Oxidative desulfurization of fuel oil by pyridinium-based ionic liquids

Abstract

In this work, an N-butyl-pyridinium-based ionic liquid [BPy]BF4 was prepared. The effect of extraction desulfurization on model oil with thiophene and dibenzothiophene (DBT) was investigated. Ionic liquids and hydrogen peroxide (30%) were tested in extraction-oxidation desulfurization of model oil. The results show that the ionic liquid [BPy]BF4 has a better desulfurization effect. The best technological conditions are: V(IL)/V(Oil)/V(H2O2) = 1:1:0.4, temperature 55 °C, the time 30 min. The ratio of desulfurization to thiophene and DBT reached 78.5% and 84.3% respectively, which is much higher than extraction desulfurization with simple ionic liquids. Under these conditions, the effect of desulfurization on gasoline was also investigated. The used ionic liquids can be recycled up to four times after regeneration.