DESULFURIZATION OF HEAVY HYDROCARBONS AND CONVERSION OF RESULTING HYDROSULFIDES UTILIZING COPPER SULFIDE

摘要

The present invention is a process for desulfurizing hydrocarbon feedstreamswith alkali metal compounds and regeneratingthe alkali metal compounds via the use of a copper sulfide reagent. Thepresent invention employs the use of a coppersulfide reagent to convert alkali metal hydrosulfides in the generation orregeneration of the alkali hydroxide compounds whichmay be utilized in a desulfurization process for hydrocarbon feedstreams.Additionally, in preferred embodiments of the processesdisclosed herein, carbonates which form as byproducts of the desulfurizationprocess, and are non- regenerable with coppersulfide, are removed from the alkali hydroxide stream.