THERMAL APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR REMOVING CONTAMINANTS FROMOIL

摘要

Used oil is treated in a thermal reactor to remove contaminants. The reactor comprises a rotating hollow vessel having side and end walls. The vessel is housed within a heating chamber. The inside chamber of the vessel is indirectly heated by conduction through the vessel walls. The vessel chamber is sealed and maintained at sub-atmospheric pressure. The chamber contains a permanently resident charge of non-ablating, coarse granular solids. Within the chamber, the oil is vaporized and pyrolysed, producing hydrocarbon vapour. Coke is formed as a byproduct. Contaminants, such as metals and halides, become associated with the coke. The coarse granular solids scour and comminute the coke to form fine solids. The fine solids are separated from the coarse solids and are removed from th e vessel through an end wall. The hydrocarbon vapours are separated from any fine solids and are routed to a vapour condensation system for producing a substantially contaminant- free product oil. The contaminant-rich solids are collected for disposal.