Patent ID: 8114802

Claim:
A process for separating hydrocarbons including solvents and heavy oil from catalyst particles, the process comprising: providing a composition comprising spent catalyst particles and 50 to 90 wt. % hydrocarbons as solvents and heavy oil; providing a cleaning solution comprising a sufficient amount of at least a detergent for removing at least 90% of the solvents and heavy oil from the spent catalyst particles, wherein the detergent is selected from the group of anionic, nonionic, zwitterionic, acidic, basic, amphoteric, enzymatic, and water-soluble cationic detergents and mixtures thereof; mixing the cleaning solution with the composition comprising the spent catalyst particles and solvents and heavy oil for a sufficient amount of time to remove at least 90% of the solvents and heavy oil from the spent catalyst particles into the cleaning solution forming a mixture of detergent, solvent, and heavy oil in aqueous phase; and separating the mixture comprising the dissolved hydrocarbons in aqueous phase from the spent catalyst particles.