Treating hydrocarbon oils

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF PREPARING GAS OILS FOR CATALYTIC CRACKING TO REMOVE CATALYST CONTAMINANTS THEREFROM, WHICH COMPRISES PASSING INTO A FILTERING ZONE AS GAS OIL AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURE AND UNDER SUPERATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AS A PLURALITY OF CONFINED STREAMS INTO THE UPPER PORTION OF A COMPACT FILTER BED MADE UP OF FINELY DIVIDED INERT SOLID PARTICLES BUT OUT OF CONTACT THEREWITH, THEN SUBDIVIDING THE PLURALITY OF CONFINED STREAMS INTO A MULTIPLICITY OF SMALLER STREAMS WHICH CONTACT THE FILTER BED MATERIAL AT A MULTIPLICITY OF REGIONS THROUGHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE VOLUME OF THE FILTER BED, WITHDRAWING FILTERED OIL FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID FILTER BED, CONTIUNING PASSAGE OF OIL THROUGH SAID FILTER BED UNTIL FILTER CAKES BUILD UP AT THE REGIONS OF CONTACT OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF OIL STREAMS AND FILTER MATERIAL AND THE PRESSURE DROP THROUGH SAID FILTER BED IS EXCESSIVE, STOPPING THE FLOW OF OIL THROUGH SAID FILTER BED, RELEASING THE PRESSURE ON SAID FILTER BED, INTRODUCING A HEATED GAS UNDER SUPERATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE INTO THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID FILTER BED AND A SUFFICIENTLY HIGH