Patent ID: 8491796

Claim:
A process, comprising: operating a treating unit to heat an emulsion in a subcooled boiling zone, wherein the boiling zone is atmospherically vented, wherein the treating unit comprises: a heat transfer surface to contact the emulsion at a temperature in excess of the saturation temperature of an aqueous phase in the emulsion, wherein a bulk fluid temperature in the subcooled boiling zone is below the saturation temperature of the aqueous phase of the emulsion; a line to recover an oil-rich layer from adjacent a vapor-liquid interface; and a line to recover an aqueous-rich layer from below the oil-rich layer; recovering the oil-rich layer from adjacent the vapor-liquid interface; recovering the aqueous-rich layer from below the oil-rich layer; indirectly heating the heat transfer surface with hot gas at a temperature from 400° C. to 1200° C. within a tube submerged in the oil-rich layer below the vapor liquid interface; and oxidizing a first fraction of an emulsion feedstock in a fluidized bed of solids with an oxygen-containing gas to form the hot gas, and supplying a second fraction of the emulsion feedstock to the heating, wherein a weight ratio of the first fraction to the second fraction is from 1:100 to 20:100.