REMOVING MERCAPTANS AND HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM OIL PRODUCTS

摘要

There have been increases in the volume of crude oil with high mercaptan contents in recent years in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kazakhstan, the Komi Republic, and various areas in Russia. Crude containing mercaptans has almost the entire homologous series of them, ranging from the most toxic and volatile low-molecular methyl and ethyl mercaptans to high-molecular ones with branched hydrocarbon chains. Hydrogen sulfide and the methyl and ethyl mercaptans have not only high toxicity and volatility but also an unpleasant odor and are corrosive. Toxic alkali sulfide effluents are inevitably formed in the processing of crude oil and gas con-densate. When those substances are extracted, transported, stored, and processed, major ecological and technological problems can arise.