Alternative to visbreaking or delayed coking of heavy crude oil through a short contact time, solid transported bed cracking process

[EN] An extra-heavy crude oil was treated at a short contact time in the 510-580 degrees C temperature range in a FCC-like process, first thermally and then in the presence of a solid with low catalytic activity. The treatment greatly improved the properties of the crude oil, reducing the density and viscosity to values that make the oil transportable without dilution in a pipeline. In addition, the upgraded oil was substantially free of contaminants such as metals and heptane insolubles. The use of the solid allowed upgrading all properties with a minimum coke penalty. The residual fraction of the upgraded oil had to be eliminated to obtain a syncrude stable in asphaltene proof, which could be obtained by recycling to extinction in a cracking reactor.The authors thank ECOPETROL SA for material and financial support as well as permitting publishing this manuscript. Financial support by the Spanish Government-MINECO through the program "Severo Ochoa" (SEV 2016-0683), CTQ2015-70126-R (MINECO/FEDER), and by the Generalitat Valenciana through the Prometeo program (PROMETEOII/2013/011) is also acknowledged.Corma Canós, A.; Sauvanaud, LL.; Mathieu, Y.; Almanza Rubiano, L.; González Sánchez, C.; Chanaga Quiroz, T. (2018). Alternative to visbreaking or delayed coking of heavy crude oil through a short contact time, solid transported bed cracking process. Catalysis Science & Technology. 8(2):540-550. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7cy01281k5405508