Abstract: A process for hydrotreating carbonaceous materials is disclosed. The carbonaceous material is contacted with steam and with empirical hydrates of alkali metal hydrosulfides, monosulfides, or polysulfides. The process hydrocracks, hydrogenates, denitrogenates, demetallizes, and desulfurizes. In a preferred embodiment, hydrogen sulfide is co-fed to the reaction zone.

Abstract: A process for converting, into lighter viscosity products, heavy fractions from petroleum or other hydrocarbon refining, e.g. asphaltenes; catalysts especially suitable therefor and a process for this conversion have been disclosed; by further upgrading, the obtained products can be usefully employed as fuels and the like.

Abstract: An improved method for recovering hydrocarbon and other values from shale oil rock, whereby shale oil rock, during the reaction with a reagent and steam, is shattered to the extent that the hydrocarbon values and the unwanted pulverized gangue is collected such as via cyclones or a dust collector; the desired hydrocarbon values as volatile products may be recovered or further reacted in a separate reactor; a series of cyclones may be used to separate the dust from the hydrocarbon values; recoveries of over 90% of the hydrocarbon values and higher are achieved; as a further advantage, the collected dust may be used as an intermediate for making cement.

Abstract: Disclosed is a combinative integrated chemical process using inorganic reactants and yielding, if desired, organic products. The process involves first the production of elemental potassium by the thermal or thermal-reduced pressure decomposition of potassium oxide or potassium sulfide and distillation of the potassium. This elemental potassium is then used to reduce ores or ore concentrates of copper, zinc, lead, magnesium, cadmium, iron, arsenic, antimony or silver to yield one or more of these less active metals in elemental form. Process potassium can also be used to produce hydrogen by reaction with water or potassium hydroxide. This hydrogen is reacted with potassium to produce potassium hydride. Heating the latter with carbon produces potassium acetylide which forms acetylene when treated with water. Acetylene is hydrogenated to ethene or ethane with process hydrogen. Using Wurtz-Fittig reaction conditions, the ethane can be upgraded to a mixture of hydrocarbons boiling in the fuel range.

Abstract: A process for converting coals to hydrocarbon values, by intimately contacting coals such as lignite coal with a reagent, e.g., an alkali metal sulfide or polysulfide or an alkali metal hydrosulfide, in the presence of steam, or a combination of steam and hydrogen sulfide, at temperatures between 65.degree. C. to 450.degree. C.; liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons of preselected compositions may be produced; these are useful as fuel, or as chemical starting materials, e.g., for upgrading fuel or making industrial chemicals.

Abstract: A process for converting coals to principally hydrocarbon gases, by intimately contacting coals such as lignite coal with a reagent, e.g., alkali metal polysulfides or alkali metal hydrosulfide, in the presence of steam, or a combination of steam and hydrogen, at temperatures between 65.degree. C. to 450.degree. C. Liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons of preselected compositions may be produced; as it is well known these are useful as fuel, or as chemical starting materials, e.g., for upgrading fuel or making industrial chemicals.

Abstract: Petroleum crude and certain liquid distillate fractions derived therefrom, and other sulfur containing fuels or residues are reduced in sulfur content by intimately contacting the fuel or residues with alkanol solutions of alkali metal hydrosulfides, at temperatures and pressures from ambient up to the critical temperature of the alkanol for from 1 to 20 minutes. Thereafter, the fuel is caused to separate from the alkanol solution by the addition of water. A liquid-liquid separation separates desulfurized fuel from the alkanol solution. Hydrogen sulfide formed in the process is used to re-generate alkali metal hydrosulfide for use in desulfurizing additional petroleum fuel.

Abstract: Disclosed is a process for recovering hydrocarbons from tar sands by contacting the tar sands with alkali metal sulfides or alkanol solutions of alkali metal hydrosulfides, at temperatures between 40.degree. C. and 450.degree. C., in the presence of steam or hydrogen or mixtures thereof, thereby producing at least partially, hydrogenated hydrocarbons lower in sulfur and nitrogen content than the initial untreated hydrocarbons of the tar sands and which readily distill from the sands.

Abstract: Hydrated alkali metal sulfides used to remove sulfur from fossil fuels to form alkali metal polysulfides which are recycled to alkali metal sulfides and elemental sulfur by thermal or thermal reduced pressure decomposition of the alkali metal polysulfides or by conversion of the hydrolysis products entirely by H.sub.2 S.

Abstract: Petroleum residues are reduced in sulfur content by intimately contacting one volume of petroleum residue with at least 0.25 volume of alkali metal sulfide hydrate melt, or alkali metal hydroxide hydrate melt or mixtures thereof, within a closed system, at a temperature between 120.degree. C. and 325.degree. C., for from 3 to 60 minutes, thereafter separating de-sulfured petroleum residue from said alkali metal sulfide hydrate melt by a hot liquid-liquid separation, thereafter utilizing said separated alkali metal sulfide hydrate melt to de-sulfur additional petroleum residue.

Abstract: Disclosed is a process for extracting antimony trioxide from antimony sulfide ore concentrate by solubility differential of the trioxide in lower alkanol solutions of sodium or potassium hydroxide and wherein the total amount of water contained in the concentrate, the alkanol and the hydroxide is not more than 26.52 volume percent of the antimony sulfide content; which process includes treating the ore in the absence of substantial amounts of air with an alkanol solution containing an excess of sodium or potassium hydroxide, basis Sb.sub.2 S.sub.

Abstract: Disclosed is a process for extracting the following metals from ores containing same: iron, copper, zinc, arsenic, antimony, molybdenum, silver, and cadmium. In the process, the ore is concentrated and dehydrated prior to treating with a saturated hydrogen polysulfide or alkali metal polysulfide containing enough sulfur to sulfidize metals present in the ore in their nonsulfide forms and to completely oxidize the metals present in their sulfide form. This separates melt soluble sulfides (Cu, Fe, Mo, Sb, As) from melt-insoluble sulfides (Zn, Pb, Ag, Cd). The former are extracted with water to separate the water-soluble sulfides (Mo, As, Sb and any saturated polysulfide) from the water-insoluble sulfides (Cu, Fe,). The water-soluble sulfides are reacted with a more electropositive metal such as zinc to liberate them from their sulfur. The water-insoluble sulfides are dried and heated with a saturated hydrogen polysulfide or alkali metal polysulfide and the free metals are separated magnetically.

Abstract: Coal and petroleum oils, flue gases produced by their combustion, and natural gases are desulfurized by reacting with sulfides or polysulfides of hydrogen, sodium, potassium, rubidium or cesium to form the higher sulfur content polysulfides of these metals. After these sulfides have acquired sufficient sulfur in combined form to form sulfur saturated polysulfides, they can be reduced to sulfur unsaturated forms with recovery of elemental sulfur. In their sulfur unsaturated form, these metal polysulfides are used to treat additional quantities of the fossil fuels.The metal sulfides or polysulfides can be used in 1 to 12% aqueous solution or in melt condition. Hydrogen polysulfides are used in their liquid form.Sulfur removal from the fossil fuels takes place by dissolving and/or reacting elemental sulfur, many organic sulfur forms, and water-insoluble metal sulfides in aqueous solutions of alkali metal sulfides or in melts of alkali metal sulfides.

Abstract: Sulfidic ores of lead or zinc such as galena or sphalerite are smelted under vacuum in the absence of CO.sub.2 and oxygen with a flux consisting of solid NaOH or KOH to free the lead or zinc as free metal and to form sodium or potassium disulfides which are used as flux in smelting additional sulfidic ores to liberate more metal and form still higher polysulfides of sodium or potassium also usable as flux up to the pentasulfide form. By the process of the invention, substantially complete use is made of the sulfur atoms initially combined with the lead or zinc to remove the sulfur combined with said metals. Potassium hydroxide, its lower sulfur content polysulfides can be reconstituted by exposing to air a leach solution of potassium pentasulfide.

Abstract: Copper is recovered from its sulfidic ores by a process wherein the ore is mixed and fused with at least a stoichiometric amount of a sulfide of sodium or potassium which may be prepared in situ by reacting sulfur with potassium or sodium hydroxide. The mixture is heated under vacuum in the absence of water, oxygen and CO.sub.2 to a temperature above the melting point of the selected potassium or sodium sulfide and maintained below the decomposition point of the sulfide for a time sufficient to cause the sodium or potassium sulfide to combine with the sulfur of the copper sulfide to form metallic copper and copper oxides and the higher (sulfur content), sulfides of sodium or potassium, the resulting melt is cooled and leached with cold water to remove the sodium or potassium polysulfides and leaving behind metallic copper and copper oxides. The polysulfides can be recovered and recycled. The preferred unsaturated sulfides are sodium trisulfide and potassium tetrasulfide.