# US 4,392,947 A · Integrated refining process

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- Number: US 4,392,947 A
- Document ID: US4392947A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/307,047
- Filed: 1981-09-30
- Granted: 1983-07-12
- Earliest claimed: 1981-09-30
- Assignees: Mobil Oil Corporation
- Inventors: Costandi A. Audeh; Saverio G. Greco
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4392947A

## CPC

- C10G 19/02: with aqueous alkaline solutions
- C10G 27/10: in the presence of metal-containing organic complexes, e.g. chelates, or cationic ion-exchange resins
- C10G 53/14: including at least one oxidation step
- C10G: CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION (cracking to hydrogen or synthesis gas C01B; cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbon gases to individual hydrocarbons or mixtures thereof of definite or specified constitution C07C; cracking to cokes C10B); RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES

## Abstract

An integrated method for refining a hydrocarbon distillate fraction such as kerosene which has sulfur-containing compounds by washing the fraction with an alkaline solution and then sweetening the resulting distillate by treating it with a phthalocyanine catalyst in the presence of a second alkaline solution and oxygen while simultaneously disposing of the spent caustic from the washing by incinerating same in the presence of a sulfur-containing fuel and oxygen to yield harmless sulfates.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for refining a hydrocarbon distillate fraction having sulfur-containing compounds comprising:
washing said distillate fraction with a first aqueous alkaline solution to remove acidic materials and mercaptans that form soluble and easily removable alkaline metal mercaptides;
treating the distillate fraction resulting from said washing with a phthalocyanine catalyst in the presence of a second aqueous alkaline solution and oxygen so that the mercapto compounds contained in said fraction are oxidized to form innocuous disulfides;
incinerating spent alkaline solution resulting from said washing in the presence of oxygen and introducing a sufficient amount of sulfur-containing gas to convert the alkaline material to the corresponding sulfate.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1 wherein said distillate fraction is kerosene and wherein said sulfur-containing gas comprises hydrogen sulfide.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1, 2)

The process of claim 1 or 2 wherein said first aqueous alkaline solution is a sodium hydroxide solution.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The process of claim 3 wherein said sodium hydroxide is present in said solution in an amount of from 3%-5% by weight.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1, 2)

The process of claim 1 or 2 wherein said phthalocyanine catalyst is cobalt phthalocyanine sodium sulfonate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1, 2)

The process of claim 1 or 2 wherein said second alkaline solution is a sodium hydroxide solution.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The process of claim 6 wherein said sodium hydroxide is present in said solution in an amount of from 15% to 35% by weight.

### Claim 8

A method for refining a hydrocarbon distillate fraction having sulfur-containing compounds comprising:
washing said distillate fraction with a first aqueous alkaline solution to remove acidic materials and mercaptans that form soluble and easily removable alkaline metal mercaptides;
treating the distillate fraction resulting from said washing with a metal phthalocyanine catalyst in the presence of a second aqueous alkaline solution and oxygen so that the mercapto compounds contained in said fraction are oxidized to form innocuous disulfides;
incinerating spent alkaline solution resulting from said washing in the presence of oxygen and a sufficient amount of hydrogen sulfide gas to convert the alkaline material to the corresponding sulfate.

### Claim 9

A method for refining a hydrocarbon distillate fraction having sulfur-containing compounds comprising:
(a) washing said distillate fraction with a first aqueous alkaline solution to remove acidic materials and mercaptans that form soluble and easily removable alkaline metal mercaptides;
(b) treating the distillate fraction resulting from said washing with phthalocyanine metal catalyst in the presence of a second aqueous alkaline solution and oxygen so that the mercapto compounds contained in said fraction are oxidized to form innocuous disulfides;
(c) oxidizing spent alkaline solution from washing step (a) in the presence of excess oxygen from step (b) together with added sulfur-containing fuel to convert the alkaline material to the corresponding sulfate.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9 wherein the spent alkaline solution from step (a) includes naphthenic acid salt.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The process of claim 8 wherein said hydrogen sulfide comprises a component of a refinery off-gas.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The process of claim 9 wherein said sulfur-containing fuel further comprises sulfur-containing fuel oil.