Abstract: Naphtha is recovered from a soot-naphtha slurry by mixing the slurry with hot residual oil and feeding the mixture into a vapor/liquid contactor. Within the contactor, part of the naphtha is vaporized. The remainder is withdrawn from the base, heated and sent to a stripping column where the naphtha is vaporized overhead as a superheated vapor and the soot-residual oil is removed from the bottom. The superheated naphtha vaporized overhead is recycled to the contactor where the superheat is used to vaporize liquid naphtha. The naphtha vapor leaving as overhead from the contactor is sent to a wash column where entrained residual oil is removed by naphtha reflux. The naphtha vapor in the wash column is taken off overhead and condensed. The condensed, liquid naphtha is then totally or partially fed to the wash column as reflux.