Patent ID: 8168071

Claim:
An apparatus for treating a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock having a specific gravity differential between components of the feedstock, the apparatus comprising: a treatment vessel having an inlet for receiving the feedstock; a primary separation container located in the treatment vessel, the primary separation container being operable to accumulate feedstock to cause a low specific gravity portion of the feedstock to separate and rise to an upper surface of the accumulated feedstock; a first weir for collecting the low specific gravity portion from the surface of the accumulated feedstock in the primary separation container; a first outlet in the primary separation container, the first outlet being operably configured to receive settling solids in the accumulated feedstock and to produce a first discharge stream at the first outlet; a secondary separation container located in the treatment vessel to receive the collected low specific gravity portion, the secondary separation container being operable to accumulate the collected low specific gravity portion to cause hydrocarbon products to separate and rise to an upper surface of the accumulated low specific gravity portion of the feedstock; and a product outlet for collecting hydrocarbon products from the upper surface of the accumulated low specific gravity portion to produce a hydrocarbon product stream at the product outlet.