Hydrocatalytic cracking of nitrogen containing wax distillates to produce middle oils

Claim 1

A HYDROCATALYTIC PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MIDDLE DISTILLATES HAVING A MINIMUM GASOLINE CONTENT IN A SINGLE STAGE OPERATON FROM A HIGH NITROGEN CONTENT WAX DISTILLATE FEEDSTOCK WHICH COMPRISES, CONTACTING THE WAX DISTILLATE FEEDSTOCK HAVING A NITROGEN CONTENT FROM 350 TO 2,000 P.P.M. IN A HYDROCRACKING ZONE WITH A CATALYST CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF FROM 5 TO 40% WT. OF MOLYBDENUM, EXPRESSED AS THE OXIDE M0O3, 1 TO 15% WT. OF THE IRON GROUP METALS, EXPRESSED AS THE DIVALENT OXIDE AND A SUPPORT OF ALUMINA COMBINED WITH 10 TO 25% WT. BY WEIGHT OF TOTAL CATALYST OF AN OXIDE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF SILICA AND BORIA, AT AN INITIAL OPERATING TEMPERATURE OF FROM 720 TO 780*F., A TOTAL PRESSURE OF FROM 1,200 TO 3,000 P.S.I.G., A TOTAL SPACE VELOCITY OF 0.4 TO 1.0 V./V./HR. AND A GAS RATE OF 4,000 TO 15,000 S.C.F. OF HYDROGEN/B, THE TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE, SPACE VELOCITY AND GAS RATE BEING CORRELATED SO AS TO INITIALLY OBTAIN A CONVERSION PER PASS OF 45 TO 70% VOL. OF TOTAL FEED, GRADUALLY INCREASING THE TEMPERATURE DURING THE REACTION IN THE RANGE 720 TO 860*F. TO MAINTAIN THE CONVERSION PER PASS AT 45 TO 70% VOL. OF THE TOTAL FEED, MAINTAINING THE AMOUNT OF FRESH FEED IN THE TOTAL FEED SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE CONVERSION PER PASS, SEPARATING THE RESULTING PRODUCT INTO LIGHTER THAN MIDDLE DISTILLATE FRACTION, MIDDLE DISTILLATE FRACTION AND A WAX DISTILLATE FRANCTION, AND RECYCLING THE WAX DISTILLATE FRACTION BACK TO THE HYDROCRACKING ZONE TO CONSTITUTE A PART OF THE TOTAL FEED TO THE HYDROCRACKING ZONE.