Abstract: THAR with high concentration of vanadium is a kind of heavy oil difficult to be processed. It was found that hydro-upgrading process could concentrate the vanadium in bottom fractions. Based on the properties of THAR, the effect of hydrotreating conditions, such as hydrotreating temperature, initial hydrogen pressure and reaction time, on vanadium distribution in product and light fraction yield were investigated. The results show that vanadium is mainly enriched in residue through hydrotreating, and the higher temperature and longer reaction time were conducive to the enrichment of vanadium, but could make light oil yield decrease. However, no apparent effect of initial hydrogen pressure on distribution of vanadium and light fraction yield is found. The suitable hydro-upgrading conditions are: T = 425 ℃, P H2 =3.0 MPa, and reaction time 45 min. Under these conditions, the distribution ratio of vanadium in the light oil is only 0.44%, but the distribution ratio in the residue is up to 95.57%. The vanadium content in the hydrotreated residue is as high as 1323 μg/g. The yields of the light fraction and residue are 61.29% and 20.32%, respectively.