Removal of contaminants from hydrocarbon liquids

Claim 2

THE PROCESS THAT COMPRISES CONTACTNG TWO SPACED ELECTRODES WITH A HYDROCARBON LIQUID CONTAINING CONTAMINANT MOLECULES, CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF HYDROCARBON MILECULES CONTAINING SULFUR, NITROGEN, VANADIUM AND/OR NICKEL, WHICH ARE DISSOLVED IN THE LIQUID AND IN WHICH THE EFFECTIVE CENTERS OF THE POSITIVE AND NGATIVE ELECTRICAL CHARGES OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONTAMINANT MOLECULES ARE SEPARATED FROM ONE ANOTHER, GIVING THE MOLECULES A DIPOLE MOMENT; APPLYING ELECTRICAL CHARGES OF OPPOSITE POLARITY TO SAID ELECTRODES RESPECTIVELY FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF A DIRECT CURRENT POWER SOURCE; CAUSING MIGRATION OF AR LEAST SOME OF SAID CONTAMINANT MOLECULES TOWARD ONE OF SAID ELECTRODES BY ATTRACTION THERETO OF ELECTRICAL DIPOLE CHARGES OF THE INDIVIDUAL MOLECULES; AND SEPARATING SAID ATTRACTED CONTAMINANT MOLECULES, WHILE STILL IN SOLUTION IN THE HYDROCARBON LIQUID IN CONCENTRATED AMOUNTS, FROM THE PORTION OF THE HYDROCARBON LIQUID FROM WHICH THEY HAVE MIGRATED.

Claim 3

The process as recited in claim 1, including directing a stream of said liquid along a treating path and past said electrodes.

Claim 4

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said separation of the contaminant molecules from the liquid includes removing the contaminant molecules from said one electrode, and decreasing the electrical charge on said one electrode during said removal of the contaminant molecules therefrom.

Claim 5

The process as recited in claim 1, including advancing said one electrode along a predetermined treatment path in contact with the liquid.

Claim 6

The process as recited in claim 1, including directing a stream of said liquid along a treating path and past said one electrode, and advancing said one electrode generally countercurrent to said liquid.

Claim 7

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said separation of the contaminant molecules from the liquid includes creating a vacuum adjacent said one electrode, and withdrawing the contaminant molecules from said one electrode by said vacuum.

Claim 8

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said one electrode is formed of asbestos.

Claim 9

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said hydrocarbon liquid is petroleum.

Claim 10

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said one electrode is formed of a metal.

Claim 11

The process as recited in claim 1, including moving said one electrode along a path such that it first contacts the liquid and then moves out of contact therewith, and removing said contaminant molecules from the electrode while it is out of contact with the liquid.

Claim 12

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said one electrode is an asbestos belt which moves along an endless path and contacts the liquid along only a portion of the path, said process including removing the contaminant molecules from said belt while it is out of contact with the liquid.

Claim 13

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said contaminant molecules include molecules containing hydrogen, carbon and sulfur, with a concentrated negative charge being present in the molecule at the location of the sulfur; said migration of the contaminant molecules being caused by attracting said concentrated negative charge toward a positively charged one of said electrodes.

Claim 14

The process as recited in claim 1, in which said contaminant molecules include molecules containing hydrogen, carbon and nItrogen, with a concentrated positive charge being present in the molecule at the location of the nitrogen; said migration of the contaminant molecules being caused by attracting said concentrated positive charge toward a negatively charged one of said electrodes.

Claim 15

The process as recited in claim 1, including causing the migration of others of said contaminant molecules toward the second of said electrodes by attraction thereto of electrical dipole charges of said molecules, and separating the contaminant molecules which are attracted toward said second electrode from the hydrocarbon liquid separately from the molecules which are attracted to said one electrode.

Claim 16

The process as recited in claim 1, in which the direct current potential applied to said electrodes is at a value of at least about 1,000 volts per centimeter of separation between the electrodes.

Claim 17

The process that comprises contacting two spaced electrodes with a hydrocarbon liquid having dissolved therein contaminant hydrocarbon molecules of at least two types containing sulfur and nitrogen respectively, both of said types of molecules having the effective centers of the positive and negative electrical charges of the individual molecules separated from one another, giving the molecules a dipole moment; applying electrical charges of opposite polarity to said electrodes respectively from opposite sides of a direct current power source having a voltage of at least about 1,000 volts per centimeter of separation between the electrodes; causing migration of said sulfur containing molecules to a positively charged one of said electrodes by attraction of the electrical dipole charge associated with the sulfur; causing migration of said nitrogen containing molecules toward a negatively charged one of said electrodes by attraction of the electrical dipole charge associated with the nitrogen; and separating said sulfur containing molecules and said nitrogen containing molecules, while still in solution in the hydrocarbon liquid in concentrated amounts, from the portion of the hydrocarbon liquid from which they have migrated.

Claim 18

The process that comprises contacting two spaced electrodes with a hydrocarbon liquid having dissolved therein contaminant hydrocarbon molecules of at least two types containing sulfur and nitrogen respectively, both of said types of molecules having the effective centers of the positive and negative electrical charges of the individual molecules separated from one another, giving the molecules a dipole moment; applying electrical charges of opposite polarity to said electrodes respectively from opposite sides of a direct current power source having a voltage of at least about 1,000 volts per centimeter of separation between the electrodes; causing migration of said sulfur containing molecules to a positively charged one of said electrodes by attraction of the electrical dipole charge associated with the sulfur; causing migration of said nitrogen containing molecules toward a negatively charged one of said electrodes by attraction of the electrical dipole charge associated with the nitrogen; and separating said sulfur containing molecules and said nitrogen containing molecules, while still in solution in the hydrocarbon liquid in concentrated amounts, from the portion of the hydrocarbon liquid from which they have migrated.

Claim 19

The process as recited in claim 16, in which said electrodes are two endless asbestos belts, said process including advancing said belts along endless paths in a relation contacting said belts with the liquid and energizing the belts from said direct current source along first portions of said paths, and moving said belts out of contact with the liquid and out of energizing relation with said direct current source along second portions of said paths, said separating step including removing said contaminants from said belts while they are in said second portions of their endless paths.