Increasing concern for pollution prevention and waste disposal has cre
ated a need for clean alternatives for spent catalyst recovery or disp
osal. A new technique uses catalyzed electrochemical dissolution to ox
idize and subsequently dissolve typical catalyst metals and metal cont
aminants so that they may be isolated and reclaimed. Hydrocarbons and
carbonaceous materials adhered to the catalyst surface are oxidized to
carbon dioxide and water at moderate temperatures and ambient pressur
e. Sulfides are converted to aqueous sulfur species. Supercritical flu
id extraction is an optional pretreatment step to remove hydrocarbons
adhered to the catalyst. The technique described here offers advantage
s over conventional spent catalyst reclamation processes. In this pape
r, recovery of a spent hydrodesulfurization catalyst is described.