Processes for upgrading partially converted vacuum residua hydrocarbon feeds are disclosed. The upgrading processes may include: steam stripping the partially converted vacuum residua to generate a first distillate and a first residuum; solvent deasphalting the first residuum stream to generate a deasphalted oil and an asphaltenes fraction; vacuum fractionating the deasphalted oil to recover a deasphalted gas oil distillate and a heavy deasphalted residuum; contacting the first distillate and the deasphalted gas oil distillate and hydrogen in the presence of a first hydroconversion catalyst to produce a product; contacting the heavy deasphalted residuum stream and hydrogen in the presence of a second hydroconversion catalyst to produce an effluent; and fractionating the effluent to recover a hydrocracked atmospheric residua and a hydrocracked atmospheric distillate.

A process (20) to produce olefinic products suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons includes separating (42) an olefins-containing Fischer-Tropsch condensate (64) into a light fraction (68), an intermediate fraction (82) and a heavy fraction (94), oligomerising (44) at least a portion of the light fraction (68) to produce a first olefinic product (72) which includes branched internal olefins, and carrying out either one or both of the steps of (i) dehydrogenating (50) at least a portion of the intermediate fraction (82) to produce an intermediate product (84) which includes internal olefins and alpha-olefins, and synthesising (52) higher olefins from the intermediate product which includes internal olefins and alpha-olefins to produce a second olefinic product (86), and (ii) dimerising (52) at least a portion of the intermediate fraction to produce a second olefinic product (86). At least a portion of the heavy fraction (94) is dehydrogenated (58) to produce a third olefinic product (96) which includes internal olefins. Also provided is a process (30) to produce paraffinic products suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons which includes separating (110) a Fischer-Tropsch wax (124) into at least a lighter fraction (126, 128) and a heavier fraction (130), hydrocracking (120) the heavier fraction (130) to provide a cracked intermediate (144), and separating (122) the cracked intermediate (144) into at least a naphtha fraction (148), a heavier than naphtha paraffinic distillate fraction (150) suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons, and a bottoms fraction (152) which is heavier than the paraffinic distillate fraction (150).

A process (20) to produce olefinic products suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons includes separating (42) an olefins-containing Fischer-Tropsch condensate (64) into a light fraction (68), an intermediate fraction (82) and a heavy fraction (94), oligomerising (44) at least a portion of the light fraction (68) to produce a first olefinic product (72) which includes branched internal olefins, and carrying out either one or both of the steps of (i) dehydrogenating (50) at least a portion of the intermediate fraction (82) to produce an intermediate product (84) which includes internal olefins and alpha-olefins, and synthesising (52) higher olefins from the intermediate product which includes internal olefins and alpha-olefins to produce a second olefinic product (86), and (ii) dimerising (52) at least a portion of the intermediate fraction to produce a second olefinic product (86). At least a portion of the heavy fraction (94) is dehydrogenated (58) to produce a third olefinic product (96) which includes internal olefins. Also provided is a process (30) to produce paraffinic products suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons which includes separating (110) a Fischer-Tropsch wax (124) into at least a lighter fraction (126, 128) and a heavier fraction (130), hydrocracking (120) the heavier fraction (130) to provide a cracked intermediate (144), and separating (122) the cracked intermediate (144) into at least a naphtha fraction (148), a heavier than naphtha paraffinic distillate fraction (150) suitable for use as or conversion to oilfield hydrocarbons, and a bottoms fraction (152) which is heavier than the paraffinic distillate fraction (150).

The present invention relates to a process for handling product fluid streams which are obtained in the catalytic hydrogenation of liquid feeds in laboratory catalysis apparatuses. The liquid feeds are preferably hydrocarbons comprising sulfur- and nitrogen-comprising compounds as impurities. The hydrogenation serves to convert the impurities into hydrogen sulfide and ammonia which in this form can be readily separated off from the other constituents of the liquid feed. The product fluid streams are contacted with an inert gas stream, with the flow rate of the inert gas being a multiple of the flow rate of the product fluid stream. The formation of deposits in lines of the region on the outlet side of the reaction space can be effectively prevented by means of the process of the invention.

The present invention relates to a process for handling product fluid streams which are obtained in the catalytic hydrogenation of liquid feeds in laboratory catalysis apparatuses. The liquid feeds are preferably hydrocarbons comprising sulfur- and nitrogen-comprising compounds as impurities. The hydrogenation serves to convert the impurities into hydrogen sulfide and ammonia which in this form can be readily separated off from the other constituents of the liquid feed. The product fluid streams are contacted with an inert gas stream, with the flow rate of the inert gas being a multiple of the flow rate of the product fluid stream. The formation of deposits in lines of the region on the outlet side of the reaction space can be effectively prevented by means of the process of the invention.

Processes for upgrading partially converted vacuum residua hydrocarbon feeds are disclosed. The upgrading processes may include: steam stripping the partially converted vacuum residua to generate a first distillate and a first residuum; solvent deasphalting the first residuum stream to generate a deasphalted oil and an asphaltenes fraction; vacuum fractionating the deasphalted oil to recover a deasphalted gas oil distillate and a heavy deasphalted residuum; contacting the first distillate and the deasphalted gas oil distillate and hydrogen in the presence of a first hydroconversion catalyst to produce a product; contacting the heavy deasphalted residuum stream and hydrogen in the presence of a second hydroconversion catalyst to produce an effluent; and fractionating the effluent to recover a hydrocracked atmospheric residua and a hydrocracked atmospheric distillate

The present invention relates to a process for producing benzene comprising the steps of: a) separating a source feedstream comprising C5-C12 hydrocarbons including benzene and alkylbenzenes into a first feedstream comprising a higher proportion of benzene than the source feedstream and a second feedstream comprising a lower proportion of benzene than the source feedstream and subsequently, b) contacting the first feedstream in the presence of hydrogen with a first hydrocracking catalyst comprising 0.01-1 wt-% hydrogenation metal in relation to the total catalyst weight and a zeolite having a pore size of 5-8 and a silica (SiO2) to alumina (Al2O3) molar ratio of 5-200 under first process conditions to produce a first product stream comprising benzene, wherein the first process conditions include a temperature of 425-580 C., a pressure of 300-5000 kPa gauge and a Weight Hourly Space Velocity of 0.1-15 h.sup.1, and c) contacting the second feedstream with hydrogen under second process conditions to produce a second product stream comprising benzene, wherein i) the second process conditions are suitable for hydrocracking and step (c) involves contacting the second feedstream in the presence of hydrogen with a second hydrocracking catalyst comprising 0.01-1 wt-% hydrogenation metal in relation to the total catalyst weight and a zeolite having a pore size of 5-8 and a silica (SiO2) to alumina (Al2O3) molar ratio of 5-200 under the second process conditions which include a temperature of 300-600 C., a pressure of 300-5000 kPa gauge and a Weight Hourly space Velocity of 0.1-15 h.sup.1, ii) the second process conditions are suitable for toluene disproportionation and involve contracting the second feedstream with a toluene disproportionation catalyst, or iii) the second process conditions are suitable for hydrodealkylation.

Processes for upgrading partially converted vacuum residua hydrocarbon feeds are disclosed. The upgrading processes may include: steam stripping the partially converted vacuum residua to generate a first distillate and a first residuum; solvent deasphalting the first residuum stream to generate a deasphalted oil and an asphaltenes fraction; vacuum fractionating the deasphalted oil to recover a deasphalted gas oil distillate and a heavy deasphalted residuum; contacting the first distillate and the deasphalted gas oil distillate and hydrogen in the presence of a first hydroconversion catalyst to produce a product; contacting the heavy deasphalted residuum stream and hydrogen in the presence of a second hydroconversion catalyst to produce an effluent; and fractionating the effluent to recover a hydrocracked atmospheric residua and a hydrocracked atmospheric distillate

Aromatic extraction and hydrocracking processes are integrated to optimize the hydrocracking units design and/or performance. By processing aromatics-rich and aromatic-lean fractions separately, the hydrocracking operating severity and or catalyst reactor volume requirement decreases.

A process for production of middle distillate fraction from gas-to-liquid (GTL) conversion comprising providing a feed stream comprising natural gas and separating a condensate from the feed stream to produce a condensate stream and a feed stream; processing the feed stream via a Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction to generate a long chain hydrocarbon product stream; processing the product stream via a heavy paraffinic conversion in order to produce a FT product stream; treating the condensate stream with a desulfurization step to generate a condensate product stream; combining the FT product stream with the condensate product stream to provide a distillate feed stream; and performing a distillation step on the distillation feed stream, wherein the processing steps occur substantially concurrently with the treating step and wherein distillation provides for isolation of middle distillate products. Middle distillate fractions and fuel oils/fuel oil blends obtained according to the process are also provided.