Patent ID: 8613783

Claim:
A process for refining raw materials containing oil and/or bitumen, the process comprising: supplying water and the raw materials to at least one of an expulsion stage and a downstream gasification stage operated under a pressure from about 0.001 bar to 1 bar so as to obtain solids containing non-evaporated fractions of heavy hydrocarbons and to expel hydrocarbonaceous vapor at a temperature of from about 300 to about 1000° C.; supplying the expelled hydrocarbonaceous vapor from the at least one of the expulsion stage and the downstream gasification stage to a CO shift reactor; supplying the expelled hydrocarbonaceous vapor from the CO shift reactor to a processing stage and further processing the expelled hydrocarbonaceous vapor by at least one of cracking, coking and hydrotreating so as to obtain processing stage products; separating and withdrawing the processing stage products; introducing the solids containing non-evaporated fractions of heavy hydrocarbons from the at least one of the expulsion stage and the downstream gasification stage into a combustion stage; burning the non-evaporated fractions of heavy hydrocarbons in the combustion stage at a combustion temperature of from about 600 to about 1500° C. so as to obtain hot solids; and recirculating the hot solids from the combustion stage into at least one of the expulsion stage and the downstream gasification stage; wherein an oxidizing atmosphere of the combustion stage is sealed from an atmosphere of the at least one of the expulsion stage and the downstream gasification stage using a blocking device.