Upgrading of oil sand bitumen was examined using a catalyst consisting of CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -FeO X and sub-and super-critical water in two reactor types: batch-type and fixed-bed flow-type. Bitumen diluted with benzene was used as a feedstock, and the effects of reaction pressure and temperature on product yield were 5 investigated. Under conditions of high pressure (approximately 19 MPa), catalytic decomposition of bitumen proceeded effectively over the FeO X -based catalyst, with the yield of lighter components such as gas oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO) reaching 70 mol%-C at a reaction temperature of 693 K. Moreover, because coke formation on the catalyst was suppressed (less than 10 mol%-C under optimized reaction pressure and 10 temperature), the FeO X -based catalyst showed excellent durability and reusability for catalytic decomposition of bitumen.

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