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A system and process for conversion of heavy feedstocks in a slurry bed hydroprocessing reactor is provided in which (a) hydrogen gas is dissolved in the liquid feedstock by mixing and/or diffusion, (b) the mixture is flashed to remove and recover any light components and hydrogen, leaving a hydroge

A system and process for conversion of heavy feedstocks in a slurry bed hydroprocessing reactor is provided in which (a) hydrogen gas is dissolved in the liquid feedstock by mixing and/or diffusion, (b) the mixture is flashed to remove and recover any light components and hydrogen, leaving a hydrogen-enriched feedstock. A homogenous and/or heterogeneous catalyst is added to the feedstock upstream of the inlet of the slurry bed hydroprocessing reactor.

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1. A process for converting a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock into lower molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds in a slurry bed reactor, the process comprising: a. mixing the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock and an excess of hydrogen gas in a mixing zone under predetermined conditions of temperature and hy

1. A process for converting a liquid hydrocarbon feedstock into lower molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds in a slurry bed reactor, the process comprising: a. mixing the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock and an excess of hydrogen gas in a mixing zone under predetermined conditions of temperature and hydrogen partial pressure to dissolve a portion of the hydrogen gas in the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock to produce a mixture of hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock and undissolved hydrogen gas;b. introducing the mixture produced in step (a) into a flashing zone under predetermined conditions to separate undissolved hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbon components and recovering a hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock;c. introducing the hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock into a reaction zone containing at least one slurry bed reactor with at least one catalyst or catalyst precursor and reacting the feedstock to convert at least a portion of the feedstock into lower boiling point hydrocarbons;d. recovering a reactor effluent from the at least one slurry bed reactor comprising converted hydrocarbon products and unconverted liquid feedstock;e. introducing the reactor effluent from the at least one slurry bed reactor into a separation zone to separate converted hydrocarbon products from unconverted liquid feedstock;f. recovering the converted hydrocarbon products from the separation zone; andg. recovering the unconverted liquid feedstock from the separation zone. 2. The process of claim 1 in which at least a portion of unconverted liquid feedstock is recovered from the separation zone and is recycled to the reaction zone to form a portion of the hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock. 3. The process of claim 1 in which the at least one catalyst is selected from a liquid homogeneous catalyst precursor and a particulate heterogeneous catalyst with a particle size ranging from 1 nm to 3 mm. 4. The process of claim 1 in which fresh catalyst is added to the unconverted liquid feedstock upstream of one or more of the at least one reactors. 5. The process of claim 1 in which the reaction zone includes a plurality of slurry bed reactors arranged in series, each reactor optionally preceded by a hydrogen mixing zone in which hydrogen is added to the unconverted liquid feedstock and a flashing zone from which light components and hydrogen are recovered prior to introduction of the unconverted feedstock into a downstream reactor. 6. The process of claim 5 in which fresh catalyst is added to the unconverted liquid feedstock upstream of one or more of the at least one reactors. 7. The process of claim 6 which is continuous and in which fresh catalyst is added to the feedstock without interrupting the process. 8. The process of claim 1 in which a portion of the catalyst is removed from the unconverted liquid feedstock recycle stream. 9. A slurry bed reactor system comprising: a. a mixing zone having an inlet in fluid communication with a source of hydrogen and a source of liquid feedstock constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions of temperature and hydrogen partial pressure to dissolve a portion of the hydrogen gas in the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock to produce a mixture of hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock and undissolved hydrogen gas that is discharged via a mixing zone outlet;b. a flashing zone in fluid communication with the mixing zone outlet constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions to separate and discharge undissolved hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbon components from a gas outlet and a hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock from a liquid outlet;c. a reaction zone having at least one slurry bed reactor inlet in fluid communication with the flashing zone liquid outlet and constructed and arranged for receiving at least one catalyst or catalyst precursor and for reacting the feedstock to convert at least a portion of the feedstock into lower boiling point hydrocarbons, a reaction zone effluent outlet for discharging a reactor effluent comprising converted hydrocarbon products and unconverted liquid feedstock;d. a separation zone having, an inlet in fluid communication with the reaction zone effluent outlet constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions to separate and discharge converted hydrocarbon products from a tops product outlet and unconverted liquid feedstock from a bottoms outlet. 10. The system as in claim 9 wherein the bottoms outlet is in fluid communication with the reactor inlet. 11. A slurry bed reactor system comprising: a. a first slurry bed reactor subsystem having a mixing zone having an inlet in fluid communication with a source of hydrogen and a source of liquid feedstock constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions of temperature and hydrogen partial pressure to dissolve a portion of the hydrogen gas in the liquid hydrocarbon feedstock to produce a mixture of hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock and undissolved hydrogen gas that is discharged via a mixing zone outlet;a flashing zone in fluid communication with the mixing zone outlet constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions to separate and discharge undissolved hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbon components from a gas outlet and a hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon feedstock from a liquid outlet;a reaction zone having at least one slurry bed reactor inlet in fluid communication with the liquid outlet and constructed and arranged for receiving at least one catalyst or catalyst precursor and for reacting the feedstock to convert at least a portion of the feedstock into lower boiling point hydrocarbons, a reaction zone effluent outlet for discharging a reactor effluent comprising converted hydrocarbon products and unconverted liquid feedstock; anda separation zone having an inlet in fluid communication with the reaction zone effluent outlet constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions to separate and discharge converted hydrocarbon products from a tops product outlet and unconverted liquid feedstock from a bottoms outlet;b. a second slurry bed reactor subsystem havinga mixing zone having an inlet in fluid communication with a source of hydrogen and the bottoms outlet of the first slurry bed reactor subsystem constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions of temperature and hydrogen partial pressure to dissolve a portion of the hydrogen gas in the unconverted hydrocarbons from the bottoms outlet of the first slurry bed reactor subsystem to produce a mixture of hydrogen-enriched hydrocarbon and undissolved hydrogen gas that is discharged via a mixing zone outlet;a flashing zone in fluid communication with the mixing zone outlet constructed and arranged to operate under predetermined conditions to separate and discharge undissolved hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbon components from a gas outlet and a hydrogen-enriched liquid hydrocarbon from a liquid outlet;a reaction zone having at least one slurry bed reactor inlet in fluid communication with the liquid outlet and constructed and arranged for receiving at least one catalyst or catalyst precursor and for reacting the feedstock to convert at least a portion of the feedstock into lower boiling point hydrocarbons, a reaction zone effluent outlet for discharging a reactor effluent comprising converted hydrocarbon products and unconverted liquid feedstock; anda separation zone having an inlet in fluid communication with the reaction zone effluent outlet constructed and arranged to operate under conditions to separate and discharge converted hydrocarbon products from a tops product outlet and unconverted liquid feedstock from a bottoms outlet.