| abstract |
A process for improving heavy oils and converting heavy oils to low boiling hydrocarbon products is provided. The process utilizes a catalyst slurry comprising catalyst particles having an average particle size in the range of 1-20 microns. In the refinement process, the spent slurry catalyst in the heavy oil is produced as discharge stream. In one aspect, the process further includes recovering the used catalyst by separating heavy oil from the catalyst particles in the slurry. In one embodiment, the slurry catalyst in heavy oil combines with the solvent to form a combined slurry-solvent stream. The combined slurry-solvent stream is filtered in the deoiling zone using membrane filtration. The hydrocarbons, ie the solvent and residual heavy oil, may then be separated from the catalyst particles in the drying zone. The precious metal may be recovered from the catalyst particles for later reuse in the catalyst synthesis unit, producing a new slurry catalyst. |