The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 31, 2015
Filed:
May. 16, 2013
Chevron U.s.a. Inc., San Ramon, CA (US);
Dennis John O'Rear, Petaluma, CA (US);
Russell Evan Cooper, Fairfield, CA (US);
Sujin Yean, Houston, TX (US);
Stephen Harold Roby, Hercules, CA (US);
Hosna Mogaddedi, Fremont, CA (US);
Manuel Eduardo Quintana, Sugarland, TX (US);
Jerry Max Rovner, Houston, TX (US);
Chevron U.S.A. Inc., San Ramon, CA (US);
Abstract
Trace amount levels of heavy metals such as mercury in crude oil are reduced by contacting the crude oil with a sufficient amount of a reducing agent to convert at least a portion of the non-volatile mercury into a volatile form of mercury, which can be subsequently removed by any of stripping, scrubbing, adsorption, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, at least 50% of the mercury is removed. In another embodiment, the removal rate is at least 99%. In one embodiment, the reducing agent is selected from sulfur compounds containing at least one sulfur atom having an oxidation state less than +6; ferrous compounds; stannous compounds; oxalates; cuprous compounds; organic acids which decompose to form COand/or Hupon heating; hydroxylamine compounds; hydrazine compounds; sodium borohydride; diisobutylaluminium hydride; thiourea; transition metal halides; and mixtures thereof.