Catalytic conversion process

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS OF CONTACTING HYDROCARBONS WITH SOLID CATALYTIC MATERIAL BY CONTINUOUSLY PASSING A STREAM OF HYDROCARBONS THROUGH A MOVING BED OF SAID CATALYST, WHEREIN ACTIVE CATALYST IS CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLIED TO THE TOP OF SAID CATALYST BED, SPENT CATALYST IS CONTINUOUSLY WITHDRAWN FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID CATALYST BED, AND THE SPENT CATALYST IS REGENERATED AND RETURNED TO THE TOP OF SAID CATALYST BED, THE IMPROVEMENTS WHICH COMPRISE REDUCING THE SPACE VELOCITY OF THE HYDROCARBONS THROUGH SAID CATALYST BED BY INCREASING THE VOLUME OF THE BED AS THE AVERAGE ACTIVITY OF CATALYST ENTERING THE CATALYST BED DIMINISHES, WITHOUT INTERRUPTING THE FLOW OF HYDROCARBONS THERETHROUGH, WHILE MAINTAINING OTHERWISE SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM OPERATION CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, THEREBY OBTAINING A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM RATE OF CONVERSION AND YIELD OF PRODUCTS.