Patent ID: 6881325

Claim:
A process for the production of refinery transportation fuel or blending components for refinery transportation fuel, which process comprises: providing a petroleum feedstock comprising a mixture of hydrocarbons, sulfur-containing and nitrogen-containing organic compounds, the mixture having a gravity ranging from about 10° API to about 75° API; fractionating the petroleum feedstock by distillation to provide at least one low-boiling blending component consisting of a sulfur-lean, mono-aromatic-rich fraction, and a high-boiling oxidation feedstock consisting of a sulfur-rich, mono-aromatic-lean fraction; contacting the high-boiling oxidation feedstock with a soluble quaternary ammonium salt containing, sulfate, or bisulfate anion, and an immiscible aqueous phase comprising a source of hydrogen peroxide, and at least one member of the group consisting of phosphomolybdic acid and phosphotungstic acid, in a liquid reaction mixture under conditions suitable for reaction of one or more of the sulfur-containing and/or nitrogen-containing organic compounds; separating from the reaction mixture both an essentially organic liquid and at least a portion of the immiscible aqueous phase with oxidation products of one or more of the sulfur-containing and/or nitrogen-containing organic compounds; treating at least a portion of the separated organic liquid by contact with at least one immiscible liquid comprising a solvent having a dielectric constant in a range from about 24 to about 80 suitable to selectively extract oxidized sulfur-containing and/or nitrogen-containing organic compounds; and recovering from the treated organic liquid a product comprising a mixture of organic compounds containing less sulfur and/or less nitrogen than the high-boiling oxidation feedstock.