Patent attributes
The method allows to remove mercaptans contained in a gaseous feed comprising hydrocarbons by carrying out the following stages:a) contacting, in a reactor R1, gaseous feed 1 with a liquid stream 13 comprising olefins, in the presence of a first acid catalyst so that the mercaptans react with the olefins so as to form sulfides,b) discharging an effluent 3 from reactor R1 and separating the effluent into a gas phase and a liquid phase so as to obtain a mercaptan-depleted treated gas 4 and a sulfide-laden liquid,c) separating the sulfide-laden liquid into a first fraction 6 and a second fraction 5, the volume flow rate of first fraction 6 being at least three times higher than the volume flow rate of second fraction 5, d) recycling first fraction 6 to stage a) as a first portion of said liquid stream to be fed into said reactor R1, e) regenerating second fraction 5 by cracking so as to obtain a sulfide-depleted second fraction 2 that is recycled to stage a) as a second portion of said liquid stream.
