Two step process for sweetening a sour hydrocarbon fraction.

摘要

This invention relates to a two step process for sweetening a sour hydrocarbon fraction containing tertiary mercaptans and primary or secondary mercaptans. In one step the mercaptans in the sour hydrocarbon fraction are reacted with hydrogen in the liquid phase and in the presence of a selective hydrogenolysis catalyst to selectively hydrogenolyse the tertiary mercaptans. In another step, the primary and/or secondary mercaptans are oxidized by reacting them with an oxidizing agent in the presence of oxidation catalyst and a basic component. The selective hydrogenolysis step and the oxidation step may be carried out in any order, i.e., either hydrogenolysis first followed by oxidation or vice versa.