Patent ID: 8636895

Claim:
A process comprising: (i) hydroprocessing a feed comprising crude or a crude fraction comprising resid, including 1050° F.+ (565° C.+) resid, in a hydroprocessing unit at a temperature sufficient to promote incipient thermal cracking of the resid and provide a hydrogenated resid component, and wherein at least a portion of 650° F.+ (343° C.+) resid is vaporized; (ii) obtaining an effluent from the hydroprocessing unit; (iii) separating the effluent in a separator wherein the step of separating comprises separating a vapor fraction from a liquid fraction, wherein the effluent in the separator is heated from about 700° F. (371° C.) to about 900° F. (482° C.), into an overhead stream and a bottoms stream comprising resid having a boiling point of at least 1050° F. (565° C.), under conditions sufficient to visbreak the effluent to effectively remove high hydrogen content side-chains from polynuclear naphthenes and aromatics to increase the hydrogen content of the overhead stream while minimizing hydrogen content of the bottoms stream; (iv) passing the overhead stream from the separator to a steam cracker; and (v) steam cracking the overhead in the steam cracker and obtaining a steam cracker product from the steam cracker, the product comprising olefins.