Patent ID: 8070937

Claim:
A method of producing a crude product, comprising: contacting a crude feed with a catalyst located in a contacting zone that is a fixed bed reactor or a stacked bed reactor to produce a total product that includes the crude product, wherein the crude product is a liquid mixture at 25Â° C. and 0.101 MPa, the crude feed having a total acid number (TAN) of at least 0.3 and having a sulfur content, where the catalyst has a pore size distribution with a median pore diameter of at least 180 â„«, as determined by ASTM Method D4282, and the catalyst comprises one or more metals from Column 6 of the Periodic Table, one or more compounds of one or more metals from Column 6 of the Periodic Table, or mixtures thereof, and a support, wherein the Column 6 metal and/or Column 6 metal compound is incorporated in or deposited on the support; and controlling contacting conditions such that the crude product has a TAN of at most 90% of the TAN of the crude feed, wherein TAN is as determined by ASTM Method D664 and the crude product has a sulfur content, by weight, of from 70% to 130% of the sulfur content of the crude feed.