Patent ID: 7648685

Claim:
A system for hydroprocessing a hydrocarbon feed with a known flow rate of hydrogen-containing gas and a volume of hydroprocessing catalyst, comprising: a first hydroprocessing zone containing a first portion of said hydroprocessing catalyst and having an inlet for cocurrently receiving a hydrocarbon feed and a first portion of said known flow rate of hydrogen-containing gas; and an additional hydroprocessing zone containing a remainder of said hydroprocessing catalyst and having an inlet for cocurrently receiving a hydrocarbon product from said first hydroprocessing zone and a remainder of said known flow rate of said hydrogen-containing gas wherein said first portion of said hydroprocessing catalyst is between about 35 and about 40% wt. of said volume of said hydroprocessing catalyst, wherein the additional hydroprocessing zone comprises a plurality of hydroprocessing zones each containing substantially equal amounts of said remainder of said hydroprocessing catalyst, and wherein said plurality of hydroprocessing zones comprises a plurality of separate and discrete reactor vessels including a first reactor vessel and a second reactor vessel, said first and second reactor vessels being connected for flow of hydrocarbon product from said first reactor vessel to said second reactor vessel and for flow of said hydrogen-containing gas only from said second reactor vessel to said first reactor vessel.