Sulfone removal process
OwnerMark Culleninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Processes for generating and removing oxidized sulfur species, and in particular sulfones, from crude oil and various fractions derived therefrom. Initially, the sulfur species present in the crude oil or fractions derived from the crude oil, is oxidized such that substantially all of the sulfur species are converted to sulfones. Thereafter, the fossil fuel containing the oxidized sulfur species are subjected to conventional hydrodesulfurization processes where substantially all of the sulfones are converted to hydrogen sulfide gas.
Claims7
A process for generating sulfones from sulfur-containing compounds present in a fossil fuel and thereafter removing said sulfones from said fossil fuel, the process comprising the steps:
- a) providing a liquid fossil fuel, said fossil fuel containing a portion of at least one organic sulfur-containing compound;
- b) converting a majority of said sulfur-bearing compound to a sulfone;
- and
- c) subjecting said fossil fuel produced in step b) to hydrodesulfurization such that a majority of the sulfones present in such fossil fuel are converted to hydrogen sulfid.
The method of claim I wherein in step b), said sulfur-containing compound is oxidized by an oxidizing agent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.