Heavy oil conversion

Abstract

A method of converting heavy oil into one or more valuable products comprises hydroconverting heavy oil, recovering an effluent stream from the hydroconverting, and deep catalytic cracking the effluent stream. The hydroconverting comprises reacting a slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil. The effluent stream comprises unsupported fine catalyst in unconverted heavy oil. The deep catalytic cracking converts unconverted heavy oil into one or more light oil products.

1 . A method of converting heavy oil into one or more valuable products, the method comprising:
 hydroconverting heavy oil, wherein the hydroconverting comprises reacting a slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil;   recovering an effluent stream from the hydroconverting, wherein the effluent stream comprises unsupported fine catalyst in unconverted heavy oil; and   deep catalytic cracking the effluent stream, wherein the deep catalytic cracking converts unconverted heavy oil into one or more light oil products.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises particles having a size distribution in the range of about 0.2 to about 20 microns and a mean particle size in the range of about 4 to about 5 micron, wherein a mode of the size distribution is in the range of about 6 to about 7 micron. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the catalyst comprises a Group VI and/or Group VIII metal compound sulfide. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil comprises a product of an ebulating bed reactor. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking is conducted at a temperature of about 300° F. to about 600° F. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking is conducted at a residence time of about 10 minutes to 5 hours. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking is conducted at a pressure of about 100 psig to about 3000 psig. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking comprises hydrogen flow of about 300 SCFB to about 2000 SCFB. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking comprises a batch system. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking comprises a continuous system. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising separating unsupported fine catalyst from the one or more light oil products. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the separating comprises drying the catalyst. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the deep catalytic cracking is conducted in a reactor and the drying is conducted in the same reactor as the deep catalytic cracking. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising depressurizing the reactor after the deep catalytic cracking and prior to the drying. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the separating comprises sending the unsupported fine catalyst and the one or more light oil products to a low pressure vessel for drying. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising mixing the unsupported fine catalyst and the one or more light oil products with one or more additional light oil products prior to drying. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effluent stream comprises less than about 25 volume % of the slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effluent stream comprises less than about 10 volume % of the slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , where the effluent stream comprises less than about 5 volume % of the slurry comprising unsupported fine catalyst in heavy oil.