Process of converting high-boiling crude oils to equivalent petroleum products

Claim 1

A process of converting a high-boiling crude oil having a high content of nondistillable residues, said crude oil containing metals and at least 5 percent of asphaltenes, to equivalent petroleum products which comprises, in a single hydrovisbreaking stage free of catalyst, hydrovisbreaking said high boiling crude oil in the presence of molecular hydrogen and in admixture with a hydrogen donor solvent at a total pressure of 40 to 200 bars, 10 to 50 percent by weight of said mixture being said hydrogen donor solvent, said mixture being at a temperature in the range of 400° to 450° C. and being 4° to 5° C. below the carbonization temperature limit, the hydrovisbreaking conditions comprising a liquid hourly space velocity of 0.5 to 2 and a gas circulation ratio of 400 to 2000 standard cubic meters per metric ton of the entire liquid feed to said hydrovisbreaking stage, withdrawing from said hydrovisbreaking stage a liquid effluent and subjecting said effluent to a distillation, withdrawing from said distillation a residue fraction and at least one distillate fraction, said hydrogen donor solvent being one boiling in the range of 200°-530° C. and being selected from the group consisting of: (a) a fraction from said crude oil if the crude oil contains more than 20% of naphthenic constituents; or (b) a distillate fraction from said distillation, said fraction having a naphthene concentration exceeding 20%.