Extraction of liquid hydrocarbons with 2, 5-dihydroxymethyl tetrahydro furan

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR TREATING A LIQUID MIXTURE OF HYDROCARBON PRODUCTS SELECTED FROM THE MIXTURE CONSISTING OF (I) A MIXTURE OF AROMATICS AND NAPHTHENICS, (II) A MIXTURE OF A SINGLE AROMATIC AND A SINGLE NAPHTHENIC, (III) A MIXTURE OF NAPHTHENICS AND ALIPHATICS, (IV) A MIXTURE OF A SINGLE NAPTHENIC AND A SINGLE ALIPHATIC, (V) A MIXTURE OF AROMATICS AND ALIPHATICS, WHICH COMPRISES AROMATICS, NAPTHENIC AND ALIPHATICS, WHICH COMPRISES (A) CONTACTING SAID LIQUID MIXTURE WITH A SOLVENT SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF (I) 2,5-DIHYDROXYMETHYL TERTRAHYDRO FURAN, AND (II) 2,5-DIHYDROXYMETHYL TETRAHYDRO FURAN CONTAINING 0.5% TO 10% BY WEIGHT OF WATER, AND THEN ALLOWING THE RESULTING MIXTURE TO SEPARATE INTO TWO PHASES, (B) SEPRATING FROM THE LIGHTER PHASE THE HEAVIER PHASE CONTAINING MOST OF THE SOLVENT AND A MIXTURE OF HYDROCARBON PRODUCTS IN WHICH THE FIRST-NAMED COMPONENT THEREOF IS IN HIGHER PROPORTION THAN IS CONTAINED IN THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL, AND (C) REMOVING THE SOLVENT FROM THE HEAVIER PHASE AND THEREBY RECOVERING A LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURE IN WHICH THE FIRST-NAMED COMPONENT IS IN HIGHER PROPORTION THAN IS CONTAINED IN THE ORIGINAL MATERIAL.