A membrane process for the removal of
sulfur species from a
naphtha feed, in particular, a FCC light cat
naphtha, without a substantial loss of olefin yield is disclosed. The process involves contacting a
naphtha feed
stream with a membrane having sufficient flux and selectivity to separate a
sulfur deficient retentate fraction from a
sulfur enriched permeate fraction, preferably, under
pervaporation conditions.
Sulfur deficient retentate fractions are useful directly into the
gasoline pool.
Sulfur-enriched permeate fractions are rich in
sulfur containing aromatic and nonaromatic hydrocarbons and are further treated with conventional sulfur removal technologies, e.g. hydrotreating, to reduce
sulfur content. The process of the invention provides high quality naphtha products having a reduced
sulfur content and a high content of olefin compounds.