Preliminary Study on Oxidative Desulfurization of Diesel via Power Ultrasound

Due to the requirement of stringent rules for ultra-low sulfur content of diesel fuels, it is necessary to develop alternative methods for desulfurization of fossil fuel derived oil. The desulfurization of aromatic sulfur containing compounds in catalytic cracking diesel oil was carried out using hydrogen peroxide/tri-fluoroacetic acid oxidation system, at the same time, adding power ultrasound to oxidative process, and later the oxidized organic sulfur compounds (sulfones) were extracted by suitable polar solvent. At first, we drew a conclusion of the optimal operating conditions in the laboratory, which is the quantity of the oxidation reagents (oxidant/oil volume ratio) is 1:10; the oxidation temperature is 70°C; reaction time is 60 min; extraction solvent is DMF; S/O is 1:1. In these optimal operating conditions, the power ultrasound can not only make reaction time short, but also increase sulfur removal rate at more than 10%.