Removing metal contaminants from feeds

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR CATALYTICALLY CRACKING A METALS-CONTAINING HEAVY OIL IN A CATALYTIC CRACKING SYSTEM COMPRISING ESSENTIALLY A CATALYTIC CRACKING ZONE, A REGENERATION ZONE, A PETREATING ZONE, AND INTERCONNECTING TRANSFER LINE WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES PRETREATING A METALSCONTAINING HEAVY OIL IN THE LIQUID PHASE BY CONTACTING SAID OIL AT AN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE WITH A FINELY DIVIDED SOLID MATERIAL THAT IS INERT TOWARD CRACKING CATALYST FOR A TIME SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE DEPOSITING OF METALS FROM SAID HEAVY OIL ONTO THE FINELY DIVIDED SOLIDS, PASSING TREATED OIL OF LOWERED METALS CONTENT TOGETHER WITH METALS-CONTAINING FINELY DIVIDED SOLIDS INTO A CATALYTIC CRACKING ZONE AND THEREIN CATALYTICALLY CRACKING THE TREATED OIL AT AN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE TO LOWER BOILING VAPOROUS PRODUCTS IN THE PRESENCE OF A FLUIDIZED BED OF CRACKING CATALYST PARTICLES, THE AVERAGE PARTICLE SIZE OF THE CATALYST PARTICLES BEING GREATER THAN THAT OF THE FINELY DIVIDED SOLIDS, REMOVING VAPOROUS PRODUCTS, ENTRAINED CATALYST PARTICLES AND METALS-CONTAINING FINELY DIVIDED SOLIDS FROM CONTACT WITH