Patent ID: 8356678

Claim:
A method, comprising: (a) peptizing a substrate at a temperature between about 70° C. and about 105° C. with an acidic reagent under shear to obtain a peptizate having increased surface area, wherein the substrate comprises liquid bound on a solid sorbent material, wherein the liquid comprises oil or a mixture of oil and water, wherein the bound liquid comprises less than about 35 wt % of the substrate, and wherein the peptizate comprises a pH between 6 and 8; (b) mixing the peptizate with a combustion effluent gas under turbulent conditions in a thermal desorption zone to heat the peptizate and desorb at least a portion of the oil from the sorbent material, wherein the combustion effluent gas comprises less than 1 vol % oxygen and is introduced into the thermal desorption zone at a temperature greater than 300° C., wherein the average residence time for solids in the desorption zone is from 10 seconds to 5 minutes and wherein the dilute phase in the thermal desorption zone at exit therefrom has a temperature of from 200° C. to 300° C.; (c) separating the peptizate-combustion effluent gas mixture into a dilute phase and a dense phase, wherein the dilute phase comprises oil vapor and whereby the sorbent material in the dense phase has an oil content less than the oil content of the sorbent material in the substrate; and (d) recovering at least a portion of the oil from the dilute phase, wherein the recovered oil comprises at least 50 wt % of the oil in the substrate, wherein relative to the oil in the bound liquid in the substrate, the recovered oil comprises a lower aromatics content.