Patent ID: 8048292

Claim:
A process for hydroprocessing a heavy oil feedstock with a slurry catalyst, the process employing a plurality of contacting zones and separation zones, the process comprising: combining a heavy oil feedstock, a hydrogen containing gas, and a slurry catalyst in a first contacting zone under hydrocracking conditions to convert at least a portion of the heavy oil feedstock to lower boiling hydrocarbons, forming upgraded products, wherein at least a portion of the heavy oil feedstock comprises a deasphalted oil from a solvent deasphalting unit, the slurry catalyst is unsupported and comprising particles having an average particle size of at least 1 micron in a hydrocarbon oil diluent which is not heavy oil feedstock; sending a mixture of the upgraded products, the slurry catalyst, the hydrogen containing gas, and unconverted heavy oil feedstock to a separation zone, whereby the upgraded products are removed with the hydrogen containing gas from the separation zone as a first overhead stream, and the slurry catalyst, heavier hydrocracked liquid products, and unconverted heavy oil feedstock are removed from the separation zone as a first non-volatile stream; sending the first non-volatile stream to a contacting zone other than the first contacting zone, which contacting zone is maintained under hydrocracking conditions with additional hydrogen containing gas to convert at least a portion of the unconverted heavy oil feedstock to lower boiling hydrocarbons, forming additional upgraded products; and sending a mixture of the additional upgraded products, slurry catalyst, additional hydrogen containing gas, and unconverted heavy oil feedstock to a separation zone other than the first separation zone, whereby the upgraded products and additional hydrogen containing gas are removed as a second overhead stream, and the slurry catalyst and unconverted heavy oil are removed as a second non-volatile stream.