A method and apparatus for continuously treating acid gases including recovering absorbent chemicals by introducing streams leaving a regenerator and/or leaving an absorber into a static mixing zone wherein supplemental washing water is added to recover absorbent chemicals. Improvements to the prior art methods are provided where one or more absorbent chemical recovery units are included to increase the amount of recovered absorbent chemicals exiting the regenerator and/or exiting the absorber are increased and/or maximized. Absorbent chemical recovery units can include mixing units where liquid is added to the stream of sour gas and absorbent chemical to mix with and absorb the absorbent chemical from the stream.

A process for reducing TAN of hydrocarbon feed oil, comprising: a. combining alkaline earth metal, in an aqueous solution having a pH of 10 to 14, with the hydrocarbon feed oil to make a mixture; b. vigorously mixing the mixture; c. precipitating a metal-naphthenate salt; and d. removing the metal-naphthenate salt to reduce the TAN by 50 to 100%; wherein a weight ratio of the hydrocarbon feed oil to the aqueous solution is from 0.25:1 to 20:1. Also, a process for reducing TAN, comprising: a. combining an inorganic alkaline earth metal salt having a water solubility at 20 C. from 35 to 150 g/100 g water, in an aqueous solution having a pH of 10 to 14, to make a mixture; b. precipitating a metal-naphthenate salt; c. collecting the metal-naphthenate salt at an interface between an oil phase and an aqueous phase; and d. removing the metal-naphthenate salt.

Disclosed is a method of removing organic acids from crude oil using a gas hydrate inhibitor and a catalyst in crude oil production facilities or oil-refining facilities, in which organic acids can be removed from crude oil by reacting the crude oil with mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), di-ethylene glycol (DEG), tri-ethylene glycol (TEG), methanol or derivatives thereof, as a gas hydrate inhibitor in the presence of a tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) catalyst, whereby the acidity of the crude oil can be lowered by 93% or more, and no catalyst deactivation occurs because magnesium (Mg)-based catalysts are not used. Furthermore, a continuous process is achieved in such a manner that the gas hydrate inhibitor and the catalyst are not discarded but are collected from the crude oil from which organic acids have been removed, and are thus recycled, thereby realizing environmentally friendly, economical and efficient removal of organic acids from crude oil.

A process for reducing total acid number (TAN), comprising: contacting, without hydrogen addition, a liquid hydrocarbon having a high initial TAN with a ternary catalyst comprising titanium-oxide, a metal promoter, and a porous support; wherein the contacting occurs over a short time or at a defined LHSV, and at a low contacting temperature, and wherein the contacting reduces the initial TAN by at least 20%. Also, a new ternary catalyst that reduces the TAN, wherein the ternary catalyst has a molar ratio of titanium to metal from the metal promoter that is greater than 3:1.

The present disclosure refers to a process and a process plant for extraction of metals from a hydrocarbon mixture obtained from a gasification or pyrolysis process, comprising the steps of combining said hydrocarbon mixture with an aqueous acid forming a mixture, mixing said mixture, separating said mixture in a contaminated aqueous phase and a purified hydrocarbon phase, with the associated benefit of said aqueous acid being able to release metals bound in such gasification and pyrolysis processes.

The present invention is a system for the extraction and quantification of tetraprotic naphthenic acids present in oils, precursors of the formation of calcium naphthenates, which are potential formers of deposits, causing of damage to pieces of equipment used in the oil production industry.

A method for determining a TAN-IR for naphthenic acids in crude oil or crude oil fraction may include determining an IR spectrum of a sample of the crude oil or crude oil fraction. The method may include determining an IR spectrum of a neutralized sample of the crude oil or crude oil fraction. The method may include utilizing the IR spectra of the sample and the neutralized sample to determine a modified TAN-IR.

A process is presented for the removal of contaminants like oxygenates from hydrocarbons. The contaminant oxygenates are removed from hydrocarbons that may be feed to cracking units. A crude feed stream is fed to a water wash column along with water to remove oxygenates and is subsequently treated with an adsorbent to effectively remove all the oxygenates from the crude hydrocarbon. A regenerant medium from a naphtha hydrotreating unit is used to regenerate the adsorbent.

Naphthenic acids in crude oil are carboxylic acids characterized by one or more aliphatic or naphthenic rings having an alkyl group with a carboxylic acid group. The naphthenic acids produce atypical corrosion phenomena, given that they can cause a localized attack without the presence of water at 473-693 K, hindering the processing of such crude oils in refineries. Disclosed is a catalytic hydrogenation process that permits selective removal of naphthenic acids from heavy and extra heavy crude oils with a low production of hydrogen sulphides. The catalyst is formed by an aluminium and/or magnesium-aluminium spinel-type support having active FeMo phases. The hydrogenation process using Fe and/or Mo catalysts surprisingly permits an acid number of 1 mg KOH/g to be reached in crude oils with TAN greater than 4 g KOH/g, reducing unwanted reactions and prolonging the life of the cataly

The invention relates to the preparation of novel bi- or tri metallic silicate micro-porous and/or meso-porous materials based on cerium, nickel, copper and/or zinc on a porous silicate framework matrix to use its molecular sieve effect to target preferentially the acidic organic molecules present in hydrocarbon feedstocks like crude oil, bitumen, VGO and the like. The chosen metals are selected based on their ability to activate steam and transfer oxygen for completing the oxidation of carboxylic compounds or decarboxylating them. These composite materials can be prepared under hydrothermal synthesis conditions in order to produce suitable porous solids where the metals are well dispersed and preferentially distributed inside the channels of the silicate framework where they can interact only with the molecules that can go inside the channels. According to the invention, the metallo-silicate materials are prepared under hydrothermal synthesis conditions Modification of the physical-chemical properties of the porous silicate materials can be accomplished by partial replacement of the silicon atoms by cerium, nickel, copper and/or zinc atoms in the material by isomorphous substitutions of these elements in a synthesis gel or by post-synthesis modifications like ion-exchange or impregnation/deposition. The materials can be used as prepared catalysts for the steam catalytic reduction of the total acid number (TAN) in acidic crude oil feedstocks and in the presence of steam and/or CO.sub.2 as oxidizing agent to complete decarboxylation and to keep the metal oxide active sites from reducing and deactivating as well as other partial upgrading reactions.