Hydrocracking process with reactivation of the catalyst

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR HYDROCRACKING A DISTILLATE HYDROCARBON FEEDSTOCK BOILING BETWEEN ABOUT 400* AND 1,000*F. TO PRODUCE THEREFROM GASOLINE-BOILING-RANGE HYDROCARBONS, WHICH COMPRISES: CONTACTING SAID FEEDSTOCK PLUS ADDED HYDROGEN WITH A REGENERATED HYDROCRACKING CATALYST UNDER HYDROCRACKING CONDITIONS INCLUDING A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 400* AND 900*F. AND A PRESSURE BETWEEN ABOUT 500 AND 5,000 P.S.I.G., SAID HYDROCRACKING CATALYST HAVING BEEN PREVIOUSLY UTILIZED FOR HYDROCRACKING TO A POINT OF SUBSTANTIAL DEACTIVATION THEREOF, AND HAVING BEEN THEN REGENERATED BY CONTROLLED OXIDATION TO COMBUST CARBONACEOUS DEPOSITS THEREFROM, AND THEN SUBJECTED TO A REDUCTION TREATMENT FOR ABOUT 0.5-20 HOURS WITH A STREAM CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF HYDROGEN CONTAINING A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION BETWEEN ABOUT 0.5 AND 90 MOL-PERCENT, OF STEAM AT TEMPERATURES BETWEEN ABOUT 300* AND 1,200*F., SAID CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF CRACKING COMPONENT CONTAINING ABOUT 20-90% BY WEIGHT OF SILICA, AND A HYDROGENATING COMPONENT FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF NICKEL AND COBALT.