Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2011, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (5): 707-715.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(10)60246-X

• Summary • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuel Oils

JIANG Zongxuan, LÜ Hongyinga, ZHANG Yongna, LI Can*   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, China
  • Received:2011-05-10 Revised:2011-05-18 Online:2011-05-31 Published:2014-09-29

Abstract: Several attractive approaches toward oxidative desulfurization of fuel oils, such as using H2O2/organic acids,?H2O2/heteropolyacid, H2O2/Ti-containing zeolites, and other non-hydrogen peroxide systems (e.g., t-butyl hydroperoxide etc.) are reviewed. A new alternative oxidative desulfurization process using emulsion catalysts was developed mainly by our group, is introduced in detail. Limitations because of interphase mass transfer are greatly reduced in the emulsion reaction medium. The amphiphilic emulsion catalysts can selectively oxidize the sulfur-containing molecules present in diesel to their corresponding sulfones when using H2O2 as the oxidant under mild conditions. The sulfones in the oxidized fuel oils can be removed by a polar extractant. The sulfur level of a prehydrotreated diesel can be lowered from a few hundred μg/g to 0.1 μg/g after oxidation and subsequent extraction whereas the sulfur level of a straight-run diesel can be decreased from 6000 to 30 μg/g after oxidation and extraction.