GB1168822A - Sweetening Hydrocarbon Liquids - Google Patents

Abstract

1,168,822. Sweetening hydrocarbons. HOWEBAKER ENGS. Inc. 11 Oct., 1966 [11 Oct., 1965; 25 March, 1966], No. 45315/66. Heading C5E. A process for sweetening sour liquid hydrocarbon compositions containing organic mercaptans comprises contacting them with a particulate aluminosilicate ion exchange composition having at least one square metre per gram of surface area available to the hydrocarbon and containing ionically-bound Hg, Ag, Pb, Cu, Co, Fe, Pt or Pd, or a synthetic organic resin ion exchange composition containing ionically-bound Hg, Ag, Pb, Co, Fe, Pt or Pd, whereby the mercaptans are converted at least in part to disulphides, and separating the sweetened hydrocarbon composition. The ion exchanger may be a natural or synthetic zeolite (including molecular sieves), a sulphonated phenol-formaldehyde resin or sulphonated styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer, a resin containing carboxylic groups, a quaternary ammonium type anion exchange resin, a polyamine type resin or a chelate type resin, e.g. chloromethylated styrene-divinyl benzene copolymer reacted with iminodiacetic acid. Preferred resins are cross-linked copolymers of styrene, vinyltoluenes, ethyl styrene, α-methyl styrene, vinyl naphthalene or vinyl acenaphthalene with divinyl benzene, ethylene dimethacrylate, vinyl acrylate, vinyl methacrylate, divinyl oxalate, divinyl ketone or styryl vinyl ketone. The metal/ion-exchanger compound may be complexed with ammonia or an amine (including pyridine), or oxalic, lactic, gluconic, citric, tartaric, salicylic, 5-sulphosalicylic, glutamic, pyrophosphonic, nitroacetic or 8 - hydroxyquinoline - 5 - sulphonic acid, disodium - 1,2 - dihydroxy benzene - 3,5- disulphonate, N-methyl glycine, glycine, N- ethyl glycine, N-propyl glycine, N-butyl glycine, N-isopropylglycine, α-alanine, #-alanine, norvaline, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, serine, threonine, l-ornithine, asparagine, lysine, arginine, proline or glycylglycine.