Lube Treating Process by Uhde

Application: Process to produce lube oil raffinates with high viscosity index from vacuum distillates and deasphalted oil.

Feeds: Vacuum distillate lube cuts and deasphalted oils.

Products: Lube oil raffinates of high viscosity indices. The raffinates contain substantially all of the desirable lubricating oil components present in the feedstock. The extract contains a concentrate of aromatics that may be utilized as rubber oil or cracker feed.

Description: This liquid-liquid extraction process uses furfural or Nmethyl pyrrolidone (NMP) as the selective solvent to remove aromatics and other impurities present in the distillates and deasphalted oils. The solvents have a high solvent power for those components that are unstable to oxygen as well as for other undesirable materials including color bodies, resins, carbon-forming constituents and sulfur compounds. In the extraction tower, the feed oil is introduced below the top at a predetermined temperature. The raffinate phase leaves at the top of the tower, and the extract, which contains the bulk of the furfural, is withdrawn from the bottom. The extract phase is cooled and a so-called “pseudo raffinate“ may be sent back to the extraction tower. Multistage solvent recovery systems for raffinate and extract solutions secure energy efficient operation.

Licensor: Uhde GmbH.