Controlled catalytic oxidation of MEROX process by-products in integrated refinery process
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsOmer Refa Koseoglu, Robert Peter Hodgkins
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Abstract
An integrated controlled catalytic oxidation process converts low value disulfide oil (DSO) compounds produced as a by-product of a generalized mercaptan oxidation (MEROX) process into oxidized DSO (ODSO) compounds including sulfoxides, sulfones, sulfonates and sulfinates that are completely or partially water soluble and which have utility, e.g., as lubricity additives in diesel fuel and as a solvent in aromatic solvent separation processes.
Claims21
A process for treating a mercaptan-free hydrocarbon stream comprising disulfide oil compounds derived from a refinery process employed in removing mercaptans from a hydrocarbon stream containing mercaptans, the process comprising:
- subjecting the mercaptan-free hydrocarbon stream recovered from the refinery process that comprises the disulfide oil (DSO) compounds to controlled catalytic oxidation in a further refinery process by contacting the disulfide oil compounds in the presence of at least one catalyst with a predetermined molar concentration of at least one oxidant and an organic acid transfer agent to produce an oxidation effluent stream comprising oxidized disulfide oils (ODSO) and waste water;
- separating the oxidation effluent stream into a water insoluble oxidized disulfide oil stream and a waste water stream;
- and
- recovering the water insoluble oxidized disulfide oil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.