| abstract |
The present invention pertains to a process for hydroprocessing a heavy hydrocarbon oil, comprising contacting a heavy hydrocarbon oil in the presence of hydrogen with a mixture of hydroprocessing catalyst I and hydroprocessing catalyst II wherein catalyst I has a specific surface area of at least 100 m2/g, a total pore volume of at least 0.55 ml/g, at least 50% of the total pore volume in pores with a diameter of at least 20 nm (200 Å) and at least 65% of the total pore volume in pores with a diameter of 10-120 nm (100-1200 Å), and catalyst II has a specific surface area of at least 100 m2/g, a total pore volume of at least 0.55 ml/g, 30-80% of the pore volume in pores with a diameter of 10-20 nm (100-200 Å), and at least 5% of the pore volume in pores with a diameter of at least 100 nm (1000 Å) with catalyst I having a larger percentage of its pore volume in pores with a diameter of at least 20 nm (200 Å) than catalyst II. The process of the invention combines high contaminant removal with high conversion, low sediment formation, and high process flexibility. |