Patent ID: 8518244

Claim:
A process for removing sulfur and other heteroatoms from a hydrocarbon feed, comprising: a) contacting the hydrocarbon feed in a hydrotreating zone with hydrogen and a catalytically effective amount of a hydrotreating catalyst under hydrotreating conditions thereby resulting in a hydrotreated product comprised of a liquid phase and a vapor phase containing hydrogen and light hydrocarbons; b) separating the liquid phase and the vapor phase from the hydrotreated product; c) removing light hydrocarbons from the vapor phase in a rapid cycle pressure swing adsorption unit containing a plurality of adsorbent beds and having a total cycle time of less than about 30 seconds and a pressure drop within each adsorbent bed of greater than about 5 inches of water per foot of bed length to produce a purified recycle gas with a higher concentration by vol % than the vapor phase; and d) recycling at least a portion of the purified recycle gas to the hydrotreating zone, wherein the removing step c) results in a recovery of a purified hydrogen-containing gas stream, relative to said hydrogen-containing make-up treat gas, said vapor phase product, or both, so as to exhibit (i) a rate of recovery (R %) greater than 80% for a product purity to feed ratio (P %/F %) greater than 1.1, (ii) a rate of recovery (R %) greater than 90% for a product purity to feed ratio (P %/F %) less than 1.1 but greater than 0, or (iii) both (i) and (ii).