Manufacture of sulfonates from petroleum oils

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF PREPARING OIL-SOLUBLE SULFONATES FROM HYDROCARBON OILS, INCLUDING: TREATING A MINERAL LUBRICATING OIL FRACTION WITH STRONG SULFURIC ACID, THEREBY YIELDING A SOLUTION CONSISTING PRINCIPALLY OF LARGE PROPORTIONS OF HYDROCARBON OIL AND MAHOGANY ACIDS AND APPRECIABLE GREEN ACID, REMOVING ACID SLUDGE FROM THE SOLUTION, TREATING SUCH SOLUTION WITH AMMONIA TO FORM AMMONIUM MAHOGANY SULFONATES AND AMMONIUM GREEN ACID SULFONATES CONTAINING SMALL AMOUNTS OF INORGANIC SULFATES AND SUFITES, FORMING A LIQUID MIXTURE CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF SAID OIL, SULFONATES, SULFATES AND SULFITES, AT LEAST 10 PARTS BY VOLUME OF WATER PER 100 PARTS BY VOLUME OF SAID 0.1 AND SULFONATES COMBINED, AND AT LEAST 5 PARTS BY VOLUME PER 100 PARTS BY VOLUME OF SAID OIL AND SULFONATES COMBINED OF A PARTIALLY WATER-SOLUBLE, HYDROCARBON-ON-SOLUBLE OXYGEN-CONTAINING EMULSION-BREAKING SOLVENT COMPOUND IN LIQUID FORM SOLUBLE IN THE OIL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE WATER AND CONTAINING THREE TO EIGHT CARBON ATOMS PER MOLECULE AND SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF ALCOHOLS, KETONES, ETHERS, ESTERS AND GLYCOLS, THE AMOUNTS OF WATER, OIL AND ORGANIC SOLVENT PRODUCING AT LEAST TWO SEPARABLE PHASES INCLUDING A WATER PHASE AND AN AMMONIUM SULFONATE-IN-OIL PHASE, AND SEPARATING AND RECOVERING SAID AMMONIUM SULFONATE-IN-OIL PHASE.