The Lummus Company

Lummus Crest, Inc.

Jorge M Fernandez-Baujin

Jo-Lung Chien

Kandasmy M Sundaram

An improved process for vaporizing a crude petroleum feedstock, preferably one boiling in the vacuum gas oil range or higher, prior to thermal cracking to olefins, wherein such feedstock is preheated, in one or more stages, in the convection section of a tubular steam cracking furnace, characterized by conducting the preheating in the presence of a small amount of hydrogen, preferably at a hydrogen/feed ratio of from about 0.01 to about 0.15 wt. %, so as to inhibit coke formation.

Inhibition of coke formation during vaporization of heavy hydrocarbons

A packed bed gas-liquid contactor wherein the liquid distributor is positioned within and supported by the packed bed, with the portion of the packed bed above the liquid distributor being blocked by an imperforate structure and the remaining portion including non-process packing, whereby gas flows from the process packing through a limited portion of the upper part of the packed bed, defined by the non-process packing to the gas outlet. In this manner, the residence time of the gas in the upper portion of the bed is limited.

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North Bergen, NJ, United States of America

Jorge M Fernandez-Baujin