Feasibility of Bitumen Production from Unconverted Vacuum Tower Bottom from H-Oil Ebullated Bed Residue Hydrocracking

In relation to the constant requirement for reduction of sulfur level and low demand for fuel oil, this study presents an approach for utilization of unconverted vacuum tower bottom (UVTB) from the ebullated bed hydrocracking process, H-Oil technology, in bitumen production. The kinetic study shows a slower softening point increase for crude blend 70% Urals and 30% Middle Eastern than other feeds in the air-blowing process. Also, penetration values for straight run vacuum residue feeds decrease quicker than the increase in their softening point values. UVTB softening point increase at high temperature is faster and penetration decrease is slower than LNB SRVR. Air blowing is shown to improve the penetration index of UVTB to a greater extent than the SRVR one. The bottleneck of this new application of UVTB is its low resistance to hardening, determined by using a rolling thin film oven (RTFO), which limits its quantity up to 20–30% in blends.