ABSTRACT
Hydrocracking allows the refiner to produce products having a lower molecular weight with higher hydrogen content and a lower yield of coke. Furthermore, hydrocracking facilities add flexibility to refinery processing and to the product slate. Hydrocracking is more severe than hydrotreating, with the intent in hydrocracking processes being to convert the feedstock to lower-boiling products rather than to treat the feedstock for heteroatom and metal removal only (Speight, 2000 and references cited therein; 2007 and references cited therein).
