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It is well known that molten zinc chloride is a very effective hydrogenation catalyst for hydrocracking polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbonaceous feedstocks such as pyrene, coal and coal extract. The major drawback in the use of the zinc chloride is that nitrogen and sulfur in the feedstock react with the salt and poison its activity; and a regenerative step is necessary. Such a step is complicated by the fact that there is no appreciable phase separation between the spent salt and entrained constituents consisting of liquid hydrocarbon reaction products and unreacted feedstock. It is an object of the present invention to separate entrained hydrocarbon phase from spent molten zinc chloride hydrocracking catalyst without extraction solvents.