Patent ID: 7767170

Claim:
A flash/separation vessel for treating hydrocarbon feedstock containing resid to provide a liquid phase and a vapor phase, which comprises: (a) an inlet for introducing to said vessel under flashing conditions a mixture stream comprising said hydrocarbon feedstock and steam where the mixture stream undergoes an initial flashing to form i) a vapor phase at its dew point which contains a lesser portion of coke precursors; and ii) a liquid phase which contains a greater portion of coke precursors; (b) a partial condenser located above said inlet and comprising a heat-conducting tube with fins along its length and containing a cooling medium, for contacting the vapor phase within said flash/separation vessel and at least partially condensing at least some of said lesser portion of coke precursors, which adds to said liquid phase, said condensing providing a vapor phase of reduced coke precursor content; (c) a flash/separation vessel overhead outlet for removing the vapor phase of reduced coke precursors content as overhead; and (d) a flash/separation vessel liquid outlet for removing said liquid phase as bottoms from said flash/separation vessel.