Process for upgrading vacuum resids to premium liquid products

Claim 2

A process for producing high yields of liquid in the gasoline boiling range and low yields of coke from asphaltene-containing residual oil feed of approximate CCR and asphaltene varying from 2 to 30 weight percent, said low coke yields being measured by a coke/CCR ratio of 0.5 to 1.3, comprising: A. lightly hydrotreating said residual oils over a hydrotreating catalyst, the mols of hydrogen added per mol of average resid being about 0.1-3.0, while minimizing the deposition of metal contaminants on said hydrotreating catalyst and concentrating said contaminants within said coke; B. fractionating said lightly hydrotreated residual oils and removing a fraction boiling at at least 800° F. at atmospheric pressure; and C. thermally cracking said 800° F.+ fraction during a period of 1 to 10 seconds to produce said high yields of liquid and low yields of coke.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1, wherein said fraction boils at at least 850° F.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2, wherein said lightly hydrotreating further comprises passing hydrogen through said oils at a circulation rate of 1000 to 10,000 scf/bbl of said residual oils at 650° to 750° F. and an LHSV of 0.1 to 10.0.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3, wherein said lightly hydrotreating is performed at 750° F. and an LHSV of 0.3.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4, wherein the CCR of the lightly hydrotreated oils is 5-15%.

Claim 7

The process of claim 1, wherein said thermal cracking is performed by rapid pyrolysis at a coking temperature of 900° to 1100° F.

Claim 8

The process of claim 6, wherein the amount of said hydrogen added to said oil feed is from 200 to 1500 scf/bbl.

Claim 9

A process for upgrading residual oils to premium liquid products, comprising: A. hydrotreating said residual oils at temperatures of 600° to 750° F. under a hydrogen pressure of 300 to 2,000 psi, an LHSV of 0.1 to 10, and a hydrogen circulation rate of about 1,000 to 10,000 scf/bbl of said residual oils, whereby an amount of hydrogen ranging from 200 to 1500 scf/bbl is added to said feed having an approximate CCR and asphaltene content varying from 2 to 30 weight percent; B. fractionating said hydrotreated residual oils to produce a fraction boiling at at least 850° F.; and C. rapidly pyrolyzing said 850° F.+ fraction, by exposing said fraction to brief, short-time processing at high temperatures, so that thermal cracking occurs before or without substantial splitting off of hydrogen, thereby producing a minimum amount of coke and a maximum amount of liquid products that, although largely unsaturated, do not re-combine to produce hydrocarbons of heavier molecular weight, said minimum amount of coke being measured by a coke/CCR ratio within the range of 0.5 to 1.3.

Claim 10

A process for upgrading residual oils to premium liquid products, comprising: A. hydrotreating said residual oils at temperatures of 600° to 750° F. under a hydrogen pressure of 300 to 2,000 psi, an LHSV of 0.1 to 10, and a hydrogen circulation rate of about 1,000 to 10,000 scf/bbl of said residual oils, whereby an amount of hydrogen ranging from 200 to 1500 scf/bbl is added to said feed having an approximate CCR and asphaltene content varying from 2 to 30 weight percent; B. fractionating said hydrotreated residual oils to produce a fraction boiling at at least 850° F.; and C. rapidly pyrolyzing said 850° F.+ fraction, by exposing said fraction to brief, short-time processing at high temperatures, so that thermal cracking occurs before or without substantial splitting off of hydrogen, thereby producing a minimum amount of coke and a maximum amount of liquid products that, although largely unsaturated, do not re-combine to produce hydrocarbons of heavier molecular weight, said minimum amount of coke being measured by a coke/CCR ratio within the range of 0.5 to 1.3.

Claim 11

The process of claim 8, wherein said coke/CCR ratio is within the range of 0.6 to 0.9.