Patent ID: 7815790

Claim:
A process for producing an improved hydrocarbon-containing product stream from a visbreaker product stream comprising: a) conducting a hydrocarbon feedstream through a visbreaker reactor to form a visbreaker reactor outlet stream; b) conducting the visbreaker reactor outlet stream to a visbreaker fractionator; c) separating a visbreaker bottoms product stream from the bottom portion of the visbreaker fractionator; d) conducting a visbreaker product feedstream comprising the visbreaker bottoms product stream without a solvent into a membrane separations unit wherein the visbreaker product feedstream contacts a first side of at least one porous membrane element; e) retrieving at least one permeate product stream from a second side of the porous membrane element, wherein the permeate product stream is comprised of selective materials which pass through the porous membrane from the first side of the porous membrane element and are retrieved in the permeate product stream from the second side of the porous membrane element; and f) retrieving at least one retentate product stream from the first side of the membrane; wherein the transmembrane pressure across the porous membrane element is from about 500 psi to about 1500 psi, and wherein the CCR wt % content of the permeate product stream is at least 25% lower than the CCR wt % content of the visbreaker product feedstream.