How to remove the sulfone species formed in oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of middle distillates through an efficient method is crucial in a successful ODS process. In this study, the solubility of dibenzothiophene (DBT) sulfone in different hydrocarbon streams was assessed and investigated in detail, and the adsorptive removal of DBT-sulfone dissolved in a model hydrocarbon stream on activated carbon was also conducted. It was found that the saturation concentration of DBT-sulfone in the hydrocarbon streams is very low; being 0.0239 wt.% in a toluene/hexadecane (20/80) mixture and 0.0181 wt.% in a deep-hydrotreated middle distillate. The dissolved DBT-sulfone in the hydrocarbon stream can be removed easily by selective adsorption over an activated carbon adsorbent. On the basis of these findings, a two-step process for removing the sulfone species from the oxidation-treated middle distillate was proposed, which includes the first step of the centrifugal separation to remove the majority of the sulfone species (>80%) from the oxidation-treated middle distillate, followed by the second step of the selective adsorption to remove the remaining sulfone species. This two-step process may be more cost-efficient and environment-friendly to remove the sulfone species in the ODS process. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.