Patent ID: 8177965

Claim:
A process for separating a heavy hydrocarbon stream, comprising: a) contacting the heavy hydrocarbon stream having a final boiling point of at least 1100° F. with at least one porous membrane element comprised of a ceramic membrane in a membrane separation zone wherein the heavy hydrocarbon stream contacts a first side of the porous membrane element; b) 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 element 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; c) retrieving at least one retentate product stream from the first side of the porous membrane element; d) conducting at least a portion of the permeate product stream to a first atmospheric distillation column; e) retrieving a first atmospheric resid stream from the first atmospheric distillation column; and f) conducting at least a portion of the first atmospheric resid stream to a first vacuum distillation column, wherein a ratio of a saturates wt % content of the permeate product stream to a saturates wt % content of the heavy hydrocarbon stream is greater than 1.0, and wherein the porous membrane element has an average pore size of about 0.001 to about 2 microns and a transmembrane pressure across the porous membrane element is at least 400 psig.