Ultrasound and mixing assisted oxidative desulfurization of model sulfur compounds using commercial ferrate (VI)

• Main Author: Choi, Angelo Earvin S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Subjects: Desulfurization; Ferrites (Magnetic materials); Sulfur compounds; Chemical Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6875
• Institution: De La Salle University

Fossil fuel derived oil must be treated through a desulfurization process in order for it to comply with environmental regulations. In this study, the use of an ultrasound probe and a high shear mixer is applied to oxidative desulfurization together with a commercial ferrate and phase transfer agent to test the model sulfur compounds benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene. Under the use of an ultrasound probe; the effect of phase transfer agent (100 – 300 mg), ferrate concentration (100 – 300 ppm), ultrasonication time (10 – 30 min), and organic to aqueous phase ratio (10:30 – 30:10) on sulfur reduction was studied. Whereas using a high shear mixer studied the effect of reaction temperature (50 – 70 ˚C), agitation speed (7,600 – 14,000 rpm), and mixing time (10 – 30 min) on sulfur reduction. Box-Behnken design under response surface methodology is used in order to optimize the operating conditions in desulfurization as well as to determine the level of significance of each single and interacting factor using the analysis of variance. This was then applied to raw diesel oil to show its applicability on a small scale. Results showed that the optimized condition in benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene under ultrasound-assisted oxidative desulfurization applied to diesel oil showed 93.26% and 98.47% sulfur removal respectively, while the mixing-assisted oxidative desulfurization showed 58.03% and 93.15% sulfur removal, respectively.