Method of desulfurization of hydrocarbons

Abstract

A method for the removal of sulfur and nitrogen containing compounds from petroleum distillates. Sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds are oxidized using a selective oxidant to create compounds that can be preferentially extracted from a petroleum distillate due to their increased relative polarity. Oxidation is accomplished by contacting an oxidant with a distillate under optimum conditions for that distillate and continuing the reaction until oxidized sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds are confirmed. Extraction is accomplished by contacting oxidized distillate with a non-miscible solvent that is selective for the relatively polar oxidized sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds. The oxidized compounds and solvent are separated from the distillate by gravity separation or centrifugation. The distillate is water washed and polished using clay filtration. The extraction solvent is separated from the solvent/oxidized compound mixture by a simple distillation for recycling. The high sulfur/high nitrogen fraction can be recovered using any number of treatments.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.