Conversion of black oil to low-sulfur fuel oil

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A FUEL OIL, CONTAINING LESS THAN ABOUT 1.0 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF SULFUR, FROM A SULFUROUS BLACK OIL CHARGE STOCK, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES THE STEPS OF: A. REACTING SAID CHARGE STOCK WITH AN IMPURE HYDROGEN GAS CONTAINING HYDROGEN SULFIDE, IN A FRIST CATALYSTIC REACTION ZONE, AT DESULFURIZATION CONDITIONS SELECTED TO CONVERT LOWER BOILING SULFUROUS COMPOUNDS INTO HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND HYDROCARBONS; Bo SEPARATING AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE RESULTING FIRST REACTION ZONE EFFLUENT, IN A FRIST SEPARATION ZONE, AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE, TO PROVIDE A FIRST PRINCIPALLY VAPOROUS PHASE AND A FIRST PRINCIPALLY LIQUID PHASE; C. SEPARATING AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID FIRST VAPOROUS PHASE, IN A SECOND SEPARATION ZONE, AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME PRESSURE AND A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 60*F. TO ABOUT 140*F., TO PROVIDE A SECOND PRINCIPALLY VAPOROUS PHASE AND A SECOND PRINCIPALLY LIQUID PHASE; D. REMOVING HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM SAID SECOND VAPOROUS PHASE, AND REACTING AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE REMAINING RELATIVELY PURE HYDROGEN WITH AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID PHASE, AND REACTING AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID DESULFURIZATION CONDITIONS SELECTED TO CONVERT ADDITIONAL SULFUROUS COMPOUNDS INTO HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND HYDROCARBONDS;