Patent ID: 7375143

Claim:
A process for recovering a solid metal-containing catalyst from a slurry, said process comprising: a) providing a catalyst slurry feedstream comprising a solid catalyst and wax hydrocarbons, said solid catalyst including a metallic component; b) optionally, adding a second feedstream to the catalyst slurry feedstream; c) passing the catalyst slurry feedstream through a solid-liquid separation unit to separate said slurry feedstream into a liquid stream and a retentate stream, both of which exit the solid-liquid separation unit, wherein the retentate stream is enriched in solid catalyst, and has a content in wax hydrocarbons that is less than the catalyst slurry feedstream; d) contacting the solid catalyst with a washing medium in a manner effective to displace some of the wax hydrocarbons and wash the solid catalyst; and e) treating the washed solid catalyst under conditions sufficient to convert the metallic component into a non-reactive form to generate non-reactive solids, wherein said conditions in step e) comprise exposing said washed solid catalyst to an oxidizing gas or oxidizing atmosphere comprising steam.