Aquaconversion process vs thermal cracking of heavy crudes

A catalytic improvement called the Aquaconversion Process is being compared with the thermal cracking method by the authors. The authors described both the Visbreaking and Aquaconversion processes, and explained their hypothesis of development. The catalyst and steam acting in parallel with the thermal cracking increase the aromatics and asphaltenes conversion while reducing overall thermal condensation, as suggested by the chemical compositional changes discovered for the Aquaconversion process with respect to Visbreaking. From a technical viewpoint, the authors discussed and analyzed the major factors and implications resulting from the use of one or the other process for upgrading oil. The identified differences on stability and compatibility of the corresponding resulting upgraded crudes were examined, as well as their effects. The authors concluded by presenting the advantages to be derived from the down stream processing of some fractions of the syncrude obtained by both the Aquaconversion process and thermal cracking. tabs., 18 figs.