Reduce LPG sulfur with a ‘rules of thumb’ checklist

T. Temur, Ş. Avcılar, E. Özinan and M. Karakaya, Tüpraş, Kocaeli, Turkey Processing sourer opportunity crude oils leads to increased sulfur carryover to desulfurization and demercaptanization units in refineries worldwide. For this reason, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) treatment plant has an essential role in a refinery for meeting product sulfur specifications and for environmental compliance, regardless of the declining margin of the product itself.1, 2 The treatment process, often referred to as sweetening, involves the liquid/liquid extraction of the mercaptans (RSH) in LPG with a caustic solution, which is regenerated by oxidation with air in the presence of a liquid catalyst. For