Systems and methods for delayed coking

1. A delayed coking method comprising:

passing liquid hydrocarbons through a furnace heater;

passing the heated liquid hydrocarbons out of said furnace heater to a coke drum;

passing gaseous hydrocarbons to a compressor;

compressing said gaseous hydrocarbons and passing said compressed hydrocarbons to said furnace heater;

within the furnace heater, splitting the compressed hydrocarbon into a first stream of compressed hydrocarbons and a second stream of compressed hydrocarbons;

blending the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons with the heated liquid hydrocarbons to form a combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons;

filling the coke drum with the combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons, wherein during the filling of the coke drum the heated liquid hydrocarbons undergo a conversion to coke and volatile hydrocarbons;

optionally passing steam into said coke drum while filling said coke drum with said heated liquid hydrocarbons;

stopping flow of said combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons to said coke drum and stopping the flow of any steam to said coke drum;

after stopping flow of said combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons and flow of any steam to said coke drum, stripping said volatile hydrocarbons from said coke by passing said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons which have been heated to a temperature between about 450° C. to about 550° C. within said furnace heater from said furnace heater into said coke drum,

wherein upon entering said coke drum, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons pass through said coke and strip volatile hydrocarbons entrained within the coke, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons and volatile hydrocarbon exit said coke drum through a port located at or near the top of said coke drum.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said heated liquid hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature between about 450° C. and about 550° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said coke drum is maintained at a temperature between about 480° C. and 500° C. and a pressure between about 50 to 500 kPa for a period of time sufficient to produce petroleum coke.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said compressed hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature of between about 490° C. and about 510° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the step of stripping said volatile hydrocarbons from said coke, the quantity of said compressed hydrocarbons is from about 1% to about 20% by weight of the quantity of heated liquid hydrocarbons entering said coke drum during said filling step.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the filling step, the quantity of said compressed hydrocarbons entering said coke drum is from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the quantity of heated liquid hydrocarbons.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 1% to about 5% by weight of said heated liquid hydrocarbons.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step:

passing said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons into said coke drum directly at a bottom of the coke drum.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the heated liquid hydrocarbons.

10. A delayed coking method comprising:

passing liquid hydrocarbons through a furnace heater;

passing the heated liquid hydrocarbons out of said furnace heater to a coke drum;

passing gaseous hydrocarbons to a compressor;

compressing said gaseous hydrocarbons and passing said compressed hydrocarbons to said furnace heater;

within said furnace heater, splitting said compressed hydrocarbons into a first stream of compressed hydrocarbons and a second stream of compressed hydrocarbons;

filling the coke drum with the heated liquid hydrocarbons, wherein during the filling of the coke drum with the heated liquid hydrocarbons, the heated liquid hydrocarbons undergo a conversion to coke and volatile hydrocarbons;

optionally passing steam into said coke drum while filling said coke drum with said heated liquid hydrocarbons;

stopping flow of said heated liquid hydrocarbons to said coke drum and stopping the flow of any steam to said coke drum;

after stopping flow of heated liquid hydrocarbons and flow of any steam to said coke drum, stripping said volatile hydrocarbons from said coke by passing said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons which have been heated to a temperature between about 450° C. to about 550° C. within said furnace heater from said furnace heater into a bottom of said coke drum,

wherein upon entering said coke drum, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons pass through said coke and strip volatile hydrocarbons entrained within the coke, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons and volatile hydrocarbon exit said coke drum through a port located at or near the top of said coke drum.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the heated liquid hydrocarbons.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

blending the first stream of compressed hydrocarbons with the liquid hydrocarbons to form a combined stream of said heated liquid hydrocarbons and said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons prior to passing the combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons into the coke drum.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 1% to about 5% by weight of said heated liquid hydrocarbons.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein said heated liquid hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature between about 450° C. and about 550° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein said coke drum is maintained at a temperature between about 480° C. and 500° C. and a pressure between about 50 to 500 kPa for a period of time sufficient to produce petroleum coke.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein said compressed hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature of between about 490° C. and about 510° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

17. A delayed coking method comprising:

passing liquid hydrocarbons through a furnace heater;

passing the heated liquid hydrocarbons out of said furnace heater to a coke drum;

passing gaseous hydrocarbons to a compressor;

compressing said gaseous hydrocarbons and passing said compressed hydrocarbons to said furnace heater;

within said furnace heater, splitting said compressed hydrocarbons into a first stream of compressed hydrocarbons and a second stream of compressed hydrocarbons;

combining said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons with said heated liquid hydrocarbons thereby forming a combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and compressed hydrocarbons;

filling the coke drum with the combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and compressed hydrocarbons, wherein during the filling of the coke drum with combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and compressed hydrocarbons, the heated liquid hydrocarbons undergo a conversion to coke and volatile hydrocarbons;

optionally passing steam into said coke drum while filling said coke drum with said heated liquid hydrocarbons;

stopping flow of the combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and compressed hydrocarbons to said coke drum and stopping the flow of any steam to said coke drum;

after stopping flow of the combined stream of heated liquid hydrocarbons and compressed hydrocarbons and flow of any steam to said coke drum, stripping said volatile hydrocarbons from said coke by passing said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons which have been heated to a temperature between about 450° C. to about 550° C. within said furnace heater from said furnace heater into a bottom of said coke drum,

wherein upon entering said coke drum, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons passes through said coke and strips volatile hydrocarbons entrained within the coke, said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons and volatile hydrocarbon exit said coke drum through a port located at or near the top of said coke drum.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said second stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the heated liquid hydrocarbons.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein said first stream of compressed hydrocarbons is from about 1% to about 5% by weight of said heated liquid hydrocarbons.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein said heated liquid hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature between about 450° C. and about 550° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein said coke drum is maintained at a temperature between about 480° C. and 500° C. and a pressure between about 50 to 500 kPa for a period of time sufficient to produce petroleum coke.

22. The method of claim 17 , wherein said compressed hydrocarbons are heated to a temperature of between about 450° C. and about 550° C. while passing through said furnace heater.

23. The method of claim 17 , wherein said compressed gaseous hydrocarbons are obtained from a refinery processing unit.