WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC: edward.houde@uop.com
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA: michael_mcgrath@fwhou.fwc.com
Introduction
Solvent deasphalting has a key role in todays
refinery, as the technology can be used in a
variety of uses for residue upgrading. It is less
expensive to build and operate than other residue
conversion processes and is especially useful in
recovering large quantities of high quality oils
which can be further upgraded via traditional FCC
and Hydocracking units.
This paper outlines the benefits of the combined
UOP/FW Solvent Deasphalting (UOP/FW SDA)
offerings. The technology applications, process
variables, key design issues, and technical
support services are also discussed.
The fit for a particular location is particularly
dependant on finding a use for the SDA pitch and
various options are discussed.
Background
While solvent deasphalting (SDA) has been used
for more than fifty years to upgrade non-volatile
residues, the technology continues to evolve over
time. It is a robust economical process that uses
an aliphatic solvent to separate the typically more
valuable oils and resins from the more aromatic
and asphaltenic components of its vacuum residue
feedstock. The earliest commercial applications of
solvent deasphalting used propane as the solvent
to extract high-quality lubricating oil bright stock
from vacuum residue. These applications were
called propane deasphalting (or propane
deresining when used to separate high molecular
weight resins from Pennsylvania-grade vacuum
residue). Solvent deasphalting process have
gradually extended to include the preparation of
feedstocks for catalytic cracking, hydrocracking,
and hydrodesulfurization units, as well as the
production of specialty asphalts.
In 1996, UOP and Foster Wheeler USA
Corporation (FW) entered into a collaboration
agreement to merge their solvent deasphalting
technologies. Both companies had extensive
backgrounds in solvent deasphalting, and both
companies had recently entered into collaboration
covering other residue upgrading technologies
such as visbreaking and delayed coking. A
collaboration covering solvent deasphalting was
considered a logical fit that would benefit the
IDTC Conference
London, England
February 2006
present and future users of solvent deasphalting
technologies.
The merging of Foster Wheelers and UOPs
experience in designing solvent deasphalters
represents a total capacity of more than 500,000
BPSD and more than 50 commercial units with
capacities ranging from 500 to 45,000 BPSD.
These commercial applications have included all
applications of solvent deasphalting such as:
the production of lube oil feedstocks
the recovery of incremental feedstock for
downstream FCC and hydrocracking units
the production of road bitumen, and have
included both two-product (deasphalted oil
(DAO) and pitch) and three-product
(deasphalted oil, resin and pitch) process
configurations.
This merging of FW and UOP solvent
deasphalting technologies provides our clients
with the widest range of experiences, process
features, engineering know-how, technical
support, and most importantly, a more efficient
and lower cost design.
Technology Overview
Solvent deasphalting, whether for the production
of lubricating oil or cracking stocks, uses a light
hydrocarbon solvent specifically tailored to ensure
the most economical deasphalting design. For
example, propane solvent may be specified for a
low deasphalted oil yield operation such as lub
production, while a solvent containing
hydrocarbons as heavy as hexane may be used to
obtain a high deasphalted oil yield for the
production of additional conversion unit feedstock.
Plant designs have been developed using heavy
solvents at elevated temperatures in order to
maximize the yield of usable deasphalted oil and
minimize the yield of pitch having a softening point
of 350F or higher.
UOP/FW SDA technology is unique by different
from other solvent deasphalting technologies in
that it is not just one technology, but rather a
combination of technology features and options
Page 1 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
which have been developed by both companies.
These features and options allow UOP/FW to
offer the optimum process design for any solvent
deasphalting application.
For example, UOP has predominately focused its
technology on downstream conversion unit
applications. As a result, UOPs solvent
deasphalting experience has principally focused
on the use of butane and heavier type solvents
that can obtain higher DAO recoveries. There is a
distinct advantage to the use of supercritical
separation for the recovery of the solvent and
DAO when using these types of solvents.
Consequently, UOP developed supercritical
solvent-DAO separation technology. The other
area that UOP focused its development efforts
involved minimizing the solvent to oil ratio while
still producing a reasonably high quality DAO.
FWs SDA technology development emphasis was
initially more focused on lower lift, very high quality
applications, such as the production of lube oil
feedstocks for hydrocracking and further solvent
refining. Consequently its technology originally
focused around propane/butane deasphalting
using optimized extraction techniques for those
specific applications. Additionally FW has made
available its detailed design and construction
experiences from a multitude of SDA projects.
Technology Advantages
The UOP/FW SDA technology has several distinct
advantages that ensure the refiner obtains the
most efficient, economical, and flexible SDA
process. These include:
Novel extraction devices tailored to the
specific application:
- UOP/FW/Sulzers Structured Packing and
proprietary internals in both the multi-
stage counter current extractor as well as
the DAO and resin separators. This
technology provides state-of-the-art
contacting and separation devices to
maximize extraction efficiency as well as
optimal recovery of clean products.
- FWs multi-stage rotating disk contactor
(RDC). The RDC is specifically designed
to achieve high product yields and quality
IDTC Conference
London, England
February 2006
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation
by incorporating both stripping and
rectification of the oil feed. Superior
quality DAO is obtained from the RDC
even at DAO recovery rates exceeding 85
percent, with an even greater difference in
quality being seen at lower DAO yields.
Supercritical solvent recovery. Supercritical
recovery of the solvent allows more efficient
utilization of the systems thermodynamic
characteristics while also reducing the units
operating costs.
** Multiple product recovery designs that take
advantage of the changes in liquid-liquid
equilibrium that result from changes in
operating conditions between those utilized
during extraction and those used for solvent
recovery.
Lower solvent requirements used to achieve
processing objectives. Although increasing
the amount of solvent used in the extraction
improves the extraction efficiency, it also has
a major impact on the units operating costs.
Consequently, the lowest solvent-to-oil ratio
necessary to achieve the desired product
separation is typically specified.
Optimal design of heat exchange systems.
UOP and FWs combined design experience
in optimizing SDA heat exchange systems
allows the SDA user to select a multitude of
heat exchange options, depending on the
project specific objectives and opportunities.
Extraction Devices
The efficiency of the extraction process is the key
equipment design variable impacting both the
capital and operating costs of SDA. The
extractors role in SDA is to separate the
precipitate (pitch phase) from the continuous fluid
stream (DAO/solvent).
Both single-stage co-current extraction, where the
bulk of the solvent is mixed with the feed prior to
the extractor, as well as multi-stage counter-
current extraction, where the bulk of the solvent
enters the bottom of the extractor separate from
the feed, have been used commercially.
Structured packing or RDCs used in multi-stage
Page 2 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
counter-current extraction provide both the
contacting area and time required for extraction as
well as segregation of the stages to reduce back
mixing below the feed stage. Above the feed
stage, structured packing or coils provide for the
coalescing of entrained droplets of feed or pitch.
Supercritical Solvent Recovery
Although, often referred to as supercritical
extraction, it is the solvent separation, not the
extraction that is carried out in the supercritical
region of the solvent. The use of supercritical
solvent recovery results in a simpler process flow.
Gone is the need for multiple flash towers and
condensers associated with conventional multiple
effect evaporative type solvent recovery systems.
Supercritical solvent recovery allows for more
efficient utilization of the systems thermodynamic
characteristics. Presented below is a comparative
tabulation of the utility requirements of
conventional subcritical evaporative and
supercritical solvent recovery systems. Note that
the difference from subcritical to supercritical
indicates a shift from steam to fuel. When the
latent heat content of the steam is considered, the
comparison indicates a significant reduction
(20 percent) in heat input into the supercritical
system as compared to the subcritical system.
This can translate into a total utility cost savings of
about 30 percent relative to sub-critical recovery.
Table 1
Comparative utility requirements
Sub- Super-
critical critical Difference
Electricity, 1.2 2.0 0.8
kWh/bbl Feed
Steam, lb/bbl 125.0 12.2 -112.8
Feed
Fuel, M Btu/bbl 55.0 115.0 60.0
Feed
Lower Solvent Requirements
Because UOP/FW SDA has the advantage of
highly efficient extraction technology, the solvent-
to-oil ratio can be minimized for the same
objectives of DAO yield and quality.
IDTC Conference
London, England
February 2006
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation
The impact of solvent-to-oil ratio on both capital
and operating costs is conservatively reflected in
Tables 2 and 3. These tables summarize an
internal study undertaken by UOP and FW to
assess the relative costs of different solvent-to-oil
ratios. The cost of fuel has significantly increased
since this study was performed and the savings at
lower solvent ratios would be even more
pronounced. While the cost benefits at a lower
solvent ratio can be substantial, the solvent-to-oil
ratio also has an impact on DAO quality (see
Figure 1). Consequently, the optimal solvent ratio
is determined based on the DAOs downstream
processing requirements.
Figure 1: Effect of Solvent to Oil Ratio
70
3/1 5/1
8/1
PPM Metals in DAO
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
DAO yield
Optimal Design of Heat Exchange Systems
From a heat exchange perspective, there are
several ways in which a SDA units operating and
capital cost can be significantly changed. Careful
analysis of the application, its associated utility
costs, customer preferences, and process
flexibility requirements need to be addressed to
ensure the best design is applied for the specific
application.
For example, the heat exchange between the
DAO/solvent phase and the solvent will have an
optimal temperature of approach. Both UOP and
FW have world-class experts in pinch analysis that
will ensure the SDA units design optimizes the
tradeoff between capital and operating costs.
Other areas where heat exchange costs can be
significantly altered are with heat exchange of the
pitch and DAO products.
This is discussed in further in detail in the Utility
Requirement section of this paper.
Page 3 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation

Table 2
UOP/FW SDA Advantage
Capital Costs
Option: 1 2 Delta
Case: High Solvent to Low Solvent to _
Oil Ratio Oil Ratio
Solvent-to-oil Ratio (S/O) 8 5 3
Solvent C4 Mix C4 Mix -
Size (BPD) 28,000 28,000 -
% Equip. Assoc. with S/O 60 60 -
Equip. Assoc. with S/O $ 20,520,000 $ 15,700,000 $ 4,820,000
Other Equipment Cost $ 15,680,000 $ 15,680,000 $ -
Installed Cost, $MM $ 36,200,000 $ 31,380,000 $ 4,820,000
Unit Cost, $/BBL 1,290 1,120 170

Table 3
UOP/FW SDA Advantage
Operating Costs
Option: 1 2 Delta
Case: High Solvent to Low Solvent to -
Oil Ratio Oil Ratio
Solvent-to-oil Ratio 8 5 3
Solvent C4 Mix C4 Mix -
Average Utility Consumptions
(per barrel of feed)
Fuel, MMBTU 0.075 0.056 0.019
Steam, lbs 12.0 10.5 1.5
Power, kW 2.67 1.77 0.90
Incremental Cost
($Bbl Feed)
Fuel 0.293 0.206 0.087
Steam 0.00006 0.00005 0.000
Power 0.179 0.119 0.060
Total 0.342 0.248 0.094
Yearly Cost (28,000 BPD) $3,600,000 $2,500,000 $1,100,000
Unit Cost Reference
Fuel, MMBTU $3.82
3
Steam, 10 lbs $4.83
Power, $/kW $0.067

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London, England Page 4 of 11
February 2006
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Process Description
In non-lube oil production applications, regardless
of whether a two-product or three-product
configuration is employed, the units design would
employ structured packing, supercritical solvent
recovery and the flexibility to utilize a range of
solvent types to achieve the desired separation.
In lube oil production applications, the preferred
extraction device is the multi-stage rotating disk
contactor although at high capacities structured
packing might also be employed. The rotating
disk contactor, coupled with supercritical solvent
recovery and the flexibility to utilize a range of
solvent types, can achieve the desired separation
while producing a superior quality product.
The following brief description of the process flow
scheme is based on a two-product configuration.
A process schematic (Figure 2) is provided for
reference. The UOP/FW SDA Unit consists of
essentially three major process operations
(extraction, DAO/solvent and asphalt recovery)
which occur within the unit.
The extraction section consists of the extraction
vessel, which will typically contain structured
packing with proprietary internals. In the extractor,
pre-diluted feed will be contacted with a counter-
current flow of solvent. Deaphalted oils and resins
are selectively recovered overhead with the bulk of
the solvent, and the asphaltenes and more polar
resins are rejected (along with a small amount of
solvent) in the bottoms stream.
The extractors overhead DAO/solvent mix flows to
the DAO separator and solvent recovery section
where its temperature is raised above the
solvents critical conditions. At these conditions
the DAO is no longer soluble in the solvent, and
separates from the solvent by gravity. This
section includes heat exchange, a final DAO mix
heater (steam, hot oil, or direct fired heater), a
DAO separator containing proprietary internals,
and a DAO product steam stripper.
The pitch phase, containing some of the solvent,
flows to the pitch recovery section where it is
heated, flashed and steam stripped to remove any
remaining solvent from the pitch product. The
pitch and solvent recovery section consist of a
pitch mix heater (hot oil or direct fired heater) and
a pitch product steam stripper.
IDTC Conference
London, England
February 2006
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation
The recovered solvent streams from the DAO and
pitch recovery sections are cooled/condensed and
recycled back to the extraction section for reuse.
Figure 2: Supercritical SDA Process
Vacuum
Residue Extractor DAO
Charge Separator
Pitch
Stripper
DAO
Stripper
Pitch DAO
Optional Resin Recovery (Three-Product
Configuration)
As the DAO/solvent mix is heated, oils become
less soluble in the mix. Initially these oils are the
feedstocks heavier resin fraction but eventually
become the lighter DAO components. This
provides an opportunity to produce more than one
DAO product and add flexibility in processing
options. If the option to recover an intermediate
resin stream is attractive, a resin settler may be
added between the extractor and DAO separator.
This settler can be included in the units initial
design or can be added at a later date. In this
three-product configuration, the DAO/solvent
mixture exiting the extractor vessel is directed to
the resin settler. There, the mixtures temperature
is raised to the point at which the desired
intermediate-quality resin stream would be sepa-
rated.
This material would then be heated, typically by
hot oil exchange, before flowing to the resin
stripper for solvent recovery.
Effect of Process Variables
The proper operation of the SDA process is
affected by several process variables, including:
Page 5 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation

Solvent Selection of solvent present in the unit. Consequently, when

frequent feedstock changes might occur, it is
The yield and quality of the products, which are generally more practical to operate the SDA unit
recovered in a SDA unit, are directly related to the with a constant solvent composition and adjust the
solvent composition. As the molecular weight of operation of the extractor. This assumes,
the solvent increases, the yield of DAO also however, that the new feedstock would not be
increases. At the same time, however, the quality processed continuously for an extended period of
of the DAO declines slightly. Because the DAO is time, in which case adjustments to the solvent
usually further processed in a conversion unit composition may be warranted to provide optimum
designed to utilize highly active, metals-sensitive product recovery and product quality.
catalysts which are incapable of economically
processing feedstocks containing more than a few Extraction Temperature
parts-per-million of organometallics, proper solvent
selection must consider both the desired quantity During normal operation, when both the solvent
and quality of the recovered products. composition and the extraction pressure are fixed,
the yields and qualities of the various products
Solvents normally used in the SDA process recovered in the SDA unit are controlled by
include single components such as propane, adjusting the extractors operating temperature.
butanes and pentanes, as well as mixtures of For a given solvent composition, Table 4
these components. In most cases the solvent is summarizes the affect of extraction temperature
supplied from LPG products within the refinery and on both the SDA yields and product quality.
at times includes the corresponding olefins. Since
these materials are typically available within a Increasing the extraction temperature reduces the
refinery, their use as SDA solvents is relatively solubility of the heavier components of the
inexpensive. In addition, because the majority of feedstock, improving DAO quality but reducing
the solvent is recirculated within the unit, solvent DAO yield. Subsequent increases in the extractor
makeup rates are small. temperature can further improve the quality of the
DAO by causing additional rejection of the
Propane, being the most selective of the solvents asphaltenic components.
normally considered for a SDA unit, is specified
when the highest quality of recovered DAO is Table 4
required. This typically results in relatively low Affect of extraction temperature on
yields of DAO. Butanes are used either SDA yield and product quality
individually or as a mixture, as SDA solvents when
Extractor Temperature
a reasonably high yield of high-quality DAO is
desired. Finally, pentanes are used when the Low High
maximum yield of DAO is desired. When DAO
compared to the quality of a DAO recovered with a Yield High Low
butane solvent, the DAO recovered from a Quality Low High
pentane solvent would be heavier, would contain Contaminants High Low
more organometallics and Conradson carbon, and
would require more severe downstream Extractor Temperature
processing. This is due to the presence of the Low High
heavier, more-resinous components of the Pitch
feedstock, as these materials generally have Yield Low High
relatively high contaminant contents. Penetration Low High
Softening Point High Low
The SDA unit design typically includes the
capability to operate within a range of solvent There is, however, an upper limit to the extraction
compositions. During actual operation of the unit, temperature which may be used. As the
however, it may be difficult to quickly adjust extraction temperature approaches the solvents
solvent composition to offset a change in critical temperature, the DAO rapidly becomes
feedstock quality. This is because of the quantity less and less soluble in the solvent. Because it is

IDTC Conference
London, England Page 6 of 11
February 2006
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation

difficult to maintain a stable operation at these extracts the more paraffinic components from
conditions, the extractor temperature is typically vacuum residues while rejecting the condensed
maintained below the solvents critical ring aromatics. The deasphalted oil product
temperature. quality is characterized by:

Extraction Pressure Higher paraffinicity The solvent

deasphalted oils show viscosity indices 20 to
The effect of operating pressure is opposite to 40 points higher than the corresponding
temperature but to a lesser extent. In general, the distilled overhead cylinder oils.
higher the operating pressure the more DAO is
extracted at a specific temperature. The operating Lower carbon/hydrogen ratios The data
pressure of the extractor is based on the indicate carbon/hydrogen ratios of seven, or
composition of the solvent which is being used. lower, are obtainable because of the high
As indicated previously, sufficient operating rejection of condensed ring aromatics to the
pressure must be maintained to ensure the pitch.
solvent/residue mixture in the extractor is in the
liquid state. Although the unit may be designed for Reduced sulfur and nitrogen content - Pilot
a range of operating pressure, once it is in plant and commercial data indicate
operation the extractor pressure is typically not concentrations of these components in the
considered a control variable. DAO are almost always lower than in the
corresponding feed. Blended feeds could
Solvent Recirculation Rate be an exception.

The quantity of solvent contained in the
solvent/residue mixture that is charged to the
extractor vessel has an impact on extraction
efficiency. As shown in Figure 1, increasing the
amount of solvent in the extractor while
maintaining a constant DAO yield improves the
degree of separation of the individual components
and results in the recovery of a higher-quality
DAO.
However, since the quantity of solvent which is
recirculated within the unit is significantly greater
than the amount of feedstock being processed,
any improvement in product quality which results
from an increased solvent recirculation rate must
be balanced against the additional operating costs
associated with the increased solvent recirculation
and solvent recovery requirements, and the
increased capital costs associated with the larger
equipment sizes. Once the required solvent-to-oil
ratio is established, however, it is usually not
adjusted unless the feed rate is increased and the
solvent circulation becomes the limitation on unit
Reduced metal content - DAO with as little
as 1 wppm nickel plus vanadium content
has been produced even from Venezuelan
residues containing 700 to 1,000 wppm of
these metals.
Reduced carbon residue - The carbon
residue in deasphalted oils is significantly
lower than for distilled oils of equivalent
viscosity or mid-boiling point.
The deasphalted oil product yield-quality relation-
ships obtained when solvent deasphalting typical
vacuum residues are shown in Figure 3. This data
is based on UOP and Foster Wheelers extensive
library of pilot plant and commercial solvent
deasphalting data.
Figure 3: SDA Quality Selectivity
100
Appearing in Deasphalted Oil, %

90
Sulfur, Nitrogen and Metals

capacity or if there is some other major feedstock 80

change. 70
60
50
lf ur
40 Su
Yield and Product Quality R
30 CC el
ck m
The solvent deasphalting process selectively
20
Ni iu
10 nad
0 Va
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
IDTC Conference Deasphalted Oil Yield, Vol-%
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February 2006
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation

Utility Requirements Evaluation of the units many heat integration

options, which is typically done during the basic
For many processing units it is possible to develop design phase may improve utility and capital
utility consumptions based on either the feed requirements. Table 6 illustrates the impact of
capacity or the amount of products produced. several of these options on the units utility
This is not a realistic approach for solvent requirements, based on a two-product UOP/FW
deasphalting since most of the utility SDA unit operating at 100% of design capacity
consumptions are related to the circulation and (28,200 BPSD) at normal operating conditions.
recovery of the solvent. Consequently, solvent
deasphalting utility consumptions depend more The base case for this comparison minimizes heat
upon the solvent circulation rate than upon the integration and takes a conservative approach to
deasphalted oil yield or the unit feed capacity. An equipment sizing, heat recovery, and capital costs.
accurate estimate of solvent deasphalting utility The other options include:
consumptions requires definition of all three of
these parameters. Option 1 - Heat exchange of the DAO product
with the pitch stripper feed. This option
reduces fired fuel requirements by
Summarized below are typical continuous utility
approximately 11.9 MM BTU/hr;
requirements for solvent deasphalting units using
supercritical solvent recovery as described above. Option 2 - Heat exchange of the pitch product
The lube oil case is a low DAO yield, relatively with the DAO phase. This option reduces the
high solvent to oil ratio operation using steam as DAO phase steam heater requirements by
the primary process heat source. The cracking about 18,500 lbs/hr;
stock case is a high DAO yield, low solvent to oil Option 3 - Designing the DAO/solvent mix to
ratio operation using fired heat as the major solvent exchanger for a specific temperature
process heat source. approach. The base case assumes a 5-shell
Table 5 arrangement and a 20F temperature
approach. Reducing the temperature
Solvent Deasphalting
Typical Utility Requirements, Per Barrel of Feed approach to say 11F would result in a similar
energy saving as in Option 2. However, the
Lube Oil Cracking
Stock number of shells would increase anywhere
from 2 to 3 times that of the base case.
Fuel Liberated, Btu (LHV) 81,000 55,500
Power KWH 1.5 1.77
Steam (150 psig), lbs 116 10.5
Cooling Water (25F rise), 15 Nil
gal

TABLE 6
ESTIMATED UTILITY REQUIREMENTS

Utility Base Option 1 Option 2

Fuel Fired, MMBTU/hr 35.2 23.3 35.2
Electric Power, kW 1192 1163 1192
Steam, x 103 lbs/hr HP (consumed) 78.5 78.5 60.0
Cooling Water, gpm 925 925 360

IDTC Conference
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 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Application of Solvent Deasphalting
In determining the best application of solvent
deasphalting the process should be thought of as
a physical separation process analogous in some
respects to vacuum distillation, but not limited by
the volatility of its products and selective to certain
molecular types.
It is analogous to vacuum distillation in that it only
provides separation of products not conversion of
products. If you change to a lower quality feed it
will result in a lower quality of DAO or a lower yield
or both. It is not analogous in that it separates by
molecular types rather than volatility. The result in
general is that higher boiling components are
recovered in the units pitch product and the lower
boiling components are recovered in the units
DAO product. Due to solvent selectivity, however,
the pitch will contain low-boiling, highly aromatic
components while the DAO will contain high-
boiling, paraffinic components. For a fuels type
solvent deasphalter, the pitch production will be
minimized for a specific cracking stock (DAO plus
VGO) quality by maximizing the lift in the vacuum
unit to the limit of VGO quality. This also
minimizes the size of the solvent deasphalter.
Solvent deasphalting is less expensive to build
and operate than other residue conversion
processes, although as noted earlier, it does not
provide any actual conversion. Therefore, it is
most applicable to recovering the large quantity of
high quality oils in light residues while rejecting the
small quantity of asphaltenes and impurities such
as metals and those components that contribute to
carbon residue. In addition, unlike residue
conversion units which benefit from economy of
scale, solvent deasphalting can be economically
applied at very small feed rates.
Finally, solvent deasphalting has good applicability
where the demand for a low-value residual fuel is
significantly smaller than the production of residual
fuel oil based on vacuum tower bottoms
production.
Utilization of Pitch
The utilization of SDA pitch is very much
dependant on the local market. The primary outlet
for the pitch is as fuel, mainly as a blend
component in the residual oil market. Another
significant market is as a blend component in the
IDTC Conference
London, England
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Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation
production of road bitumen or other specialty
asphalts. For instances where a delayed coker is
available, the pitch may be sent to the coker for
final conversion and recovery of the remaining oil
value. Pitch has also been used commercially as
feedstock for IGCC and hydrogen production.
Example of a Recent Commercial Application
A recent project that has started up in the Far East
is a good example of the applicability of solvent
deasphalting in an existing refinery. In this case,
the refiner desired to recover additional cracking
stock from a residual fuel stream. The solvent
deasphalting unit was designed to process 6,000
BPSD (approximately 40,000 kg/hr) of a Middle
Eastern crude blend to recover a 50% yield of
DAO. UOP/FW/Sulzers latest state-of-the-art,
proprietary internals and structured packing were
used in both the units extractor and DAO
separator.
The addition of the solvent deasphalting unit
allowed the refiner to increase the amount of
transportation fuels produced from the refinery.
The recovered pitch, along with some clarified
slurry oil, ( 20 Liq Vol % of the blend) was used
as a high viscosity residual fuel by an existing
nearby IPP to produce power. In order to
compensate for the higher viscosity of the IPPs
fuel blend, for this application, the fuel system and
burner temperatures were higher than from a tyical
solvent deasphalting operation.
UOP/FW Technical Service
In addition to the benefits provided by UOP and
FWs broad commercial experience bases,
licensees have full access to the widest range of
support resources available to the refining
industry. This allows UOP/FW to offer licensees
high-quality support from initial conception,
through unit design and construction, and
continuing on through unit start-up and monitoring
of the operating units performance. These
services include:
Pilot plant testing to establish design basis
Technical services during unit checkout and
start-up
Ongoing operations monitoring
Engineer and operator training programs
Page 9 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Review of contractor and vendor information
Cost estimating and procurement
Metallurgical consultation and equipment
inspection
Analytical testing services
Modular extractor design
UOP/FW have a staff of field operating engineers
and instrument engineers available to provide
technical assistance during new unit
commissioning and start-up. These engineers can
also provide immediate technical assistance to the
licensee if a problem arises on any operating
UOP/FW SDA unit. Technology specialists are
available to our UOP/FW SDA licensees to
monitor unit performance and offer advice on unit
operations. In addition, licensees can choose
from a wide variety of training courses, including
such topics as operations, engineering and
laboratory and maintenance procedures.
Solvent Deasphalting Pilot Plant
UOP and FWs extensive experience with various
pilot plant configurations has confirmed their ability
to produce deasphalted oil and pitch products
having physical properties comparable to those
produced in commercial units operating at similar
conditions. An example of this is illustrated in
Table 7, where pilot plant data and commercial
operating results for deasphalting Kuwait vacuum
residue are compared.
IDTC Conference
London, England
February 2006
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation
Foster Wheeler and UOP have extensive pilot
plant experience processing a wide range of
feedstocks using solvents ranging from propane
through hexane. This includes deep deasphalting
of vacuum residues derived from Heavy Arabian
(Safaniya), Kuwait, Tia Juana, Heavy Iranian
(Gach Saran), Light Iranian (Agha-Jari, Sassan
and Ahwaz), Delta, Heavy Canadian and
Canadian crudes, as well as tar sand oil.
FW has also accumulated more than 2,500 hours
of operation producing pitch above 250F
softening point and has produced 400F capillary
melting point pitch (which is estimated to
correspond to 500F ring & ball softening point).
In addition, Foster Wheeler has run, in the
laboratory, a water-cooled belt to confirm the
feasibility of flaking high melting point pitch directly
from the pitch stripper. This type of belt is used
commercially to solidify coal tar pitch and could
find successful commercial application with high
melting point pitch.
Page 10 of 11
 WHEN SOLVENT DEASPHALTING IS THE MOST
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY FOR UPGRADING RESIDUE
Edward J. Houde - UOP LLC
Michael J. McGrath - Foster Wheeler USA Corporation

TABLE 7
SOLVENT DEASPHALTING
PILOT PLANT vs. COMMERCIAL RDC OPERATION

Feedstock: Kuwait Vacuum Residue (1020F TBP Cut Point)

Commercial
Pilot Plant Operation

Feed Inspections

Gravity, API 6.6 7.2

Viscosity @ 210F, SSU 7,129 7,229

Con. Carbon Res., % Wt. 20.1 19.2

Sulfur, % Wt. 4.92 5.14

Nickel + Vanadium, PPM 129 --

Deasphalted Oil Yield, % Vol. 32.0 31.0

Deasphalted Oil Inspections

Gravity, API 19.8 19.5

Viscosity @ 210F, SSU 185 194

Con. Carbon Res., % Wt. 1.67 1.64

Sulfur, % Wt. 2.61 2.88

Nickel + Vanadium, PPM 1.0 1.0

Pitch Inspections

Specific Gravity @ 60/60F 1.07 1.06

Penetration @ 77F 8 10

Softening Point, F, R&B 155 151

IDTC Conference
London, England Page 11 of 11
February 2006