Hydrocracking process for high yields of high quality lube products

摘要

A process for producing high yields of higher quality (API Group II, Group III′) lubricating oil basestock fractions which allows the production of two or more types of high quality lubes in continuous mode (no blocked operation mode) without transition times and feed or intermediate product tankage segregation. Two consecutive hydroprocessing steps are used: the first step processes a wide cut feed at a severity needed to match heavy oil lube properties. The second step hydroprocesses a light oil after fractionation of the liquid product from the first step at a severity higher than for the heavy oil fraction. The two hydroprocessing steps will normally be carried out in separate reactors but they may be combined in a single reactor which allows for the two fractions to be processed with different degrees of severity.