Removal of sulfur from naphtha

A process for reducing the sulfur content of full range naphtha comprising:

• introducing at least a portion of a naphtha feed stream to a selective hydrodesulfurization zone under selective hydrodesulfurization conditions in the presence of a selective hydrodesulfurization catalyst to form a low sulfur stream, the low sulfur stream containing mercaptan compounds and thiophene compounds;
• separating at least a portion of the low sulfur stream into at least three streams, a mercaptan rich stream containing mercaptan compounds and thiophene compounds, an overhead stream containing hydrogen sulfide and liquid petroleum gas;
• and a second mercaptan lean stream;
• treating the mercaptan rich stream in an adsorbent zone to remove at least a portion of the mercaptan compounds and the thiophene compounds to form a first mercaptan lean stream.

An apparatus for reducing the sulfur content of naphtha comprising:

• a selective hydrodesulfurization zone having an inlet and an outlet;
• a stripper column having an inlet, an overhead vapor outlet, and a liquid outlet, the outlet of the selective hydrodesulfurization zone being in fluid communication with the inlet of the stripper column;
• an adsorbent zone having an inlet and an outlet, the liquid outlet of the stripper column being in fluid communication with the inlet of the adsorbent zone;
• a caustic extraction zone having an inlet and an outlet;
• and
• a splitter column having an inlet, an overhead outlet, and a liquid outlet, the outlet of the caustic extraction zone being in fluid communication with the inlet of the splitter column, and the liquid outlet of the splitter column being in fluid communication with the inlet of the selective hydrodesulfurization zone.