Hydroprocessing process using uneven catalyst volume distribution among catalyst beds in liquid-full reactors

A process for hydroprocessing a hydrocarbon feed, which comprises

• (a) providing two or more catalyst beds disposed in sequence and in liquid communication, wherein each catalyst bed is a fixed bed and contains a catalyst having a catalyst volume, the catalyst volume increasing in each subsequent catalyst bed;
• (b) contacting the feed with (i) a diluent and (ii) hydrogen, to produce a feed/diluent/hydrogen mixture, wherein the hydrogen is dissolved in the mixture to provide a liquid feed;
• (c) contacting the feed/diluent/hydrogen mixture with a first catalyst in a first catalyst bed, to produce a product effluent;
• (d) contacting a product effluent with a final catalyst in a final catalyst bed, to produce a final product effluent, wherein the product effluent contacted with the final catalyst is the product effluent from the catalyst bed immediately prior to the final catalyst bed;
• wherein each contacting step of step (c) and step (d) is performed under liquid-full reaction conditions;
• wherein the process is characterized by higher sulfur and nitrogen conversion as compared to an even catalyst volume distribution with the same catalyst and the same volume catalyst;
• and wherein a ratio of the volume of the first catalyst to the volume of the final catalyst is in the range of about 1:1.1 to about 1:10.