Upgrading of middle distillate fractions of a syncrude from Athabasca oil sands

Current processes for upgrading bitumen from Athabasca oil sands produce synthetic crudes which are high in aromatics and deficient in hydrogen. As a consequence, middle distillate fractions derived from these syncrudes produce diesel fuels of low cetane number and jet fuels which are hydrogen deficient. Results obtained from bench-scale hydrotreating experiments indicate that quality fuels may be produced from Athabasca syncrudes. Middle distillate fractions from this source were subjected to high-severity hydroprocessing in a continuous-flow reactor unit using conventional hydrotreating catalysts which were pre-sulphided by a mixture of $\text{H}{}_2\text{H}{}_2\text{S}$. Aromatic hydrogenation at high temperatures and pressures was affected by the approach to thermodynamic equilibrium, however, at lower temperatures, in some cases virtually 100% saturation was achieved and treated fractions were found to meet cetane number and jet fuel smoke point requirements. Data treatment in the present study includes a model for the hydrogenation kinetics and correlations between aromatic carbon and fuel combustion properties.