Patent ID: 7514657

Claim:
Process for reducing the acidity of a hydrocarbon mixture with a high acid value, comprising: a) heating said hydrocarbon mixture at temperatures of between 120° C. and 450° C, b) directing the heated mixture to a Microwave Treatment Unit (MTU) equipped with a microwave oven, inside which said mixture enters into continuous contact with a fixed stream or mud bed, made up of a microwave absorbent material, under the action of microwave energy in the range of between 1 mm to 30 cm or 1 to 30 GHz, at a temperature of between 260° C. and 450° C., in order to effect an organic acid reaction in said hydrocarbon mixture with a surface made from said microwave absorbent material, under irradiation of microwaves inside said oven; c) continuously removing from said oven, the effluent from the Microwave Treatment Unit (MTU), having a reduced TAN value, for later processing in refining units of a refining system, so that: i) after the irradiation treatment, the treated hydrocarbon mixture will be at a normal pressure of the refining system; and ii) the spatial velocity of the treated hydrocarbon mixture falls in a range of between 0.25 and 10 h −1 ; and d) disposing of the microwave absorbent material at the end of the campaign time.