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A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline is disclosed, the process including: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a first hydrodesulfurization reactor containing one or more beds of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst; cont

A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline is disclosed, the process including: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a first hydrodesulfurization reactor containing one or more beds of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst; contacting sulfur compounds comprising the other organic sulfur compounds in the cracked naphtha with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert a portion of the other organic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide; withdrawing from the hydrodesulfurization reactor an effluent comprising hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide. The effluent from the hydrodesulfurization reactor is fed to a membrane separation system containing a membrane for partitioning the hydrocarbons from the hydrogen sulfide. For example, the membrane may be selective to hydrogen sulfide, to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide from a residue fraction comprising the hydrocarbons.

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1. A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline, the process comprising: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a hydrodesulfurization reactor containing one or more beds of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;contacting sulfur co

1. A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline, the process comprising: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a hydrodesulfurization reactor containing one or more beds of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;contacting sulfur compounds comprising the other organic sulfur compounds in the cracked naphtha with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert a portion of the other organic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide;withdrawing from the hydrodesulfurization reactor an effluent comprising hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, and optionally hydrogen;feeding the effluent to a membrane separation system containing a membrane for separating at least a portion of the hydrogen sulfide from the hydrocarbons to recover a hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 300° F. to about 800° F. 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 500° F. to about 700° F. 4. The process of claim 1, wherein the membrane separation system comprises one or more membranes selected from the group consisting of: a. a membrane selective to hydrogen sulfide to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen from a residue fraction comprising the hydrocarbons;b. a membrane selective to hydrocarbons to separate a permeate fraction comprising the hydrocarbons from a residue fraction comprising the hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen;c. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide;d. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons. 5. The process of claim 1, wherein the effluent is withdrawn intermediate two reaction zones contained in the first hydrodesulfurization reactor, the process further comprising returning the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to the first hydrodesulfurization reactor intermediate the two reaction zones. 6. The process of claim 1, further comprising feeding the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to a second hydrodesulfurization reactor containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst. 7. A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline comprising the steps of: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a catalytic distillation reactor system having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;concurrently in the catalytic distillation reactor system, (i) reacting at least a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds in the cracked naphtha with hydrogen in the presence of the hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide, and(ii) separating the cracked naphtha into a light naphtha fraction and a heavy naphtha fraction;recovering the light naphtha fraction, unreacted hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide from the catalytic distillation reactor system as an overheads vapor fraction;recovering the heavy naphtha fraction from the catalytic distillation reactor system as a bottoms fraction;feeding at least a portion of a vapor draw comprising hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, and optionally hydrogen from the catalytic distillation reactor system, inclusive of the overheads vapor fraction, to a membrane separation system containing a membrane for separating at least a portion of the hydrogen sulfide from the hydrocarbons to recover a hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content. 8. The process of claim 7, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 300° F. to about 800° F. 9. The process of claim 7, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 500° F. to about 700° F. 10. The process of claim 7, wherein the membrane separation system comprises one or more membranes selected from the group consisting of: a. a membrane selective to hydrogen sulfide to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen from a residue fraction comprising the hydrocarbons;b. a membrane selective to hydrocarbons to separate a permeate fraction comprising the hydrocarbons from a residue fraction comprising the hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen;c. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide;d. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons. 11. The process of claim 7, further comprising feeding the residue fraction to a second hydrodesulfurization reactor having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst, wherein the second hydrodesulfurization reactor comprises at least one of a fixed bed reactor and a second catalytic distillation reactor system. 12. The process of claim 7, wherein the vapor draw is withdrawn intermediate two reaction zones of the catalytic distillation reactor system, the process further comprising returning the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to the catalytic distillation reactor system intermediate the two reaction zones. 13. The process of claim 7, further comprising; partially condensing the overheads vapor fraction and separating the uncondensed portion of the overheads including unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide from the condensed portion of the overheads fraction;feeding at least a portion of the condensed portion of the overheads fraction to the catalytic distillation reactor system as reflux;cooling the uncondensed portion of the overheads fraction to condense additional hydrocarbons and separating the cooled portion to recover a vapor fraction comprising unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide and a liquid hydrocarbon fraction;feeding at least one of the liquid hydrocarbon fraction and a non-reflux portion of the condensed portion to the membrane separation system as the at least a portion of a vapor draw. 14. The process of claim 13, further comprising: feeding the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to a fixed bed reactor having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;contacting the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content with hydrogen in the presence of the hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert at least a portion of any mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds present to from hydrogen sulfide; andfeeding an effluent from the fixed bed reactor and the heavy naphtha fraction to a stripper;separating unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide from the effluent and the heavy naphtha fraction to recover unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide as a vapor fraction and to recover a combined naphtha fraction as a liquid fraction from the stripper. 15. The process of claim 14, further comprising separating the vapor fraction to recover a second hydrogen fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content and recycling at least a portion of the second hydrocarbon fraction to at least one of the catalytic distillation reactor system and the fixed bed reactor. 16. A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline comprising the steps of: feeding (1) a full boiling range cracked naphtha containing olefins, diolefins, mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a first catalytic distillation reactor system;concurrently in the first catalytic distillation reactor system, (i) contacting the diolefins and the mercaptans in the cracked naphtha in the presence of a Group VIII metal catalyst in the rectification section of the first catalytic distillation reactor system thereby reacting: (A) a portion of the mercaptans with a portion of the diolefins to form thioethers,(B) a portion of the mercaptans with a portion of the hydrogen to form hydrogen sulfide; or(C) a portion of the diolefins with a portion of the hydrogen to form olefins; and(D) a combination of one or more of (A), (B), and (C); and(ii) fractionating the full boiling range cracked naphtha into a distillate product containing C5 hydrocarbons and a first heavy naphtha containing sulfur compounds;recovering the first heavy naphtha from the first catalytic distillation reactor system as a first bottoms;feeding the first bottoms and hydrogen to a second catalytic distillation reactor system having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;concurrently in the second catalytic distillation reactor system, (i) reacting at least a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds in the first bottoms with hydrogen in the presence of the hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide, and(ii) separating the first bottoms into a light naphtha fraction and a heavy naphtha fraction;recovering the light naphtha fraction, unreacted hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide from the second catalytic distillation reactor system as an overheads vapor fraction;recovering the heavy naphtha fraction from the second catalytic distillation reactor system as a bottoms fraction;feeding at least a portion of a vapor draw comprising hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, and optionally hydrogen from the second catalytic distillation reactor system, inclusive of the overheads vapor fraction, to a membrane separation system containing a membrane for separating at least a portion of the hydrogen sulfide from the hydrocarbons to recover a hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content. 17. The process of claim 16, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 300° F. to about 800° F. 18. The process of claim 16, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 500° F. to about 700° F. 19. The process of claim 16, wherein the membrane separation system comprises one or more membranes selected from the group consisting of: a. a membrane selective to hydrogen sulfide to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen from a residue fraction comprising the hydrocarbons;b. a membrane selective to hydrocarbons to separate a permeate fraction comprising the hydrocarbons from a residue fraction comprising the hydrogen sulfide and optionally hydrogen;c. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide;d. a membrane selective to hydrogen to separate a permeate fraction comprising hydrogen and a residue fraction comprising hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons. 20. The process of claim 16, further comprising feeding the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to a third hydrodesulfurization reactor having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst, wherein the third hydrodesulfurization reactor comprises at least one of a fixed bed reactor and a second catalytic distillation reactor system. 21. The process of claim 16, wherein the vapor draw is withdrawn intermediate two reaction zones of the second catalytic distillation reactor system, the process further comprising returning the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to the catalytic distillation reactor system intermediate the two reaction zones. 22. The process of claim 16, further comprising; partially condensing the overheads vapor fraction and separating the uncondensed portion of the overheads including unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide from the condensed portion of the overheads fraction;feeding at least a portion of the condensed portion of the overheads fraction to the catalytic distillation reactor system as reflux;cooling the uncondensed portion of the overheads fraction to condense additional hydrocarbons and separating the cooled portion to recover a vapor fraction comprising unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide and a liquid hydrocarbon fraction;feeding at least one of the liquid hydrocarbon fraction and a non-reflux portion of the condensed portion to the membrane separation system as the at least a portion of a vapor draw. 23. The process of claim 22, further comprising: feeding the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content to a fixed bed reactor having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;contacting the hydrocarbon fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content with hydrogen in the presence of the hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert at least a portion of any mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds present to from hydrogen sulfide; andfeeding an effluent from the fixed bed reactor and the heavy naphtha fraction to a stripper;separating unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide from the effluent and the heavy naphtha fraction to recover unreacted hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide as a vapor fraction and to recover a combined naphtha fraction as a liquid fraction from the stripper. 24. The process of claim 23, further comprising separating the vapor fraction to recover a second hydrogen fraction having a reduced hydrogen sulfide content and recycling at least a portion of the second hydrocarbon fraction to at least one of the catalytic distillation reactor system and the fixed bed reactor. 25. A process for the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline comprising the steps of: feeding (1) a cracked naphtha containing mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds and (2) hydrogen to a first catalytic distillation reactor system having one or more reaction zones containing a hydrodesulfurization catalyst;concurrently in the catalytic distillation reactor system, (i) reacting at least a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds in the cracked naphtha with hydrogen in the presence of the hydrodesulfurization catalyst to convert a portion of the mercaptans and other organic sulfur compounds to hydrogen sulfide,(ii) separating the cracked naphtha into a light naphtha fraction and a heavy naphtha fraction; and(iii) contacting a portion of vapor comprising hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide with a membrane separation system located within the column, the membrane separation system containing a membrane for separating at least a portion of the hydrogen sulfide from the hydrocarbons;recovering the light naphtha fraction, unreacted hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide from the catalytic distillation reactor system as an overheads vapor fraction;recovering the heavy naphtha fraction from the catalytic distillation reactor system as a bottoms fraction;recovering a hydrogen sulfide fraction from the membrane separation system. 26. The process of claim 25, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 300° F. to about 800° F. 27. The process of claim 25, wherein the separation across the membrane is conducted at a temperature in a range from about 500° F. to about 700° F.