Patent ID: 7897028

Claim:
A method for regenerating materials from a desulfurization/demetallation reaction, the method comprising the steps of: contacting a desulfurization/demetallation product with a halogen, wherein the product comprises one or more of an alkali sulfide, alkali polysulfide, alkali earth sulfide, and an alkali earth polysulfide, and wherein the product further comprises one or more non alkali metal constituents; reacting the product with the halogen to, in turn, halogenate the alkali or alkali earth metal and liberate the sulfur; separating and removing the sulfur; reacting the one or more non alkali metal constituents with the halogen to, in turn, halogenated at least a portion of the one or more non alkali metal constitutents; adding at least one of an alkali or alkali earth metal to the halogenated non alkali metal constituents; reacting the halogenated additional metal constituents with the alkali or an alkali earth metal to, in turn, reduce the non alkali metal constituents to their metallic state; removing the non alkali metal; dissolving the halogenated alkali metal or alkali earth metal into a conductive solution of halide salts; and electrolyzing the halogenated alkali metal or alkali earth metal to, in turn, separate the alkali metal or alkali earth metal from the halogen.