Desulfurization of heavy petroleum oils

Claim 1

THE PROCESS OF DESULFURIZING AND UPGRADING SULFUR-CONTAINING PETROLEUM RESIDUA WHICH COMPRIESE CONVERTING SAID RESIDUA INTO A PRODUCT OF LOWER BOILING RANGE, WHICH PRODUCT CONTAINS A MAJOR PROPORTION OF GAS OIL AND AMINOR PROPORTION OF NAPHTHA, AND AT THE SAME TIME REMOVING THE MAJOR PROPORTION OF THE SULFURR CONTAINED IN THE SAID RESIDUA BY CONTACTING SAID RESIDUA FEED IN A HYDROGENATION ZONE WITH HYDROGEN IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATALYST COMPRISING A BORON FLUORIDE ADDITION PRODUCT REPRESENTED BY THE FORMULA BX3.Y. WHERE X IS A HALIDE, AND Y IS AN OXYGENATED MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF WATER, ALCOHOLS, AND ETHERS IN WHICH THE RATIO OF BX3 TO Y IS FROM 0.5 TO 1 TO 2 TO 1, MAINTAINING WITHIN SAID ZONE REACTION CONDITIONS OF TEMPERATURE PRESSURE AND THROUGH-PUT RATES AVOIDING SUBSTANTIAL CRACKING TO PRODUCTS BOILING IN THE NAPHTHA RANGE MAINTAINING WITHIN SAID ZONE A PRESSURE IN THE RANGE OF 500-500 P. S. I. G. AND A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF 300*-900* F., MAINTAINING A FEED RATE OF 0.25 TO 4 V./V./HR. AND RECOVERING A PRODUCT CONTAINING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS SULFUR THAN SAID FEED.