A bitumen and heavy oil upgrading process and
system is disclosed for the synthesis of hydrocarbons, an example of which is
synthetic crude oil (SCO). The process advantageously avoids the waste attributed to residuum and / or petcoke formation which has a dramatic effect on the yield of
hydrocarbon material generated. The process integrates Fischer-Tropsch technology with gasification and
hydrogen rich gas
stream generation. The
hydrogen rich gas generation is conveniently effected using singly or in combination a
hydrogen source, a hydrogen rich vapour from hydroprocessing and the Fischer-Tropsch process, a steam
methane reformer (SMR) and autothermal reformer (ATR) or a combination of SMR / ATR. The feedstock for upgrading is distilled and the bottoms fraction is gasified and converted in a Fischer-Tropsch reactor. A
resultant hydrogen lean
syngas is then exposed to the hydrogen rich gas
stream to optimize the formation of, for example, the
synthetic crude oil. The hydrogen lean gas
stream may also be effected by a
water gas shift reaction, singly or in combination or in addition with the hydrogen rich gas stream generation. A
system for effecting the process is also characterized in the specification.