Process for producing gas from oil

Claim 1

A CONTINOUS PROCESS OF REDUCING HEAVY LIQUID HYDROCARBONS TO PREDOMINANT YIELDS OF HEATING GAS OF COMMERCIAL QUALITY IN THE PRESENCE OF A FREELY-FLOWING, CONTINUOUS, GRAVITY-PACKED COLUMN OF PREHEATED SOLID PARTICLES OF COKE CONTACT MATERIAL UNIFORMLY MOVING DOWNWARDLY SOLELY BY GRAVITY, WHICH COMPRISES INTRODUCING THE CONTACT MATERIAL AT EVEVATED TEMPERATURE TO THE UNDER PART OF A CONTINUOUS GRAVITY-PACKED COLUMN IN A FIRST SEALED VERTICAL REACTOR, INTRODUCING A HEAVY HYDROCARBON CHARGE, A MAJOR PORTION OF WHICH IS IN THE LIQUID STATE AT AN INTERMEDIATE PART OF SAID CONTINUOUS COLUMN AND BELOW THE SURFACE THEREOF, PASSING THE EVOLVED HYDROCARBON VAPORS UPWARDLY THROUGH THE UPPER PART OF THEC ONTINUOUS COLUMN IN SAID FIRST REACTOR TO CONVERT A SUBSTANTIALLY PROPORTION OF SAID VAPORS TO OIL-GASES HAVING LESS THAN THREE CARBON ATOMS PER MOLECULE, MAINTAINING THE DOWNWARDLY MOVING COLUMN IN THE FIRST REACTOR BELOW THE POINT OF INTRODUCTION OF SAID HEAVY HYDROCARBON CHARGE AND IN THE PRESENCE OF STEAM FOR SUFFICIENT TIME AND AT A TEMPERATURE