Hydrogen recovery from gaseous product of fluidized catalytic cracking

Claim 1

In a fluidized catalytic cracking process wherein: (1) a petroleum fraction containing sulfur compounds convertible to hydrogen sulfide is contacted with regenerated catalyst in a reaction zone under cracking conditions for the production of cracked vapor and coke contaminated spent catalyst, (2) wherein said cracked vapors are separated into a plurality of fractions including a stripped acid gas fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and a hydrogen product fraction comprising hydrogen, (3) wherein spent catalyst from said reaction zone is regenerated in a regeneration zone by burning coke therefrom with air, and (4) wherein hot regenerated catalyst from the regeneration zone is contacted with additional quantities of said petroleum fraction containing sulfur compounds, the improvement for enhancing the hydrogen content of said hydrogen product stream which comprises the steps of: (a) removing regenerated catalyst containing entrained nitrogen and carbon oxides from said regeneration zone into a regenerated catalyst stripping zone; (b) in said regenerated catalyst stripping zone, stripping said regenerated catalyst with hydrogen sulfide in an amount sufficient to substantially remove the entrained nitrogen and the carbon oxides from said regenerated catalyst; and (c) contacting said additional quantities of said petroleum fraction containing sulfur compounds in said reaction zone with said thus-stripped regenerated catalyst whereby the hydrogen content of said hydrogen product stripping is significantly enhanced.