Low complexity, high yield conversion of heavy hydrocarbons

摘要

A process for producing pipeline-ready or refinery-ready feedstock from heavy hydrocarbons using a high-performance solvent extraction process with high local solvent-to-process fluid ratios yet maintaining low overall solvent- to-process fluid ratios, by first performing mild thermal cracking on the heavy hydrocarbons and then separating asphaltene-rich fractions from a resulting thermally affected fluid so that the high solvent-to-oil ratio portion of the process acts only on those asphaltene-rich fractions, and producing a dry, solid asphaltene as an end-product.