Novel Process for the Desulfurization of Bitumen and Heavy Oil

Since the last downturn in the oil industry in 1999, amazing changes have occurred in the energy arena. The price of light
sweet crude oil has risen from $10 per barrel to over $70 per barrel, while the price of natural gas for industrial consumers
has risen threefold. Despite these higher prices, demand for oil and gas remains strong, with little in the way of a cushion
between supply and demand. This, in turn, has spawned substantial new rounds of investment in the production and
upgrading of heavy, high sulfur crude oils.

However, even if significant quantities of heavy crude were to become available for U.S. consumption, our refineries are
ill-equipped to handle these contaminant-filled materials. Further, the process of revamping
existing facilities or building grass-roots units is fraught with legal and environmental hurdles that make it difficult, if not
impossible, to get new projects completed. Yet, new capacity is required, both to meet demand
and to comply with environmental regulations of governments worldwide aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

TransFining-R is a revolutionary new threestep process for the desulfurization of heavy oil and bitumen; and initial work on
this
concept was supported by The U. S. Department of Energy. In the first step a chemical reagent is added to the feed; and
desulfurization occurs under modest hydrogen pressure and at lower temperatures than traditionally used for
hydrodesulfurization of heavy oil. The product comprises a desulfurized heavy oil and an inorganic sulfur-containing salt. In
the second step, a proprietary solvent is used to selectively extract the salt from the oil; and in the third step, the salt is
reconverted to the original chemical reagent (for recycle to the feed) in a proprietary electrochemical reactor which
incorporates an Ion Transport Membrane. Removal of sulfur from tar sands bitumen or heavy oil prior to coking (the typical
processing technique for these feeds) allows the coker to produce (1) a low sulfur distillate that needs little or no additional
desulfurization and (2) a low sulfur coke that can then be burned or gasified to produce additional energy without the
harmful environmental impact of high sulfur coke. TransFining-R is expected to be commercially available 2011-2012.