U.S. patent application number 11/396100 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-04 for t-6604 full conversion hydroprocessing.
This patent application is currently assigned to Chevron U.S.A. Inc.. Invention is credited to Bruce E. Reynolds.
Application Number | 20070227947 11/396100 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38557245 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070227947 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Reynolds; Bruce E. |
October 4, 2007 |
T-6604 full conversion hydroprocessing
Abstract
The present invention relates to a process for producing a
synthetic crude with properties which make the synthetic crude
particularly advantageous for refining in a conventional refinery.
In the process, at least a portion of a crude or other hydrocarbon
feedstream is upgraded in a reaction zone at very high levels of
conversion. Reaction products are recovered as the synthetic
crude.
Inventors: |
Reynolds; Bruce E.;
(Martinez, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHEVRON CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 6006
SAN RAMON
CA
94583-0806
US
|
Assignee: |
Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
|
Family ID: |
38557245 |
Appl. No.: |
11/396100 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
208/208R ;
208/251R; 208/254R |
Current CPC
Class: |
C10G 49/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
208/208.00R ;
208/251.00R; 208/254.00R |
International
Class: |
C10G 45/00 20060101
C10G045/00; C10G 17/00 20060101 C10G017/00 |
Claims
1. An integrated process for upgrading a crude oil, comprising:
establishing a refining dataset that characterizes a desired
tailored synthetic crude for a target refinery; (a) generating a
crude oil dataset that characterizes a crude oil; (b) using the
refining dataset and the crude oil dataset to generate an upgrading
dataset of select upgrading process conditions; (c) fractionating
the crude oil and recovering a residuum and at least one distillate
fraction; (d) contacting at least a portion of the residuum in a
reaction zone with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst at the
select upgrading process conditions to convert at least a portion
of the residuum to produce a treated product comprising an upgraded
distillate stream and an unconverted heavy stream; (e) recovering a
tailored synthetic crude from the treated product.
2. The process of claim 1, wherein the catalyst is an unsupported
slurry catalyst comprising at least one Group VIB metal.
3. The process of claim 1, wherein the residuum is treated in the
reaction zone at select upgrading process conditions to convert at
least 70% of the residuum into an upgraded distillate stream
boiling in the range of C5 to 1000.degree. F.
4. The process of claim 3, wherein at least 80% of the residuum is
converted to 1000.degree. F.- products.
5. The process of claim 4, wherein at least 90% of the residuum is
converted to 1000.degree. F.- products.
6. The process of claim 5, wherein at least 95% of the residuum is
converted to 1000.degree. F.- products.
7. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of
transporting the tailored synthetic crude comprising the upgraded
distillate stream to the target refinery.
8. The process of claim 1, wherein the tailored synthetic crude
comprises at least a portion of the upgraded distillate stream of
claim 1.
9. The process of claim 1, wherein the tailored synthetic crude
comprises at least a portion of the crude oil feedstream of claim
1, prior to fractionation.
10. The process of claim 1, wherein the tailored synthetic crude
comprises one or more streams selected from the group consisting of
the crude oil feedstream, residuum, treated product, upgraded
product, and distillate product.
11. The process of claim 1, wherein the select upgrading process
conditions are preselected to produce an upgrading distillate
stream having a boiling range corresponding to the target boiling
range specified by the refining dataset.
12. The process of claim 1, wherein the upgraded distillate product
is further treated in a hydrofinishing reaction zone at
hydrofinishing conditions which are preselected to remove a portion
of the sulfur and a portion of the aromatic compounds contained
within the upgraded distillate product.
13. The process of claim 12, wherein the hydrofinished product
contains less than 100 ppm sulfur and less than 20 ppm
nitrogen.
14. The process of claim 1, wherein the upgrading process
conditions include a reaction temperature above 700.degree., a
hydrogen partial pressure in the range of 350-4500 psi, and a
hydrogen to oil ratio of 500-10,000 SCFB.
15. The process of claim 14, wherein the upgrading process
conditions include a reaction temperature above 800.degree. F., a
hydrogen partial pressure in the range of 350-4500 psi, and a
hydrogen to oil ratio of 500-10,000 SCFB.
16. The process of claim 15, wherein the upgrading process
conditions include a reaction temperature above 900.degree. F., a
hydrogen partial pressure in the range of 350-4500 psi, and a
hydrogen to oil ratio of 500-10,000 SCFB.
17. The process of claim 1, wherein the Group VIB metal is
molybdenum.
18. The process of claim 2, wherein the catalyst is promoted with a
Group VIII metal.
19. The process of claim 12, wherein hydrofinishing conditions
comprise a reaction temperature between 400 F.-900 F. (204 C.-482
C.), preferably 650 F.-850 F. (343 C.-454 C.); a pressure from 500
to 5000 psig (pounds per square inch gauge) (3.5-34.6 MPa),
preferably 1000 to 3000 psig (7.0-20.8 MPa); a feed rate (LHSV) of
0.5 hr (-1) to 20 hr (-1) (v/v); and overall hydrogen consumption
300 to 5000 scf per barrel of liquid hydrocarbon feed (53.4-356 m
(3)/m (3) feed).
20. An integrated process for upgrading a heavy oil feedstream,
comprising: (a) establishing a communication link between an
upgrading facility and a target refinery; (b) acquiring a refining
dataset from the target refinery that characterizes a tailored
synthetic crude; (c) generating a crude oil dataset that
characterizes a heavy oil feedstream; (d) using the refining
dataset from the target refinery and the crude oil dataset to
generate an upgrading dataset of select upgrading process
conditions; (e) fractionating a crude oil and recovering a residuum
and at least one distillate fraction; (f) contacting at least a
portion of the residuum in a reaction zone with hydrogen in the
presence of a slurry catalyst comprising molybdenum at the select
upgrading process conditions to convert at least 70% of the
residuum into an upgraded distillate stream boiling in the range of
C5 to 1000.degree. F.; and (g) recovering a tailored synthetic
crude comprising the upgraded distillate stream.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a process for producing a
synthetic crude with properties which make the synthetic crude
particularly advantageous for refining in a conventional
refinery.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Global energy usage continues to rise with oil sign of
abatement, creating a growing demand for oil resources. Light,
sweet crude oil production is not increasing enough to meet this
growing demand. Additionally, the reserves of light, sweet crude
oil are being depleted more rapidly than new reserves are being
found. To fill this gap, larger quantities of heavy oil feedstreams
such as heavy crude oils or extral heavy crude oils derived from
various carbonaceous resources are being brought on stream. The
cost of development of these heavy crude oil resources has been
decreasing over the last several decades making them more
economical to recover.
[0003] Heavy crudes often require some processing to reduce their
viscosity and to make them pumpable. Several processes which may be
used for this purpose include partial upgrading by hydroprocessing,
by coking or by blending the heavy crude with light hydrocarbons.
Additives may also be used. Another alternative for handling
heavy/crude is to form an oil-in-water emulsion, optionally with
the addition of additives to reduce the crude's viscosity. All of
these processes create a pumpable generic type synthetic crude
suitable for refinery processing. However, the economics of
processing these pumpable generic type synthetic crudes are
prohibitively expensive, because of the low conversion rates of the
heavy crude oil resources.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 3,3069,992 discloses a distillate low pour
point synthetic crude oil produced from a virgin distillate and a
reduced crude from a high wax content and high pour point crude.
This synthetic crude is formed by mixing the virgin distillate with
a fraction obtained by coking the reduced crude. The coker overhead
volatile product is fractionated into a heavy stream for recycle to
the coker and a distillate fraction which is recovered as a low
pour point synthetic crude.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,023 discloses a process, including
visbreaking, distillation, and solvent extraction for rendering a
heavy viscous crude pumpable.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,109 discloses a synthetic crude produced
by catalytically cracking a biomass material comprising a plant oil
and/or an animal oil and/or a rubber material.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,868 discloses an integrated process for
treating production fluids to form a synthetic crude oil. The
production fluids are recovered from the application of in situ
hydrovisbreaking of heavy crudes and natural bitumen deposited in
subsurface formations.
[0008] U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0164001 A1
discloses a business process that monetizes bitumen reserves
utilizing proven refining processes to ultimately produce high
quality refined oil products.
[0009] Additional disclosures relating to the preparation of a
synthetic crude are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,968,991; 5,945,459;
5,856,261; 5,856,260; 5,863,856 and 5,292,989.
[0010] While some processes have been proposed to reduce the
viscosity of a crude, none have been offered for producing a
synthetic crude which is tailored for the current needs of a
particular refinery. Furthermore, no process has been described for
producing a synthetic crude which is effectively vacuum gas oil or
lighter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for
treating a hydrocarbon feedstream such as a crude oil, and
particularly a heavy crude oil containing high amounts of
heteroatom and metallic contaminants and producing a high quality
distillate product. The process comprises passing a portion,
generally a high boiling portion, of the hydrocarbon feedstream
over an unsupported slurry catalyst. Removal of the contaminants
during the upgrading step, and reduction of the boiling point of
the feed to the upgrading reaction zone, is sufficiently high that
nearly all of the reaction products from the reaction zone are
removed as distillate products, for use as, or for blending with
other materials to produce a synthetic crude.
[0012] In one embodiment, the synthetic crude is tailored to meet
the needs of a particular refinery or group of refineries. Thus, an
integrated process is offered for upgrading a heavy oil feedstream,
comprising: [0013] (a) acquiring a dataset of desired properties of
a tailored synthetic crude to be processed in a single refinery or
group of refineries; [0014] (b) generating a feedstream dataset
that characterizes a hydrocarbon feedstream; [0015] (c) using the
feedstream dataset to generate an upgrading dataset of select
upgrading conditions for upgrading at least a portion of the
hydrocarbon feedstream; and, [0016] (d) upgrading at least a
portion of the hydrocarbon feedstream at the select upgrading
conditions to produce a synthetic crude having the desired
properties.
[0017] In a separate embodiment, a synthetic crude is prepared by
upgrading a heavy oil feedstream at high conversion rates. Thus, a
process is provided for preparing a synthetic crude, comprising:
[0018] (a) fractionating at least a portion of a hydrocarbon
feedstream in a 1st fractionation zone and producing an overhead
product, at least one distillate stream and a heavy oil feedstream;
[0019] (b) upgrading at least a portion of the heavy oil feedstream
at upgrading conditions sufficient to produce a treated product,
with at least 80 vol % of the treated product boiling in the
temperature range of 1000.degree. F. or less; [0020] (c)
fractionating the treated product in a second fractionation zone at
conditions sufficient to produce a upgraded distillate product;
and, [0021] (d) recovering the upgraded distillate product to
produce a synthetic crude.
[0022] In one embodiment, the synthetic crude further comprises at
least one distillate stream from the fractionation of the
hydrocarbon feedstream.
[0023] In a separate embodiment, the synthetic crude further
comprises at least a portion of the heavy oil feedstream, and,
optionally, at least one distillate stream from the fractionation
of the hydrocarbon feedstream.
[0024] In another embodiment, the synthetic crude further comprises
a second hydrocarbon feedstream, and, optionally, at least a
portion of the heavy oil feedstream and, optionally, at least one
distillate stream from the fractionation of the hydrocarbon
feedstream.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] FIG. 1 illustrates the conversion of the heavy oil
feedstream to synthetic crude in the upgrading reaction zone.
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates the conversion of the heavy oil
feedstream to synthetic crude in multiple reaction zones.
[0027] FIG. 3 The process of FIG. 2, further disclosing an
integrated hydrofinisher
[0028] FIG. 4 The conversion process of FIG. 3 wherein heavier
materials are mixed with the effluent of the integrated
hydrofinisher.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Feedstream Characteristics
[0029] Crude oil is a suitable feedstream to the process of this
invention. The crude oil comprises a fraction, termed a residuum,
which boils at temperatures greater than 700.degree. F., in some
cases above 850.degree. F. or even 1000.degree. F. The upper limit
of the boiling point temperature range of the residuum is not
critical. An example upper limit is 1500.degree. F. Typically, the
residuum has an API gravity that ranges from 12 to less than 0, and
a viscosity greater than 5000 cP at 100.degree. F. The residuum
generally has a significantly high concentration of nitrogen,
sulfur, metal contaminants, and asphaltenes. The sulfur content of
the residuum will be generally above 2%. A residuum containing
greater than 4% sulfur and even greater than 6% sulfur can be
processed as described herein. The nitrogen content of the residuum
to the process will be above 0.3%. A residuum containing greater
than 0.5% nitrogen and even greater than 1% nitrogen can also be
processed as described herein. The residuum can contain more than
25 ppmw of metal contaminants such as nickel and/or vanadium. A
residuum containing greater than 50 ppmw metal contaminants and
even greater than 100 ppmw metal contaminants can be processed as
described herein.
[0030] The feedstream to this invention may be characterized as a
crude oil, such as the product from a hydrocarbonaceous originating
from a natural resource. The feedstream may also originate as
bottoms from a fractionation process, as a residuum bottom process
stream oil, as heavy synthetic oil, as recycled oil wastes or
polymers. The feedstream may also originate from other hydrocarbon
sources, including, for example, bitumen, tar sands, coal, lignite,
peat and oil shale.
[0031] Any crude oil feed may be used as feedstream to this
invention. However, the process is particularly effective if the
crude oil feed is a heavy, contaminated crude, which can be
substantially rendered more easily processed by addition of the
upgraded product in preparing the synthetic crude.
Synthetic Crude
[0032] The tailored synthetic crude which is prepared according to
the invention is generally a broad boiling hydrocarbon material
comprising one or more components which have been modified by
reaction. The synthetic crude is prepared as a feedstream for a
refining operation, with the reactions and reaction conditions used
in preparing the synthetic crude being selected to meet the needs
of a particular refinery, a group of refineries, or the refining
industry. While not required, the synthetic crude is frequently
prepared near the source of the feedstream.
[0033] The feedstream of this invention is contacted with a
catalyst in an upgrading reactor to produce a treated product. The
treated product comprises at least one distillate product which is
subsequently recovered from a fractionation zone. The distillate
fraction generally boils in the temperature range of less than
1000.degree. F. A typical distillate fraction prepared according to
the invention boils within the temperature range of C5-1000.degree.
F. The distillate fraction may alternately boil within the
temperature range of C5-900.degree. F. The distillate fraction will
typically contain less than 4% by weight sulfur, preferably less
than 2% by weight sulfur and more preferably in the range of 0.2 to
2.0% by weight sulfur. The distillate fraction will typically
contain less than 100 ppmw total metal contaminants, preferably
less than 75 ppmw total metal contaminants, and more preferably
less than 30 ppmw total metal contaminants. The .degree.API Gravity
of the distillate fraction will typically be greater than 5,
preferably greater than 10 and more preferably in the range of 20
to 45. Because the synthetic crude may be tailored to meet the
requirements of a single refinery or group of refineries, it will
be recognized that a particular distillate fraction from which the
synthetic crude is formulated may meet one or more, but fewer than
all, of the boiling range, sulfur, nitrogen and metal limitations
recited herein. This is expected, since each target refinery will
have varying needs which may further vary from time to time through
the year.
Upgrading Process
[0034] The upgrading process, referred to in FIGS. 1-4 of the
present invention, renders a heavy oil feedstream for more readily
processing in conventional refinery operations to make desired
products, such as fuels, lubricants, chemical intermediates, and
the like. In one embodiment, the upgrading process comprises
hydroprocessing, using a hydroprocessing catalyst at
hydroprocessing conditions. Such processes include hydrofinishing,
hydrocracking and hydrodewaxing. In one embodiment, the upgrading
process comprises contacting the heavy oil feedstream with hydrogen
in the presence of a catalyst for removing contaminants from the
heavy oil feedstream and for reducing the boiling point range of
the heavy oil feedstream. The effectiveness of the upgrading
process may be indicated by the degree of conversion. For purposes
of this disclosure, conversion is defined as the volumetric amount
of 1000.degree. F.+ material present in the upgrading product per
unit time, divided by the volumetric amount of 1000.degree. F.+
material present in the heavy oil feedstream per unit time,
subtracted from 1. Conversion is reported here in terms of volume
%.
[0035] The hydrocarbon feedstreams, the heavy oil feedstreams and
the distillate products of FIGS. 1-4 may each, separately or in
combination, be optionally treated in an upgrading step in addition
to the upgrading step of the invention. Optional treatment
processes may selected from carbon rejection processes such as
fluid coking, hydrocoking, or Flexicoking. Hydrogen addition
processes such as hydrocracking, hydrofinishing, hydrodewaxing,
hydrofinishing, hydrodesulphurization, hydrodenitrification,
hydrodemetallization, etc may also be employed. The conditions for
the upgrading processes disclosed in this invention are well known
to those in the refining arts.
[0036] In a preferred embodiment, the upgrading process of the
present invention comprises contacting the heavy oil feedstream
with hydrogen in the presence of a slurry catalyst. In one respect,
the slurry catalyst is a finely divided solid material with
catalytic properties for removing the contaminants such as sulfur,
nitrogen and metals from the heavy oil feedstream, and for reducing
the asphaltene and aromatic content of the heavy oil
feedstream.
[0037] A catalyst composition which is useful for the present
upgrading process is disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/938202 filed Sep. 10, 2004 and U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/938003 filed Sep. 10, 2004, both of which
are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. This
catalyst composition is an unsupported slurry catalyst composition,
and preferably an unsupported molybdenum sulfide based catalyst.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/938202 teaches a catalyst
composition prepared by a series of steps, involving mixing a Group
VIB metal oxide and aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture, and
sulfiding the mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then promoted
with a Group VIII metal. Subsequent steps involve mixing the slurry
with a hydrocarbon oil and combining the resulting mixture with
hydrogen gas and a second hydrocarbon oil having a lower viscosity
than the first oil. An active catalyst composition is thereby
formed. A catalyst composition which also may be useful for the
present invention is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/938003.
This application discloses a slurry catalyst composition prepared
in a series of steps, involving mixing a Group VIB metal oxide and
aqueous ammonia to form an aqueous mixture, and sulfiding the
mixture to form a slurry. The slurry is then promoted with a Group
VIII metal. Subsequent steps involve mixing the slurry with a
hydrocarbon oil, and combining the resulting mixture with hydrogen
gas (under conditions which maintain the water in a liquid phase)
to produce the active slurry catalyst.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0038] Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an
embodiment of the invention.
[0039] In FIG. 1 a synthetic crude 36, boiling below 1000.degree.
F., is prepared from a heavy oil feedstream 5. The process
illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an upgrading reactor 20, which
contains a catalyst and is operated at conditions sufficient to
convert substantially all of the heavy oil feedstream to a
distillate product having a normal boiling point of less than
1000.degree. F. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the
distillate product is recovered as the synthetic crude of the
invention. As discussed above, synthetic crudes may also be
tailored to meet the needs of a specific refinery or group of
refineries.
[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention. A
crude oil (stream 105) is passed to first fractionation zone 110
for separation into at least an overhead product stream 112, a
distillate product stream 114 and a residuum stream 116. The
residuum 116 (in one embodiment in combination with at least a
portion of recycled stream 132) is passed to an upgrading reaction
zone 120, at least in part for removing contaminants such as
sulfur, asphaltenes, and metals from the residuum. The treated
product stream 122 which is recovered from the reaction zone 120 is
passed to second fractionation zone 130 for separation into an
upgraded distillate stream 134 and an unconverted heavy stream 132.
In one version of this embodiment, the upgrading reaction zone 120
is maintained at conditions sufficient to produce a treated product
122, a substantial portion of which boils at a temperature of less
than 1000.degree. F. The upgrading process is particularly
effective in converting the residuum feed to distillate products
boiling below 1000.degree. F.
[0041] In another version of this embodiment, the residuum is
treated in the reaction zone at select upgrading process conditions
to convert at least 70% of the residuum into an upgraded distillate
stream boiling in the range of from C5 to 1000.degree. F. In other
versions of this embodiment, at least 80%, or 90% or 95% of the
residuum is converted to 1000.degree. F.- products. In some cases,
the volumetric ratio of upgraded product 134 to stream 132 is
greater than 7:1, preferably greater than 8:1 and more preferably
greater than 9:1. The upgraded distillate product 134 boils in a
temperature range of less than 1000.degree. F., preferably less
than 900.degree. F. In FIG. 2, the upgraded product 134 is a
synthetic crude.
[0042] Stream 132 may contain a slurry catalyst from the upgrading
reaction zone 120. If there is more than a trace of slurry
catalyst, it is desirable to remove a portion of the catalyst prior
to recycling the unreacted heavy stream. Removing the catalyst from
the recycle stream may involve removing a small fraction of the
recycle stream from the process; generally less than 10% of the
recycle stream will be withdrawn from the system for removal of
catalyst from the process.
[0043] Certain feedstreams, such as crude oils, tend to be very
heavy and high boiling, and contain few components which are gases
at ambient conditions. In general, however, at least a small amount
of gases is expected. The overhead stream 112 shown in FIG. 2
comprises components of the hydrocarbon feedstream which are vapors
or low boiling liquids at ambient pressure and temperature. After
recovery from the fractionation zone 110, the overhead product 112
may be used for fuel, it may be flared or it may be converted into
a H2/CO syngas in a syngas reformer. Alternatively, at least a
portion of the gaseous product may be blended with the synthetic
crude which is produced in the present process.
[0044] The fractionation zones 110 and 130 may comprise one or more
distillation columns. One may be operated at or above atmospheric
pressure, and another may be operated at subatmospheric pressure
(vacuum). Distillation columns suitable for this service are well
known. Distillate fractions may comprise a fraction boiling in the
atmospheric gas oil range, having an initial boiling point in the
range of 60-250.degree. F. and an end boiling point in the range of
600.degree.-800.degree. F., and a fraction boiling in the vacuum
gas oil range, having an initial boiling point in the range of
600.degree.-800.degree. F., and an end boiling point in the range
of 900.degree.-1100.degree. F. The residuum boils within the
temperature range of above 900.degree. F.-1100.degree. F. As used
herein, boiling points and boiling ranges are reported as normal
boiling points and boiling ranges, as determined by standard ASTM
D1160 distillation.
[0045] FIG. 3 illustrates the addition of hydrofinishing unit 138
to the scheme of FIG. 2 for further upgrading of product 134.
Stream 136, the effluent of the hydrofinishing unit 138, is a
synthetic crude.
[0046] In FIG. 4 a blended synthetic crude comprising a
1000.degree. F.- upgraded product and a crude oil is prepared from
a hydrocarbon feedstream. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a hydrocarbon
feedstream 105 is passed to fractionation zone 110 for separation
into at least an overhead product 112, a distillate product 114 and
a heavy oil feedstream 116. In this embodiment, the heavy oil
feedstream is combined with 1 1 recycle stream 132 and passed to an
upgrading reaction zone 120, at least in part for removing
contaminants such as sulfur, asphaltenes, and metals from the heavy
oil feedstream. The treated product 122 which is recovered from the
reaction zone 120 is passed to fractionation zone 130 for
separation into an upgraded product 134 and a recycle stream 132.
In one embodiment, the upgrading reaction zone 120 is maintained at
conditions sufficient to produce a treated product 122, a
substantial portion of which boils within a temperature range of
less than 1000.degree. F. In one embodiment, the volumetric ratio
of upgraded product to recycle stream is greater than 7:1,
preferably greater than 8:1 and more preferably greater than 9:1.
In a preferred embodiment, the upgraded product boils in a
temperature range of less than 1000.degree. F. In another preferred
embodiment, the upgraded product boils in a temperature range of
less than 900.degree. F.
[0047] In FIG. 4 stream 136(the effluent of hydrofinishing unit
138) may be blended, in any combination, with the treated product
122, with the distillate fraction 114, the overhead product 112,
the hydrocarbon feedstream (stream 146) or with a portion of the
heavy oil feedstream which bypasses the upgrading reaction zone to
produce the synthetic crude (stream 144).
[0048] The synthetic crude may be recovered, at least in part from
stream 122. It may then be upgraded in a separate process prior to
blending.
* * * * *