Conversion process and apparatus with plural adjacent stages and central stripping zone

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF SEPARATE HYDROCARBON FEED STREAMS OF DIFFERENT BOILING RANGE TO PRODUCTS OF LOWER BOILING RANGE WHICH COMPRISES PASSING SAID HYDROCARBON FEED STREAMS SEPARATELY AND IN PARALLEL FLOW ARRANGEMENT THROUGH A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE AND ADJACENT REACTION ZONES CONTAINING A DENSE FLUIDIZED BED OF CATALYTIC MATERIAL THEREIN UNDER SELECTED OPERATING CONDITIONS TO EFFECT THE DESIRED CONVERSION THEREIN, SAID PULURALITY OF REACTION ZONES SURROUNDING A COMMON STRIPPING ZONE AND BEING IN OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THE UPPER PORTION THEREOF ABOVE THE UPPER LEVEL OF SAID DENSE FLUIDIZED BED OF CATALYST THEREIN, PASSING FINELY DIVIDED CATALYTIC MATERIAL SERIALLY THROUGH AT LEAST TWO OF SAID PLURALITY OF REACTION ZONE, WITHDRAWING CONTAMINATED CATALYTIC MATERIAL FROM THE LAST OF SAID REACTION ZONES IN THE SERIES AND PASSING THE SAME TO SAID STRIPPING ZONE, STRIPPING CATALYST IN SAID STRIPPING ZONE, PASSING STRIPPED CATALYST FROM WITHIN THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID STRIPPING ZONE UPWARDLY AS A CONFINED STREAM TO A REGENERATION ZONE ABOVE SAID PLURALITY OF REACTION ZONE, REGENERATED CATALYST IN SAID REACTION ZONE AND PASSING REGENERTED CATALYST SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY DOWNDWARDLY AS A CONFINED STREAM TOTHE FIRST OF SAID REACTION ZONES IN THE SEREIS OF CATALYST FLOW.