Conversion of hydrocarbons

Claim 1

THE PROCESS OF CONVERTING A HEAVY HYDROCARBON OIL OF HIGH RAMSBOTTOM CARBON RESIDUE WHICH COMPRISES CONTACTING SAID HYDROCARBON OIL WITH A PARTICULATE CARRIER IN A CRACKING ZONE MAINTAINED AT A TEMPERATURE BELOW ABOUT 1100*F. WHILE MAINTAINING THEREIN A HYDROGEN PARTIAL PRESSURE OF AT LEAST 35 P.S.I. TO CONVERT SAID HYDROCARBON OIL TO LOWER BOILING HYDROCARBONS WITH SIMULTANEOUS DEPOSITION OF CARBONACEOUS MATTER ON SAID CARRIER, PASSING CARRIER REMOVED FROM SAID CRACKING ZONE THROUGH A METHANIZATION ZONE MAINTAINED AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE ABOUT 1200*F. TO CONVERT PART OF SAID CARBONACEOUS MATTER TO NORMALLY GASEOUS HYFROCARBONS, CONTACTING CARRIER REMOVED FROM SAID METHANIZATION ZONE IN A REGENERATION ZONE MAINTAINED AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE ABOUT 1600*F. WITH STEAM AND HIGH-PURITY OXYGEN TO FORM A REGENERATIOIN PRODUCT GAS CONTAINING HYDROGEN, FLOWING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF SAID REGENERATION PRODUCT GAS INTO SAID METHANIZATION ZONE TO PROVIDE THEREIN A HYDROGEN PARTIAL PRESSURE OF AT LEAST 35 P.S.I., AND FLOWING NOT MORE THAN A MINOR PORTION OF THE GASEOUS EFFLUENT FROM SAID METHANIZATION ZONE THROUGH SAID CRACKING ZONE.