Patent ID: 8246814

Claim:
A process for improving the quality of a hydrocarbon oil feedstock by removing undesirable sulfur and nitrogen compounds present in the feedstock, the process comprising: a. introducing the hydrocarbon oil feedstock containing undesirable sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds into a mixing vessel with a solid adsorbent material that includes finely divided particles, the adsorbent material being selected from the group consisting of attapulgus clay, silica alumina, alumina, silica, silica gel, activated carbon and zeolite catalyst materials; b. mixing the hydrocarbon oil feedstock with the adsorbent material to form a slurry; c. continuing to mix the slurry for a time sufficient to adsorb sulfur- and nitrogen- containing molecules on the adsorbent material; d. passing the hydrocarbon oil and solid adsorbent mixture through at least one primary filter to form a filtered hydrocarbon oil and solid adsorbent mixture; and e. contacting the filtered hydrocarbon oil and solid adsorbent mixture with a filtration membrane in a separation zone to separate an upgraded hydrocarbon oil product from the solid adsorbent and recovering a hydrocarbon oil product having a reduced sulfur and nitrogen compound content as the membrane permeate.