Process for converting a liquid feed material into a vapor phase product

12. Application Case 1—Application to the Upgrading of Heavy Oil

[0172]The following description describes a theoretical design of a specific application of the invention for the upgrading of a heavy oil, such as Athabasca bitumen. In this application, four reactor units are used in series (i.e. the solid particles (28) will flow from one reactor (20) into the next). Each unit has been designed to process feed at a rate of 250 bbl / day making the total capacity 1000 bbl / day. The design specifications and operating conditions for this application are listed in Table 1. The specifications listed in Table 1 are for a single reactor unit, and are based on an extensive piloting exercise designed for this purpose. The following is a brief explanation of the rationale behind the numbers in Table 1.

TABLE 1Operating Condition and Design Ranges for a Single Reactor UnitSpecific to Bitumen Where the Goal is to Maximize Liquid YieldSuitablePreferredOptimalReactor Length3 m-6 m4 m-5 m4.2mReactor