Claims
- 1. In the method for the thermal cracking of a heavy petroleum oil wherein the heavy petroleum oil is preheated to a temperature of 450.degree. to 520.degree. C. and introduced into a reaction system, where the heavy petroleum oil is then subjected to thermal cracking under conditions of a temperature of 350.degree. to 450.degree. C., a pressure of 300 mmHg to 15 kg/cm.sup.2 and a residence time of 1 to 10 hours, the improvement wherein
- (a) the heavy petroleum oil is introduced into a reaction system comprising a plurality of reaction vessels arranged in series; and
- (b) the interior of each of said plurality of reaction vessels arranged in series is maintained at a temperature which is 5.degree. to 50.degree. C. lower than the interior temperature of the preceding reaction vessel by contacting the heavy petroleum oil in each vessel with a gaseous thermal medium which does not react with the oil at a temperature of 400.degree. to 2000.degree. C. and controlling the volume of the gaseous thermal medium introduced into each vessel,
- thereby suppressing the formation of coke on the inner walls of said reaction vessels and forming a high aromatic and uniform pitch of the ratio of H/C of 0.4 to 1.1, of a content of n-heptane-insoluble and quinoline-soluble fraction of more than 55% and of a softening point of about 170.degree. C.
- 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the number of said reaction vessels is 2 to 5.
- 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gaseous thermal medium is steam.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 888,393 filed Mar. 20, 1978 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
332913 |
Jul 1930 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
888393 |
Mar 1978 |
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