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,376 to Suggitt appears to most directly
address the processing of halogenated organic materials. In the
'376 patent, halogenated organic material is combined with a
carbonaceous or hydrocarbonaceous material, a nitrogen compound and
a "free oxygen containing gas" and partially oxidized at high
temperatures and pressures and under reducing conditions, to
produce a synthesis gas that contains hydrogen halide and ammonia
in addition to hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen
cyanide, water, nitrogen and entrained solids. The hydrogen halide
and ammonia rich synthesis gas from the partial oxidizer is
contacted with a quench medium, generally water, to which
additional ammonia has been added as necessary so that a
stoichiometric excess of ammonia is present in the quench medium
after contact with the synthesis gas, for neutralizing the hydrogen
halide in the synthesis gas. In an alternate embodiment, the
synthesis gas after contact with the quench medium is further
contacted with a scrubbing medium, with the scrubbing medium and
quench medium together containing sufficient ammonia for
neutralizing the hydrogen halide produced in the partial
oxidizer.
[0009] The possibility is briefly mentioned in passing, at column
3, lines 3-14, of recovering salable hydrogen halide gas from the
quench medium or combined quench and scrubbing media, on the
condition that the feedstocks processed in the partial oxidizer do
not contain ash or other materials beyond carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
sulfur, nitrogen and halide, by acidifying the quench medium or
combined quench and scrubbing media with sulfuric acid or the like.
With any reflective thought, however, one would have to discount
this suggested option entirely as an impulse or afterthought; there
would seem to be essentially no practical or economic sense in
adding a stoichiometric excess of ammonia to neutralize the
hydrogen halide in the synthesis gas, and then adding a quantity of
a useful and salable material like sulfuric acid to re-acidify and
recover the hydrogen chloride that had been so neutralized.
[0010] Scheidl et al., in "High Temperature Gasification (HTG)
Pilot Plant Studies With Different Waste Materials: Formation of
PCDD/F and Other Organic Pollutants", Chemosphere, vol. 23, nos.
8-10, pp. 1507-1514, 1991, reports the results of studies on an
air-fed gasifier for hazardous waste materials, in which "organic
compounds" like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) and chlorinated solvents were added to the "regular
waste" to evaluate principally trace organic emissions relative to
conventional incineration values.
[0011] At the highest levels of addition of the supplemental
chlorinated organics, a mixed solid/liquid waste feed of about 6.1
percent by weight of liquids and containing about 5.0 percent by
weight overall of chlorine was processed. A gas cleaning system
described for use with the gasification apparatus included an
electric filter (for soot and dust removal), a scrubber for
hydrogen chloride and a second scrubber for sulfuric compounds like
hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide. Acid
recovery thus does not appear to have been contemplated. The
cleaned product gas, generally reported as containing mainly carbon
monoxide (11-24 percent), hydrogen (8-14 percent), methane
(0.1.about.0.5 percent), carbon dioxide (4-9 percent) and nitrogen
(60-70 percent), is described as being useful for fuel. Overall
results for trace organic emissions (for polychlorinated
dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs),
polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorobenzenes, chlorophenols and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) were viewed positively.
[0012] A process that could convert a feed comprised substantially
of halogenated materials and especially byproduct and waste
chlorinated hydrocarbons to one or more useful, higher value
products, for example but without limitation, a useful or salable
acid stream (whether aqueous or anhydrous) and/or a product
synthesis gas stream useful as a fuel gas or for the synthesis of
still other materials, while at the same time satisfactorily
addressing the trace organic chemistry concerns associated with the
known incinerative processes for accomplishing these same ends,
would fill a substantial unmet need in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0013] The present invention provides such a process, and thus
relates in a first aspect to a process for converting a feed that
is substantially comprised of halogenated materials to one or more
useful products. These products can be in the form of a useful or
salable acid product and/or a product synthesis gas as just
indicated, or the reaction product (from a partial oxidation
reforming step of the process) including the same hydrogen halide,
carbon monoxide and hydrogen components can be employed as a feed
in the synthesis of a different useful or salable product.
[0014] With particular reference to the production of an acid
product and/or a product synthesis gas, the process of the present
invention comprises the steps of supplying a partial oxidation
reforming reactor zone (comprised of one or more partial oxidation
reforming reactors in series or in parallel) operating under
reducing conditions with the feed, a source of oxygen and
optionally a supplemental hydrogen-containing co-feed as required
to enable the conversion of substantially all of the halogenated
materials in the feed to a corresponding hydrogen halide,
recovering from the reactor a reaction product comprised of one or
more hydrogen halides, water, carbon monoxide and hydrogen but
containing essentially no unconverted halogenated materials, and
then separating out and recovering without an intervening
neutralization step from the reaction product either or both of a
useable or salable halogen acid product in aqueous or anhydrous
form and the product synthesis gas. Where the desired useful
product is neither an acid derivable from the reaction product or
the product synthesis gas, but instead is a material which can be
prepared or synthesized from the reaction product as a whole,
neither of the acid product or product synthesis gas are recovered
and the reaction product is used as a feed in the synthesis of the
material in question.
[0015] In a second broad aspect, the present invention relates to
an apparatus useful for accomplishing the process of the present
invention. In a first embodiment related to the use of the reaction
product on the whole as a feed in the synthesis of a different
material, the apparatus of the present invention comprises a
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone (which can be one partial
oxidation reforming reactor or can include a plurality of such
reactors in series or in parallel), a hydrogen halide quench
cooling apparatus for quenching the reaction product from the
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone, a carbonaceous soot and
inorganic ash purge for removing soot and ash from the reaction
product, and a reactor wherein the reaction product is further
reacted or chemically converted to the desired material. In a
second embodiment directed to the preparation and recovery of one
or more halogen acid products and/or a product synthesis gas per se
from the reaction product, the apparatus of the present invention
comprises a partial oxidation reforming reactor zone, a hydrogen
halide quench cooling apparatus, a carbonaceous soot and inorganic
ash purge, an absorber for absorbing hydrogen halide in the
reaction product into a hydrogen halide-lean aqueous solution to
produce a more concentrated hydrogen halide acid solution as a
bottoms stream, and a stripper for receiving the absorber overheads
and neutralizing residual hydrogen halide in the overheads.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of a conventional
incineration process and apparatus for the incineration of waste
chlorinated hydrocarbons, in which weak hydrochloric acid and steam
are produced for use elsewhere.
[0017] FIG. 2 depicts an incineration process which has been
developed and commercially employed and licensed by Hoechst AG for
incinerating waste chlorinated hydrocarbons from an associated
ethylene dichloride (EDC)/vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) production
facility, and which contemplates the recovery of anhydrous hydrogen
chloride as a feed and raw material for the oxychlorination process
in the EDC/VCM production facility.
[0018] FIG. 3 provides an overall schematic of a process of the
present invention, in each of two preferred embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 4 schematically shows a portion of the process of FIG.
3, pertaining to a feed conditioning step which is preferred for
the processing of certain types of feeds.
[0020] FIG. 5 provides a schematic of the reactor zone portion of
the process of FIG. 3.
[0021] FIG. 6 provides a schematic of the reaction product recovery
section of the process of FIG. 3, in a first embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates one possible means for carrying out the
reaction product recovery step according to the first embodiment
shown schematically in FIG. 6.
[0023] FIG. 8 is a schematic of an alternative embodiment of the
reaction product recovery portion of the process of FIG. 3.
[0024] FIG. 9 is a schematic of still another alternative
embodiment of the reaction product recovery section of the process
of FIG. 3, as shown in other embodiments in FIGS. 6 and 8.
[0025] FIG. 10 provides still another embodiment of a reaction
product recovery section.
[0026] FIG. 11 depicts a partial oxidation reforming reactor as may
be used in the process of FIG. 3, in one preferred embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 12 provides an alternative reactor design to that shown
in FIG. 11.
[0028] FIG. 13 depicts a second alternative preferred reactor
design.
[0029] FIGS. 14 and 15 show two preferred embodiments of a feed
nozzle for supplying the feed and other reactants to the reactor in
the present invention.
[0030] FIGS. 16A through 16G show a process of the present
invention in a presently preferred, illustrative embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 17 depicts still another preferred reactor design as
may be used in the process of FIG. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND OF THE PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0032] The process and apparatus of the present invention, in their
preferred embodiments, relate to the conversion of byproduct and
waste chlorinated hydrocarbons to one or more useful, higher value
products, particularly an anhydrous hydrogen chloride product that
can be sold or used in the oxychlorination step of an EDC/VCM
manufacturing process.
[0033] Those skilled in the art will of course readily appreciate
that the process and apparatus of the present invention are useful
for the conversion of a variety of halogenated materials to higher
value products, including the conversion of fully halogenated
materials such as carbon tetrachloride that are themselves
commercially manufactured, sold and consumed as "chemical
products", to higher value products inclusive of the corresponding
halogen acids, a product synthesis gas useful as a fuel or as a
feedstock for the synthesis of another material, those materials
which may be so prepared using the product synthesis gas, a
component isolated or recovered from the product synthesis gas, and
materials which may be prepared from a hydrogen halide or halides
with one or more additional components of the reaction product gas
stream from the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone. Feeds
comprised of a mixture of differently halogenated materials, for
example, chlorofluorocarbons and/or hydrochlorofluorocarbons with
chlorinated hydrocarbons, are also contemplated, as are feeds
including both liquids and solids. Preferably however the feed will
be comprised substantially entirely of liquids, and more preferably
will be essentially ash-free and non-slagging, including less than
about 5 percent of ash and other inorganic materials, and
preferably including about 1 percent or less of such materials.
[0034] In the broader context where the process and apparatus of
the present invention will be called upon to process differently
halogenated materials, the feed will be comprised "substantially"
of such halogenated materials. By "substantially", it is intended
that the halogen content of the feed overall (including any
hydrogen-containing co-feed as may be required to supplement the
hydrogen content in the halogenated materials for removing
substantially all of the halogen content to the corresponding
hydrogen halide(s)) will be such that if a single halogen were
implicated in the feed, recovery of the corresponding hydrogen
halide would generally be considered commercially practical.
"Differently halogenated materials", parenthetically, should be
understood as embracing both the circumstance wherein discrete
materials each containing a single, distinct species of halogen
atom are included in the feed, and the circumstance wherein a
single material contains more than one species of halogen
(chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, for example) is
present in the feed.
[0035] One potential, commercially significant application of the
process of the present invention as regards these differently
halogenated materials would be for processing chlorine and fluorine
containing materials, for example, chlorine and fluorine containing
intermediates from agricultural chemical production and especially
stockpiled waste or byproduct chlorofluorocarbons, the use of which
has been largely curtailed in recent years because of concern over
the effect of such materials on atmospheric ozone levels. The
processing of these types of feeds clearly entails specific
materials of construction considerations because of the very high
corrosivity of hydrogen fluoride, though absorption of HF/HCl
mixtures is routinely performed by companies manufacturing
chlorofluorocarbons and those skilled in this particular art area
are accordingly able to deal with these issues. The separation of
HF from HF/HCl acid mixtures, for accomplishing a reasonable
recovery either of the HF or HCl in commercially desired
concentrations, appears to have been the subject of significant
development efforts though some technologies are known to the art,
see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,604 to Olson, said patent
being incorporated herein by reference (describing the conversion
of HF in an HF/HCl mixture to SiF.sub.4, enhancing the relative
volatility of SiF.sub.4 relative to the HCl, then distilling the
SiF.sub.4/HCl mixture to yield a concentrated (22 to 40 percent)
HCl acid solution).
[0036] A preferred application of the process and apparatus of the
present invention will, again, be for the conversion of a feed
comprised substantially entirely of byproduct and waste chlorinated
materials and especially chlorinated hydrocarbons, for example, in
the form of heavy and light distillation fractions from a
chlor-alkali manufacturing process, from the manufacture of
ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer or of chlorinated
solvents, or from the manufacture of olefin oxides via a
chlorohydrin intermediate, polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated
transformer oils and heat transfer fluids, chlorinated pesticide
and herbicide wastes and waste chlorinated solvents. In general,
the feed will contain more than about 15 percent by total weight of
chlorine, but preferably will contain at least about 30 percent,
more preferably about 40 percent by weight and most preferably will
contain about 50 percent or more by total weight of chlorine.
[0037] For simplicity and clarity of explanation, the process and
apparatus of the present invention will be described hereafter in
relation to this preferred and non-limiting application or
context.
[0038] As has been mentioned previously, one method known to the
art for disposing of such materials is a shown in FIG. 1. Referring
now to FIG. 1, and as summarized above, chlorinated hydrocarbon
waste liquids and process vents are supplied in a stream 8 to a
conventional incinerator 10 with air and optionally additional
non-chlorinated hydrocarbon materials, for example, methane, in a
stream 11. The heat of combustion is employed in boiler 12 for
generating steam 13, and a cool effluent gas stream is then passed
to absorber 16 wherein hydrogen chloride in the effluent gas is
absorbed into water supplied by stream 18 and produces a weak
hydrochloric acid stream 14 containing generally from about 10 to
about 18 percent by weight of hydrogen chloride. Any residual
hydrogen chloride remaining in the overheads 19 from the absorber
16 is neutralized in a scrubber 20 with alkali metal hydroxide
(typically caustic soda) supplied in stream 22, and disposed of in
a waste water stream 24. The remaining incineration gases 26 are
discharged via blower 28 and a stack 30.
[0039] A commercial incineration process developed by Hoechst AG
for incinerating chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes in particular is
shown in FIG. 2, and recovers the chlorine value of the chlorinated
hydrocarbon wastes in the form of a gaseous anhydrous hydrogen
chloride which is suited for use in the oxychlorination portion of
an associated EDC/VCM manufacturing plant.
[0040] Liquid chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes in stream 32 are fed
to a nozzle via residue filters, with a gaseous chlorinated
hydrocarbon waste 34 being fed directly to the incineration chamber
35. The waste is atomized with compressed air from stream 36 in the
nozzle and incinerated at about 0.2 bars, gauge and 1250 degrees
Celsius with from 4 to 5 percent of excess oxygen. To maintain or
limit the incinerator temperature, supplemental heating with
natural gas or addition of water or preferably aqueous hydrochloric
acid to the incinerator chamber, respectively, are suggested.
[0041] The flue gas 38 from the incinerator passes through a boiler
40 wherein boiler feed water 42 is converted to steam 44 and the
temperature of the flue gases decreased to about 300 degrees
Celsius. The steam generated is fed into the steam system of an
associated EDC/VCM plant at a pressure of 8 bars absolute, and a
small fraction of the boiler feed water 42 is purged to limit the
salt concentration in the steam drum.
[0042] The flue gas 38 leaving the boiler 40 is then quenched with
hydrochloric acid in a quench chamber 46 to approximately 60 to 70
degrees Celsius, with a residue filter being provided in the quench
recycle system 48 to remove solids (for example, ash and metals)
from the quench system.
[0043] The flue gas 50 exiting the quench system is then supplied
to an absorber column 52 equipped with bubble cap trays. Aqueous
hydrochloric acid at an azeotropic composition of about 17 percent
by weight is supplied in a stream 54 from a desorber 56, via heat
exchangers 58 at a temperature of about 90 degrees Celsius. The HCl
concentration increases in the absorber 52 from its azeotropic
value to a value of about 25 to about 28 percent by weight at the
bottom of the absorber 52. The remaining HCl in the gas is removed,
except for small amounts, in the upper part of the absorber 52
where the gas therein is contacted with condensate in stream 60.
Before entering scrubber 62, water vapor in the off-gas 64 from the
absorber 52 is reduced in the top condenser to a value
corresponding to a temperature of about 35 degrees Celsius.
[0044] The scrubber 62 is described as being comprised of a lower
section wherein most of the remaining HCl and free chlorine in the
off-gas 64 is neutralized with 18 weight percent sodium hydroxide
in water, and then removed in a wastewater stream 66. Traces of HCl
still left in the gas phase are still further reduced in an upper
section of the scrubber 62 by absorption into demineralized water
via stream 67, and the flue gas 69 emitted to the atmosphere at
about 25 degrees Celsius.
[0045] The acid stream from the bottom of the absorber 52,
containing from about 25 to about 28 weight percent of hydrogen
chloride in water, is passed through filtration and ion exchange in
vessel 70 to remove residual solids and metal chlorides, before
entering the desorber 56 at about 120 degrees Celsius. The desorber
56, which operates at a pressure of 4.5 bars, gauge, in contrast to
the various other apparatus operating in atmospheric pressure,
functions to distill the stream 68 and produce the aqueous,
azeotropic HCl stream 54 and an overhead stream 72 which, after
passing through a demister 74 at the top of desorber 56, is dried
through two condensers 76 and 78. The second condenser 78 employs
refrigeration to reduce the temperature of the gas stream 72 to -12
degrees Celsius whereupon the resulting anhydrous hydrogen chloride
gas stream is heated in exchanger 80 to a temperature in excess of
the dew point, typically being about 60 degrees Celsius, and
supplied to the oxychlorination portion of the associated EDC/VCM
plant.
[0046] Referring now to FIG. 3, a process of the present invention
is broadly schematically illustrated in each of two preferred
embodiments. Chlorinated hydrocarbon waste products and byproducts
in a stream from a chlorinated hydrocarbon waste- or
byproduct-generating or source process 82 are communicated to an
optional feed conditioning system 84, with the necessity of using
the feed conditioning system 84 depending in part on the nature of
the chlorinated hydrocarbon waste products and byproducts received
from the source process 82 and in part on the design and capability
of the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone 86 and associated
apparatus to process particulate matter or solids found in the feed
to a benign end. As indicated above, the process of the present
invention will preferably act upon a feed comprised substantially
entirely of chlorinated materials that are liquid in nature; in
actual practice, however, a number of the particular chlorinated
hydrocarbon waste products and byproducts enumerated above can be
expected to contain some particulate matter. Further, to the extent
provision has been made for the presence of such particulate matter
in the feed for example as a consequence of normal operation of the
source process(es), it is anticipated that one may purposely add
into the feed dioxin- and furan-laden particulates that derive from
other sources and that can be processed to destruction in the
process and apparatus of the present invention.
[0047] Preferably for both product quality and environmental
reasons, this particulate matter will be completely reformed or
gasified in the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone 86,
whether on a single pass basis or through recycle with carbonaceous
soot and insoluble inorganic ash removed by a particulate removal
step (as described below). To this end, it is preferred then that
any solids present in the feed to the partial oxidation reforming
reactor zone 86 will be smaller than about 2 millimeters in size.
More preferably, any particulate solids in the feed will be smaller
than about 500 microns in size, but more preferably the particulate
solids should be smaller than 200 microns in size and most
preferably will be smaller than about 100 microns in size.
[0048] Where the chlorinated hydrocarbon feed contains particulate
solids of an undesirable size, a feed conditioning step 84 is
consequently included which, as shown in greater detail in FIG. 4,
comprises the steps of grinding a part or the whole of the feed in
a grinder 84a to meet the indicated particulate solids size
limitation, using a classification device 84b internal to the
grinder 84a or located downstream thereof for permitting only those
particulate solids meeting the indicated size limitation to be
passed to the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone 86, and
recycling larger particulate solids to an agitated feed tank 84c
for being supplied to the grinder 84a anew. The classification
device 84b is preferably a filter.
[0049] After being conditioned as appropriate in the optional feed
conditioning step 84, the feed is supplied to a partial oxidation
reforming reactor zone 86 operating under reducing conditions with
an oxygen source (preferably in the form of one or more
oxygen-containing gases selected from oxygen, air, oxygen-enriched
air and carbon dioxide, but more preferably being essentially
oxygen) and optionally a supplemental hydrogen-containing co-feed
(the oxygen source and optional hydrogen-containing co-feed being
indicated in FIG. 3 as "other reactants" 88) as required to enable
substantially all of the chlorine content in the feed to be
manifested as hydrogen chloride in the reaction product from the
partial oxidation reforming reactor zone 86. Steam can be added as
a temperature moderator and additional hydrogen source in keeping
with conventional reformer practice, and should be considered as
optionally included in the "other reactants" 88.
[0050] From the reactor zone 86, the reaction product is supplied
to a reaction product recovery step 90, and thereafter the reaction
product may be supplied to a separate synthesis step 92 to produce
a chemical product 94 such as phosgene or methyl chloride (as
taught in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,247 to Holbrook et
al., which patent is incorporated herein by reference).
Alternatively, the reaction product is supplied to an acid and
product synthesis gas recovery step 96 for recovering either or
both of an aqueous or anhydrous hydrogen chloride product 98 and a
product synthesis gas 100, which product synthesis gas 100 is then
used as a fuel 102 or as a feed 104 for chemical synthesis of such
materials as ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, acetic acid or acetic
anhydride by commercially-known processes, see, for example,
Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3.sup.rd ed.,
vol. 2, pp. 480-500 (ammonia), Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of
Chemical Technology, 4.sup.th ed., vol. 13, pp. 852-878 (hydrogen),
McKetta and Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and
Design, vol. 29, pp. 423-435 (1988) (methanol).
[0051] Those skilled in the art will recognize, of course, that
other materials than these could be produced from the reaction
product or from the product synthesis gas 100 recovered from the
reaction product, and the exemplary materials listed are not
intended to be limiting. An example of another such material would
be 1,3-propanediol as prepared in the manner of several related
patents assigned to Shell Oil Company, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,144
to Powell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,145 to Powell et al. and U.S.
Pat. No. 5,463,146 to Slaugh et al., all of which are incorporated
herein by reference and all of which relate to the catalytic
hydroformylation of ethylene oxide with carbon monoxide and
hydrogen in a non-water-miscible organic solvent, extracting
3-hydroxypropanal from the organic solvent into an aqueous liquid
phase at high concentrations, separating the aqueous phase from the
organic phase containing the hydroformylation catalyst, contacting
the aqueous phase with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation
catalyst to provide a hydrogenation product mixture including
1,3-propanediol, then recovering 1,3-propanediol from the
hydrogenation product mixture and returning at least a portion of
the organic phase to the first, hydroformylation step of the
process.
[0052] Referring to FIG. 5, additional details of the reactor zone
86 are shown in a more specific or detailed schematic drawing. In
the reactor zone 86, one or more partial oxidation reforming
reactors 86a are used in parallel or in series to convert the
chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes and byproducts to a reaction product
including hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and water.
While preferably the reactor(s) 86a employed in the reactor zone 86
will be designed so as to provide full conversion of the
chlorinated hydrocarbons in the feed to hydrogen chloride and with
no opportunity for bypassing of unconverted materials to a quench
section or to downstream apparatus generally, because reforming
processes of the type described herein involve an equilibrium among
a number of competing reactions and because the process of the
present invention may and likely will see a wide variety of
chlorinated materials, some of which may be more difficult to
convert than others, we contemplate generally that a separation
step 86b may be employed after the one or more partial oxidation
reforming reactors 86a to recover and recycle any unconverted
chlorinated materials that may otherwise be contained in the
reaction product. Preferably, this recycle step 86b is simply
accomplished by means of the particulate removal included in the
reaction product recovery step 90, so that the recycle step 86b in
effect overlaps with the reaction product recovery step 90 shown
schematically in more detail in FIGS. 6 through 10.
[0053] With regard to FIG. 6, a reaction product recovery step 90
in a first preferred embodiment includes a wet gas quench step 106
in which the reaction products are supplied to a hydrogen chloride
quench cooling apparatus, which may be any conventional apparatus
used for this purpose. For example, a spray cooler may be used, or
a conventional draft tube/submerged quench tube apparatus may be
used, or an overflow weir quench or a venturi quench, or any
combination of the above. For present purposes it is preferred that
a combination is used of an overflow weir quench, for managing the
hot gas/cold liquid interface and the corrosion issues attendant to
the production of significant amounts of hydrogen chloride in the
reaction product, and of a high energy venturi quench/scrubber for
effective carbonaceous soot and acid-insoluble inorganic ash
removal in a particulate removal step 108. Carbonaceous soot and
inorganic ash removed from the quenched reaction product are then
in a step 110 purged from the system or recycled in whole or in
part to the reactor zone in a similar manner as taught in U.S. Pat.
No. 3,979,188 to McCallister and U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,157 to
Schlinger et al., both of which are incorporated by reference, so
that unconverted chlorinated hydrocarbons with or on the soot or
ash are recycled as just described above.
[0054] A particular quench and particulate removal scheme is shown
in FIG. 7 for carrying out the process steps shown schematically in
FIG. 6, and involves the use of flux force/condensation scrubbing
as the principal particulate removal means. The reaction product
gas 112 from the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone 86 is
first quenched in a low energy quench 114 (which can be an overflow
weir quench or other conventionally known low energy quench device)
with the particulate-bearing, acid effluent 116 from a packed
condenser column 118, which column 118 in turn receives the
quenched reaction product stream 120 from the low energy quench 114
as a feed. Particulate matter removed from the reaction product
stream via the condenser acid effluent is periodically or
continuously purged or recycled in stream 119 as has been
previously described, and the thus-scrubbed reaction product gas
122 is then passed to a high energy venturi quench/scrubber 124 for
scrubbing residual carbonaceous soot or inorganic ash particulate
matter from the desired reaction product stream. A packed demister
column 126 supplied with make-up water 128 or with cold
hydrochloric acid from a subsequent acid absorber and/or in the
form of a filtrate from still-subsequent conventional aqueous acid
clean-up operates to further remove particulate matter, and
especially any entrained particulate matter from the high energy
venturi quench/scrubber 124, from the desired reaction products
going overhead in stream 130 to acid/product synthesis gas
separation and recovery (step 96 in FIG. 3). The bottoms stream 132
from the demister column 126 is used in part in the high energy
venturi quench/scrubber 124, and in part as the scrubbing liquid
134 supplied to the packed condenser column 118.
[0055] Referring now to FIG. 8, an alternative embodiment of the
reaction product recovery section 90 is shown in schematic, in
which a hot gas filtration and particulate removal apparatus 136 is
employed preceding a principal quench cooling apparatus 138. The
hot gas filtration apparatus 136 will preferably be of a type well
known to those skilled in the art for use in hot, corrosive
environments from applications in the chemical process, petroleum
refining and mineral processing industries, involving the use of a
ceramic filter medium as generally described in U.S. Pat. No.
5,460,637 to Connolly et al., Judkins et al., "Development of
Ceramic Composite Hot-Gas Filters", Journal of Engineering for Gas
Turbines and Power, vol. 118, pp. 495-499 (July 1996)(and the
references cited therein), and in Judkins et al., "A Review of the
Efficacy of Silicon Carbide Hot-Gas Filters in Coal Gasification
and Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Environments", Journal of
Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, vol. 118, pp. 500-506 (July
1996) (with the references cited therein), or involving the use of
a sintered metal filter as described for example in Bulletin GSS-1,
"The Pall Gas Solid Separation System for the Chemical Process,
Refining, and Mineral Industries", Pall Corporation (1988). As in
FIG. 6, the soot and inorganic ash which are not dissolved in the
hydrogen chloride acid products are purged from the system or
recycled in whole or in part to the reactor zone 86. A variation of
the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 employs a partial quench (by spray
cooling or contact with a cooled gas, for example, a cooled,
recycled product synthesis gas) of the reaction product stream from
a temperature in the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone of
from about 1100 to about 1500 degrees Celsius to a temperature in
the range of about 800 degrees Celsius and less, for example, and
especially being as low as about 550 to about 600 degrees Celsius,
that allows for a larger selection of materials of construction and
may be less demanding of the filtration apparatus in practice.
[0056] FIG. 9 depicts a second alternative embodiment of the
reaction product recovery section 90 in schematic. This second
alternative embodiment employs a partial spray cooling or low
energy quench 140 of the reaction products from a temperature in
the partial oxidation reforming reactor zone of from about 1100 to
about 1500 degrees Celsius, to a temperature now suited to
particulate removal of the carbonaceous soot and insoluble
inorganic ash in a baghouse filtration apparatus, conventionally
being from at least about 200 degrees Celsius (or safely above the
dew point of hydrogen chloride in the environment of the baghouse
filtration apparatus) to about 400 degrees Celsius. The thus-cooled
reaction products are conveyed to a baghouse filtration apparatus
142 from which soot and inorganic ash are again purged from the
system, and the gases from which the inorganic ash and soot have
been removed are then conveyed to a second spray cooling/low energy
quench apparatus 144 for further cooling the desired reaction
products as appropriate for the synthesis reactor 92 or for the
acid and product synthesis gas recovery section 96 schematically
shown in the process of FIG. 3. Those familiar with the manufacture
of carbon black will appreciate that in this embodiment, the
reaction product recovery section 90 and particulate removal
demands of the process of the present invention bear some
resemblance to the known manufacturing and recovery technologies
for carbon black. In this regard, for example, it is considered
that a bag filter design as shown in FIG. 19 of McKetta and
Cunningham, "Carbon Black, Furnace Black", Encyclopedia of Chemical
Processing and Design, vol. 6, page 212 (1988), may suitably be
used in the context of the present invention as well. The selection
and design of a suitable baghouse filtration apparatus 142 are
again considered to be matters within the capabilities of those
skilled in the art, see, for example, Croom, "Effective Selection
of Filter Dust Collectors", Chemical Engineering, pp. 86-91 (July
1993).
[0057] Finally, referring now to FIG. 10, still a third alternative
embodiment of the reaction product recovery section 90 is shown,
which uses a heat recovery unit 146 to generate steam and to cool
the reaction products from the reactor zone 86 to a
baghouse-suitable temperature. After being filtered in a baghouse
filtration apparats 148, the filtered reaction products are then
conveyed again to a second quench cooling apparatus 150 for further
cooling the reaction products to a suitable temperature for the
synthesis reactor 92 or for the acid and product synthesis gas
recovery section 96 shown in FIG. 3. The heat recovery unit 146 can
conveniently be a boiler such as has been used previously in the
incineration of chlorinated hydrocarbon wastes. An example of a
suitable boiler in this context can be found in U.S. Pat. No.
4,627,388 to Buice, which patent is incorporated herein by
reference. Alternatively, a radiant heat recovery boiler such as
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,657 to Jahnke may be used as
desired.
[0058] As should be clear from the preceding paragraphs, a variety
of hydrogen halide quench cooling and particulate removal
arrangements and apparatus can be employed in the process of the
present invention, depending on such considerations as the nature
of the feeds to be processed in a given apparatus, and the
character and quantity of the particulate matter produced
therefrom.
[0059] In general terms, and in the preferred processing of a feed
comprised substantially entirely of chlorinated materials and
especially byproduct and waste chlorinated hydrocarbons, the
embodiment shown in FIG. 6 may be preferred by some users from the
perspective of preventing the de novo synthesis or any possible
reformation of dioxins, furans and related trace organics, by
providing a rapid quench of the reaction product gases. In this
regard, in oxidative incineration environments a rapid quench has
generally been found useful in reducing dioxin and furan emissions
in stack gases, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,337 to Kiss,
Gebert et al., "PCDD/F Emission Reduction for Sinter Plants", Steel
Times, vol. 223, no. 6, pp. 220-222 (Jun. 6, 1995), Gullett et al.,
"Role of Combustion and Sorbent Parameters in Prevention of
Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxin and Polychlorinated Dibenzofuran
Formation During Waste Combustion", Environmental Science and
Technology, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 107-118 (Jan. 1994).
[0060] The Scheidl et al. article discussed above suggests that a
reforming process as contemplated herein should represent an
improvement over conventional incineration, insofar as dioxin and
furan formation issues are concerned. Indeed, as indicated
previously, it is anticipated that the process of the present
invention could desirably be used to process dioxin- and
furan-containing materials to destruction. Given that the process
of the present invention may in certain commercial environments be
called upon to process a wide variety of feeds, however, and
further given the much higher chlorine contents of the feeds
contemplated for use in the present invention compared to those
reported in the Scheidl et al. article, with the regulatory,
political and environmental sensitivities attending the disposition
of chlorinated organic wastes and surrounding trace organic
emissions, it is recognized that a rapid wet gas quench may be a
desirable additional safeguard for some users to employ.
[0061] An apparent potential disadvantage of the embodiments of
FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, however, relative to the embodiments of FIGS. 8
through 10, is that the removal and purging from the process of
wetted or slurried particulate materials can be expected to be more
difficult to accomplish. From a purely technical perspective, then,
a dry gas filtration system as schematically shown in FIGS. 8
through 10 and as described above will be preferred to the wet gas
quench and particulate removal embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7, with
the embodiments of FIGS. 9 and 10 being generally further preferred
to a hot gas filtration method as shown in FIG. 8.
[0062] The reactors 86a which are used in the present invention can
be designed in a variety of different configurations, the basic
considerations for the reactor design being to provide for complete
conversion of the halogenated materials therein to reaction
products including the corresponding hydrogen halide(s) (that is,
substantially all of the halogens in the feed are found in the
reaction product as hydrogen halide(s)), and to substantially not
allow any bypassing of unconverted materials from the feed to the
quench inlet or other downstream equipment. Fundamentally, any of
the reactor designs which have been known for reforming low ash/low
slag-forming feeds may be useful in the present invention,
depending on the capacity of these designs to meet the above-stated
conditions for a projected feed or set of feeds.
[0063] A first, generally conventional design is shown in FIG. 11,
and shows a cylindrical pressure vessel 152 which is lined with
refractory brick layer 154, the refractory layer 154 preferably
being characterized by a high alumina content of at least about 90
percent by weight of alumina. An insulating brick layer 156 is also
provided, and a protective mastic cement coating/lining (not shown)
and acid tile brick layer 158 underlie the insulating brick layer
for protecting the carbon steel pressure vessel 154 from corrosive
attack by HCl generated in the reactor. A high alumina, nonwoven
insulating paper (also not shown) is interposed in one or more
layers between the acid tile brick layer 158 and insulating brick
layer 156. A feed nozzle 162 (described in connection with FIGS. 14
and 15 below) is provided for supplying the feed and other
reactants to the reactor, and a pilot nozzle 164 is provided
according to convention for cold start-ups and generally for
avoiding explosive conditions in the reactor during interruptions
in the flow of the feed to the reactor, or due to other like
circumstances.
[0064] A similar, very basic reactor design is shown schematically
in FIG. 17, and employs a cyclonic configuration with tangential
introduction of the chlorinated hydrocarbon feed 360 and of the
oxygen source 362 (and the hydrogen-containing co-feed, steam and
the like, where present in accordance with conventional reforming
considerations and practice) through a feed nozzle 364. A pilot
nozzle 366 is provided as in the embodiment of FIG. 11, and indeed
except insofar as the basic configuration of the reactor is
concerned, the reactor of FIG. 17 is essentially constructed in the
same manner as the reactor of FIG. 11.
[0065] Because the reactors of FIG. 11 and FIG. 17 are simple in
design and readily and easily constructed, where the desired full
conversion and absence of bypassing can be accomplished in a
reactor of the type shown in FIG. 11 or of the type shown in FIG.
17, these designs are generally preferred. Where additional mixing
and residence time are required, where additional protection
against bypassing of feeds is deemed advisable or where perhaps for
other reasons neither of these designs proves fully satisfactory,
those skilled in the art will appreciate that still other designs
can be suitably employed, such as the second, alternative reactor
design shown in FIG. 12.
[0066] The reactor of FIG. 12 is conventionally vertically
oriented, and uses a top, back-mixed reactor section 166 and a gas
removal reactor section 168 underlying the top reactor section 166,
with a restriction 170 defining and separating the top reactor
section 166 and gas removal reactor section 168 and operating with
the gas removal reactor section 168 to facilitate back-mixing and
conversion in the reactor as a whole.
[0067] Bypassing of unconverted halogenated materials in the feed
is guarded against by offsetting the inlet to the quench apparatus
from the inlet to the reactor, through providing an angled hot gas
take-off 172 from the gas removal reactor section 168 which carries
the reaction products to a parallel, primary product quench vessel
174 (shown with a submerged quench tube 176, but an overflow weir
quench for example also being useful in the vessel 174). Ash and
carbonaceous soot are removed from the quench vessel in stream 178,
and the reaction product gases 180 are passed on for further
processing in accordance with the process of the present invention
in its various described embodiments.
[0068] Referring now to FIG. 13, a third exemplary reactor design
is shown, and embraces a first, vertical reactor 182 in which the
reactants are angularly introduced through dual feed nozzles 184
for inducing swirling and intimate mixing of the reactants in the
first reactor 182 and in which preferably substantially all of the
halogenated materials in the feed are converted, a hot gas take-off
186 including one or more changes of flow direction/turns, and a
second, extended soak reactor 188 providing additional residence
time for the reaction product mixture received from the first
reactor 182 (via the hot gas take-off 184) at reforming conditions
and exhibiting flow behaviors more characteristic of plug flow.
Preferably, the hot gas take-off 184 feeds the reaction product
mixture from the first reactor 182 into the second reactor 188
tangentially. An overflow weir quench 190 and primary quench vessel
192 (with an ash and soot purge) underlies the second reactor
188.
[0069] Variations and combinations of the features found in the
reactor designs of FIGS. 11-13 and 17 can also be employed, for
example, using baffles (in the form of choke rings, for instance)
to increase mixing and residence time in the cylindrical vessel
design of FIG. 11, using the angled dual feed nozzles 184 of FIG.
13 in the embodiments of FIGS. 11 or 12, and so forth.
[0070] The selection of an appropriate feed nozzle can aid
substantially in achieving the desired full conversion of the
halogenated feed materials, of course. Feed nozzles which have
developed in the conventional context of gasifying slurried solid
carbonaceous fuels (generally being coal) or the partial oxidation
of heavy residual oils from petroleum refining have generally been
characterized by fairly substantial flow passages due to plugging
concerns, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,564 to Marion et
al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,942 to Marion et al., U.S. Pat. No.
4,113,445 to Gettert et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,099 to Crouch et
al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,230 to Stellaccio. Generally speaking,
any of the feed nozzles which have heretofore been known for use in
the partial oxidation of various pumpable solid carbonaceous and
liquid hydrocarbon fuels should also be useful in the present
invention, but in the preferred context of feeding an essentially
liquid feed of chlorinated hydrocarbon materials, still other
gas-liquid, atomizing feed nozzles are enabled for use and are
preferably used that inherently provide for better dispersion and
mixing of the feed and other reactants. Exemplary preferred feed
nozzles of the compound nozzle type are shown in FIGS. 14 and 15,
though those skilled in the art will appreciate that these are
non-limiting examples only.
[0071] Referring now to FIG. 14, a nozzle 193 is shown of the "Y
jet" variety, in which a gas stream (in the present context being
typically oxygen, oxygen and steam (as a temperature moderator
and/or hydrogen source), oxygen and a hydrogen-containing co-feed
such as methane, or oxygen, steam and methane in combination) is
delivered from a central channel 195 through an annular orifice 197
for atomizing the liquid feed conveyed through an outer annular
orifice 199, and the mixture of feed and reactants discharged to
the reactor through annular exit orifice 201. Cooling water is
circulated about the nozzle 193 in annular cooling water channel
215.
[0072] FIG. 15 shows a compound nozzle 203 of the "T jet", variety,
in which the liquid feed is conveyed through the central channel
205 and delivered into contact with an atomizing gas stream via a
plurality of lateral flow channels 207. The oxygen (and any steam
and/or methane) used for atomizing the liquid feed is provided
through an annular orifice 209, and the mixture of feed and
reactants is then received in an internal mixing chamber 211 before
being discharged to the reactor through annular exit orifice 213.
Cooling water is also provided about the nozzle 203 through annular
cooling water channel 217.
[0073] A preferred, illustrative embodiment of the process and
apparatus of the present invention as a whole is shown in FIGS. 16A
through 16G, in which byproduct and waste chlorinated materials
from various source processes are collected in feed tanks 194, 196
and 198, preheated as appropriate with available process steam in
an exchanger 200, and fed as a mixed liquid feed 202 to a main feed
nozzle (or nozzles) 204 of a reactor 206. Oxygen is supplied in
stream 208 through the main feed nozzle 204 and as appropriate
through a pilot nozzle 210, and is limited as necessary to maintain
reducing conditions in the reactor 206, with steam optionally being
made available in stream 212 as a temperature moderator in accord
with conventional reforming practice and with a hydrogen-containing
co-feed (usually methane) also being provided as needed in stream
214. Cooling water in stream 216 is preferably used for providing
localized cooling in conjunction with the atomization and injection
of the mixed liquid feed 202 via main feed nozzle 204, and nitrogen
is preferably supplied in stream 218 for purging instrument
connections and for purging the reactor in shutdowns of the
process. With respect to the pilot nozzle 210, the known practice
of some users of partial oxidation technology is to use the pilot
nozzle 210 on essentially a continuous basis, while others will
supply methane and oxygen to the reactor through the pilot burner
only for cold start-ups.
[0074] In any case, for purposes of the present invention,
preferably only a small percentage of the heating value in any
ultimate product synthesis gas (whether that product synthesis gas
is used as a fuel or not) is accounted for by the supplemental
hydrogen-containing co-feed, so that preferably less than about 10
percent, more preferably less than about 5 percent, of the heating
value of any product synthesis gas derived from the process is
attributable to the methane or other hydrogen-containing co-feed
214. At a minimum, of course, sufficient hydrogen is provided to
enable essentially all of the chlorines found in the feed 202 to be
manifested as hydrogen chloride in the reaction product from the
reactor 206. Typical operating conditions for the reactor 206 are a
temperature of from about 1100 degrees Celsius to about 1500
degrees Celsius and an operating pressure of from less than 1 to
about 10 bars absolute, with residence times of from less than 1 to
about 5 seconds also being typical but being sufficient in any case
to fully convert the feed 202.
[0075] The reaction product from the reactor 206 (comprised of
hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, smaller amounts of
carbon dioxide and water, and limited amounts of particulate matter
deriving from inorganic materials in the feed, corrosion products
and carbonaceous soot produced under reducing conditions in the
reactor 206) then proceeds to a primary quench vessel 222
preferably employing an overflow weir quench, and which is supplied
with cold concentrated aqueous HCl in stream 224 from a second
quench vessel 226, in stream 228 from an absorber (see FIG. 16C)
and in stream 230 from the filtration of a concentrated aqueous HCl
stream (see FIG. 16D) for clean-up and sale or use, and/or for
subsequent distillation to anhydrous form, as a quench liquid.
[0076] Soot and insoluble inorganic ash collected by sedimentation
at the bottom of the primary quench vessel is periodically or
continuously purged in stream 232 to a subsequent neutralization
step (FIG. 16G), or optionally recycled in whole or in part to the
reactor 206 as described previously.
[0077] The quenched reaction product gases 234 from the primary
quench vessel 222, containing some level of entrained liquid and
some corresponding amount of particulate material, are then
conveyed to a high energy venturi scrubber 236 for providing
intensive gas/liquid contact of the reaction product gases 234 with
cold, concentrated aqueous HCl streams and removing additional
solids to the quench liquid. Subsequently the venturi scrubber
effluent 238 is conveyed to a second quench vessel 226, with a
recycle quench liquid 224 being derived from the second quench
vessel 226 for use in the primary quench vessel 222 and in the
venturi scrubber 236. The twice-quenched reaction product gases 240
from the second quench vessel 226 are preferably passed through a
demister (not shown) to knock out entrained liquid and any residual
particulate solids contained therein, and subsequently are conveyed
to a packed acid absorber 242 (see FIG. 16C). As in Hoechst's acid
recovery scheme from incineration as summarized above with respect
to FIG. 2, an azeotropic composition aqueous hydrochloric acid
stream 244 derived from a subsequent desorber/HCl stripper
(referenced as item 296 in FIG. 16E) is supplied to the absorber
242 as the absorbent, with optionally additional make-up water
being supplied in stream 246 as needed to minimize HCl carryover
from the absorber 242 to the product synthesis gas scrubber 248. A
concentrated aqueous hydrochloric acid bottoms stream 250 of
preferably about 25 percent or more, and (with sufficient
additional cooling of the bottoms stream 250 from the absorber 242)
especially about 34 percent by weight or more of hydrogen chloride
in water is in this manner produced from the absorber 242.
[0078] A portion of the bottoms stream 250 is recirculated to the
absorber 242, and the remainder is conveyed to an optional further
particulate removal vessel/settler 252. The stream 228 used in part
to supply the quench liquid in the quench vessels 222 and 226 is
derived from the bottom of the settler vessel 252, and the
remaining concentrated aqueous hydrochloric acid stream 254 is
passed to a clean-up segment of the overall process as described
below.
[0079] The acid-lean, product synthesis gas produced as the
overheads stream 256 from the absorber 242 is dried by passage
through a condenser 258, and a second, high energy venturi 260 is
used in combination with a conventional packed scrubber 248 for
neutralizing any hydrogen chloride carried over in the overheads
256. An alkaline stream 262 which is typically caustic soda is
supplied for neutralizing the residual HCl in the product synthesis
gas 256, and a chlorine (or free halogen) scavenger in the form of
an aqueous hydrogen peroxide, sodium bisulfite solution or the like
can be used as appropriate in stream 264. The resultant
salt-bearing wastewater stream 266 is conveyed to the vents
scrubber (item 342 in FIG. 16G), and the recovered product
synthesis gas 268, having a higher heating value of at least about
75 and preferably at least about 100 British Thermal Units (BTUs)
per cubic foot under dry standard conditions corresponding to a
temperature of zero degrees Celsius and one atmosphere of pressure,
is then suited for being sold or used as a feed or fuel.
[0080] The concentrated aqueous hydrochloric acid stream 254 is
placed in an agitated crude HCl tank 270 equipped with a vent 270
for, e.g., residual hydrogen (the vent stream 270 is conventionally
communicated, along with vents 272a through 272g from the other
storage tanks depicted, to the vents scrubber 342 shown in FIG.
16G), and pumped through a set of periodically backflushed tubular
guard filters 274, carbon beds 276 and ion exchange beds 278 to
remove residual particulate solids and dissolved metal salts. Ion
exchange beds 278 are purged with water (stream 280) and steam
(shown as stream 282) in a conventional manner, and the purge
stream 284 conveyed to the vents scrubber 342 for neutralization.
The clean concentrated aqueous hydrochloric acid 286 from the ion
exchange beds 278 is then available through storage tank 288 for
sale or use in stream 290, or can then be distilled to anhydrous
form as indicated by stream 292.
[0081] As shown in FIG. 16D, the sales quality concentrated aqueous
hydrochloric acid 292 is preheated by cross-exchange with an
azeotropic composition HCl bottoms stream 294 from the HCl
desorber/stripper 296, and the concentrated aqueous stream 292 then
fed to the desorber/stripper 296. As is known, the azeotropic
concentration of HCl in water decreases with increasing pressure,
facilitating the use of pressure to "break" the azeotrope and
produce an anhydrous HCl product. Hoechst's commercial acid
recovery scheme summarized above takes advantage of this fact in an
incineration context, and the process embodiment of FIGS. 16A
through 16G in essentially the same manner provides the azeotropic
composition HCl bottoms stream 294, a portion of which is then made
available for recycle to the absorber 242 as stream 244 for making
a more highly concentrated aqueous HCl product, and a mostly
anhydrous HCl overheads stream 298. Those skilled in the art will
appreciate in passing that a number of different combinations of
unit operations and techniques have been defined for "breaking" the
water/HCl azeotrope and for providing for anhydrous HCl recovery,
that could conceivably be used in place of the system shown. Some
of these less preferred techniques are described in McKetta and
Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design, Volume
26, "Hydrochloric Acid", pages 396-417, as well as in Kiang and
Metry, Hazardous Waste Processing Technology, pages 249-255,
Butterworth Publishers, Boston (1982).
[0082] The overheads stream 298 from the desorber/stripper 296 is
then fed to a series of condensers 300 to dry the HCl overheads
stream 298 to an extent whereby the stream 298 is suitable for use
as an oxychlorination feed in an EDC/VCM manufacturing process,
generally containing not more than about 100 parts per million of
water. The condensed HCl solution 302 from the condensers 300 is
preferably refluxed as shown to the desorber/stripper 296, but can
also be recycled to the absorber 242.
[0083] In the event an oxychlorination process is not nearby so
that the essentially anhydrous HCl stream 304 must be compressed
and pipelined to another location, or where for other reasons it is
desired to further dry the HCl product 304 received from the
desorber/stripper 296, the illustrative preferred process
embodiment of FIGS. 16A through 16G preferably further includes
sulfuric acid drying of the HCl product stream 304, as shown in one
possible embodiment in FIG. 16F.
[0084] Dry sulfuric acid is delivered in the embodiment of FIG. 16F
from a truck loading facility 306 to a vent-equipped dry sulfuric
acid tank 308. The dry sulfuric acid 310 is then pumped to a liquid
ring compressor 312, where the dry sulfuric acid 310 is combined
with a partially dried hydrogen chloride overheads stream 314 from
a first packed absorber column 316 which receives the HCl product
stream 304 from the condensers 300, and with a recycle, partially
wet sulfuric acid stream 318 from a second packed absorber column
320. The partially dried HCl 314 from the first absorber column 316
is then further dried in the second packed absorber column 320, to
provide a pipeline-ready anhydrous HCl vapor stream 322 overhead
and a partially wet sulfuric acid bottoms stream 324 that is
refluxed in part and that also provides the recycle, partially wet
sulfuric acid stream 318 supplied to the compressor 312. Still a
third part 326 of the partially wet sulfuric acid bottoms stream
324 is used in the first packed absorber column 316, for contacting
the higher water content HCl product 304 from the condensers 300
and for drawing additional water therefrom to produce the partially
dried HCl overheads stream 314 then fed to the compressor 312 and
to the second packed absorber 320. The fully wet sulfuric acid
emerges as a bottoms stream 328 from the first packed absorber 316,
is recycled in part to the top of the first packed absorber column
316 and in part is supplied to a packed stripper column 330 which
uses dry air in stream 332 to pull residual HCl from the wet
sulfuric acid overhead in a vents stream 334, the vents stream 334
thereafter of course being neutralized with the other process vents
in the vent scrubber 342 of FIG. 16G. The HCl-stripped, wet
sulfuric acid 336 from the stripper 330 is then stored in tank 338
for shipment, drying and reclaimation by a merchant supplier of dry
sulfuric acid. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other
arrangements of apparatus can be employed for carrying out the
preferred sulfuric acid drying of the HCl stream 304, including the
use for example of a single absorber with several stages as opposed
to the two absorbers 316 and 320.
[0085] Referring, finally, to FIG. 16G, all of the various liquid
waste streams and process vents (including streams 232, 266, 272
and 272a through 272g, 284 and 334) are communicated to a scrubber
tank 340 and packed vent scrubber 342 supplied with a suitable base
(stream 344) (caustic soda, for example) and with a residual
chlorine/free halogen scavenger in stream 346, for generating a
filterable wastewater stream 348 containing the ash and soot
collected from the particulate removal section of the process and a
vent 350: The ash and soot are conventionally collected and removed
as stream 352 from a filter press 354 and landfilled or
incinerated, and the filtrate 356 is sent to a wastewater treatment
facility.
* * * * *