The development of HDH process, a refiner's tool for residual upgrading

The vast reserves of heavy oils in Venezuela have given rise to research and development efforts aimed at fullest utilization of these reserves. The fact that these reserves, particularly located in eastern Venezuela, are accompanied by large reservoirs of natural gas, favored upgrading schemes based on hydrogen addition. A 1977-1984 research program explored four processes: (1) HDM/HDS in ebullated beds; (2) Deasphalting plus fixed-bed HDS; (3) Hydrovisbreaking; and (4) Hydrocracking in Slurry reactor (HDH). As a result, the HDH process was selected for further work; the HDH process produced higher conversion levels. As a result of that further work, the 1990 status of HDH is that a solid experimental and engineering basis exists for the hydrocracking, catalyst separation and hydrotreating stages, and no further R and D work is required. Basic design for the first commercial unit to be installed in the Cardow refinery is planned for 1990.