Abstract: Taking Tahe vacuum residue as a raw material, the operation conditions and upgrading effect of thermal-cracking in the presence of hydrogen at high temperature were tested in autoclave and pilot plant with highly dispersed oil-soluble catalyst. The effect of reaction temperature，pressure，reaction time, catalyst dosage，amount of solvent oil and additive on the residue cracking conversion rate and condensation rate were investigated. The pilot test results showed that under the optimized conditions，the cracking rate of the fraction > 524℃ of Tahe residue was more than 85.2%，the yield of distillate oil was 80%，and the metal （Ni+V） and the asphaltene removal rate were both greater than 90%.

Key words: Tahe vacuum residue, high temperature conversion, catalytic thermal-cracking in hydrogen