Patent ID: 8444843

Claim:
An electrocatalytic process for the removal of sulfur from organic sulfur compounds present in hydrocarbon feedstocks, which comprises the steps of: a) adding a mixture of water and a miscible electrolyte to a non-miscible hydrocarbon feedstock containing sulfur compounds to an electrochemical reactor having a cathode and an anode said cathode and anode are metals selected from the group consisting of Groups VIIIb, Ib and IIb of the Periodic Table and their oxides, carbides, nitrides, sulfides, hydrides and mixtures thereof; and b) applying a potential difference between the cathode and the anode which acts as catalysts which causes the water to dissociate with the production of reactive hydrogen in situ which catalyzes its reaction with the sulfur-containing compounds in the hydrocarbon at the cathode surface to produce hydrogen sulfide and a treated hydrocarbon, with the proviso that the cathode and anode in the electrochemical reactor are not separated by a membrane.