Patent ID: 7309416

Claim:
A process for removing sulfur from a sulfur-containing hydrocarbon fuel comprising: contacting a hydrocarbon fuel in the absence of added hydrogen at a temperature in the range of 350 to 600° C. and at a pressure in the range from about 100 kPa to about 3.5 MPa with a primary desulfurization agent in the form of a metal oxide selected from the group consisting of molybdenum oxide, tantalum oxide, tungsten oxide and combinations thereof to produce a reaction between the hydrocarbon fuel and the primary desulfurization agent that removes sulfur from the hydrocarbon fuel by replacing oxygen in the metal oxide with the sulfur from the hydrocarbon fuel to form a metal sulfide; and regenerating the primary desulfurization agent by exposing it to oxygen at a temperature in the range of 350 to 600° C. to replace the sulfur in the metal sulfide with oxygen to revert back to the metal oxide.