Method for upgrading petroleum residuum and heavy crude oil

摘要

A method for upgrading a petroleum material comprises charging the material into a vessel having a cylindrical wall, then heating the cylindrical wall. The petroleum material adjacent the wall is heated to a temperature sufficient to form a layer of carbon on the wall, and volatile material generated at the wall during the carbon formation passes through the bulk of the petroleum material thermally cracking it to form smaller molecules and simultaneously desulfurizing same.