| Abstract: | Manufacture of light hydrocarbons from heavy oils – processes and developments . High quality crude oils are running short and their price continues to increase. At the same time there is a trend towards light petroleum products for use as transportation fuels or petrochemical raw materials. Consequently, the conversion of heavy oils, i.e., particularly distillation residues but also heavy oils from tar sands, is gaining increasing commercial importance. The cracking processes currently used in the refining industry are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on their application to metal-and asphaltene-containing heavy oils. Feed pretreatment by solvent deasphalting is discussed and the manufacture of syncrude from tar sands is considered. New developments for conversion of heavy oils are outlined. The future production of shale oil and of transportation fuels from oil shale is briefly treated. |
