Patent ID: 7833499

Claim:
A process for separating mercaptan compounds from a rich caustic stream, comprising, in combination: a) feeding a stream of rich caustic containing mercaptan compounds to an oxidizer; b) oxidizing the mercaptan compounds to disulfide oil (DSO) at a conversion level of 90% or greater in the presence of oxygen and forming an admixture of two immiscible liquids comprising DSO and caustic; c) removing the admixture formed in step b) from the oxidizer and introducing the admixture as a single stream to a separation device where the admixture contacts a vertical hanging bundle of fibers contained in an elongated shroud, wherein only said single stream is introduced at a top of said vertical hanging bundle of fibers; and d) separating the DSO from the caustic within the separation device by allowing the admixture to flow vertically down through the bundle of fibers where coalescing occurs to form two distinct liquid layers, a lower layer comprising a caustic phase and an upper layer comprising a DSO phase, in a collection zone,