Patent ID: 8877153

Claim:
A method for adsorptive removal of sulfur from a hydrocarbon stream, the method comprising contacting said hydrocarbon stream with an adsorbent composition under conditions sufficient to achieve a single-pass adsorption capacity for sulfur compounds of more than 1.6 grams of sulfur compounds per 100 grams of the adsorbent composition, the adsorbent composition comprising: a nanocrystal complex comprised of approximately 2-10 nm sized crystals of elemental Ni having associated therewith a plurality of chemical moieties selected from the group consisting of elemental phosphorus, phosphine moieties (PH x ), and combinations thereof, wherein said nanocrystal complex exhibits a molar ratio of P to Ni from about 0.2 to about 0.6, and a refractory support material comprising micro-mesoporous silica, mesoporous silica, meso-structured silica, alumina, and mixtures and combinations thereof; said adsorbent composition made by a process comprising: a) providing the refractory support material; b) depositing on said support material a combination of nickel oxide and one or more Ni y —P z —O n complexes, wherein y is from 1 to 3, z is from 2 to 4, and n is from 7 to 12, and wherein the combination of nickel oxide and one or more Ni y —P z —O n complexes have a first average particle size; and c) reducing said combination of nickel oxide and Ni y —P z —O n complexes, thereby resulting in a plurality of Ni nanoparticles having a second average particle size having associated therewith one or more chemical species selected from the group consisting of elemental phosphorus, phosphine (PH x ) species, and combinations thereof, wherein: (i) the second average particle size is smaller than the first average particle size by up to 80%, by at least 15%, or both; (ii) the first average particle size is in the range from about 4 nm to about 10 nm and the second average particle size is in the range from about 2 nm to about 6 nm; or (iii) both (i) and (ii).