Apparatus and processes herein provide for converting hydrocarbon feeds to light olefins and other hydrocarbons. The processes and apparatus include, in some embodiments, feeding a hydrocarbon, a first catalyst and a second catalyst to a reactor, wherein the first catalyst has a smaller average particle size and is less dense than the second catalyst. A first portion of the second catalyst may be recovered as a bottoms product from the reactor, and a cracked hydrocarbon effluent, a second portion of the second catalyst, and the first catalyst may be recovered as an overhead product from the reactor. The second portion of the second catalyst may be separated from the overhead product, providing a first stream comprising the first catalyst and the hydrocarbon effluent and a second stream comprising the separated second catalyst, allowing return of the separated second catalyst in the second stream to the reactor.

A fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) for production of petrochemical feedstock fractions comprises a first reactor to receive a stream of desalinated crude oil and produce a first cracked product stream; a second reactor to receive a stream of light cracked naphtha (LCN) and produce a second cracked product stream; a third reactor to receive a bottom stream and produce a third cracked product stream; and a fractionating column and gas concentration section to separate components of the first cracked product stream, the second cracked product stream, and the third cracked product stream to produce, upon further fractionation, Ethylene, Propylene, Butylene, Benzene, Toluene and Xylene as the petrochemical feedstock fractions.

Supercritical upgrading reactors and reactor systems are provided for upgrading a petroleum-based composition using one or more purging fluid inlets to prevent plugging of the catalyst layer in the reactor. Processes for upgrading petroleum-based compositions by utilizing a reactor having at least one purging fluid inlet are also provided.

Provided herein are supercritical upgrading reactors and reactor systems for upgrading a petroleum-based composition by using one or more supercritical upgrading reactors and one or more supercritical standby reactors that alternate functions such that the supercritical upgrading reactor is converted to a supercritical standby reactor and the supercritical standby reactor is converted to a supercritical upgrading reactor. The supercritical upgrading reactor upgrades a combined feed stream while a supercritical standby reactor delivers a cleaning fluid into the supercritical standby reactor. The supercritical reactors may have one or more catalyst layers and one or more purging fluid inlets, and the catalyst layers may have differing void volume ratios.

A process for catalytic production of olefins comprises contacting a first hydrocarbon stream and a first stream of fluid catalyst in a first riser to produce a first cracked product stream and a spent catalyst stream. The first cracked product stream is separated in a main column. An overhead stream from the main column is separated into a second hydrocarbon stream. The second hydrocarbon stream is contacted with a second stream of fluid catalyst in a second riser to produce a second cracked product stream and a first stream of cool catalyst. A third hydrocarbon stream is obtained from the overhead stream and/or from the second cracked product stream. The third hydrocarbon stream is contacted with a third stream of fluid catalyst in a third riser to produce a third cracked product stream and a second stream of cool catalyst.

Flash chemical ionizing pyrolysis (FCIP) at 450 C.-600 C. forms liquid ionizing pyrolyzate (LIP) that can be blended in oil feedstock for thermal processes to promote conversion of heavier hydrocarbons to reduce resid/coke yields and/or increase yields of liquid hydrocarbons and isomerates. A front-end refinery process modifies crude oil with LIP for distillation to reduce resid/coke yields and/or increase liquid oil yields. A downstream process modifies a heavy oil stream such as resid with LIP and the LIP-modified stream can be thermally processed to reduce resid/coke yields and/or increase liquid oil yields. FCIP of the LIP blends also improves quality and/or yields of the liquid pyrolyzate product. Finely divided FCIP solids can contain FeCl.sub.3 supported on NaCl-treated calcium bentonite. A process for preparing the FCIP solids treats iron with HCl and HNO.sub.3 to form acidified FeCl.sub.3 of limited solubility, loads the FeCl.sub.3 on NaCl-treated bentonite, and heat-treats the material at 400 C.-425 C.

Provided herein are supercritical upgrading reactors and reactor systems for upgrading a petroleum-based composition by using one or more supercritical upgrading reactors and one or more supercritical standby reactors that alternate functions such that the supercritical upgrading reactor is converted to a supercritical standby reactor and the supercritical standby reactor is converted to a supercritical upgrading reactor. The supercritical upgrading reactor upgrades a combined feed stream while a supercritical standby reactor delivers a cleaning fluid into the supercritical standby reactor. The supercritical reactors may have one or more catalyst layers and one or more purging fluid inlets, and the catalyst layers may have differing void volume ratios.

Apparatus and processes herein provide for converting hydrocarbon feeds to light olefins and other hydrocarbons. The processes and apparatus include, in some embodiments, feeding a hydrocarbon, a first catalyst and a second catalyst to a reactor, wherein the first catalyst has a smaller average particle size and is less dense than the second catalyst. A first portion of the second catalyst may be recovered as a bottoms product from the reactor, and a cracked hydrocarbon effluent, a second portion of the second catalyst, and the first catalyst may be recovered as an overhead product from the reactor. The second portion of the second catalyst may be separated from the overhead product, providing a first stream comprising the first catalyst and the hydrocarbon effluent and a second stream comprising the separated second catalyst, allowing return of the separated second catalyst in the second stream to the reactor.

Methods of producing propylene and/or ethylene. The methods can include contacting a mixture of C4+ compounds with a catalyst, such as a fixed bed catalyst, that includes a phosphorus treated zeolite. The mixture of C4+ compounds can include a plurality of C4 olefins, a plurality of C5 olefins, and/or a plurality of C6+ olefins.

Processes for producing olefins include integration of steam cracking with a dual catalyst metathesis process. The processes include steam cracking a hydrocarbon feed to form a cracking reaction effluent containing butenes, separating the cracking reaction effluent to produce a cracking C4 effluent including normal butenes, isobutene, and 1,3-butadiene, subjecting the cracking C4 effluent to selective hydrogenation to convert 1,3-butadiene in the cracking C4 effluent to normal butenes, removing isobutene from a hydrogenation effluent to produce a metathesis feed containing normal butenes, and contacting the metathesis feed with a metathesis catalyst and a cracking catalyst directly downstream of the metathesis catalyst to produce a metathesis reaction effluent. Contacting with the metathesis catalyst causes metathesis of normal butenes to produce ethylene, propene, and C5+ olefins, and contacting with the cracking catalyst causes C5+ olefins produced through metathesis to undergo cracking reactions to produce additional propene, ethylene, or both.