Production of environmentally friendly gasoil fuel by desulfurization process in a digital batch reactor using a novel alkaline catalyst supported by activated carbon

Abstract

Air quality is continuously being degraded due to sulfur dioxide tailpipe emissions. Therefore, efficient, costeffective alternative processes for desulfurization are required. In this work, a new modified activated carbon (10%KOH/AC) was prepared and its performance in treatment of high concentration of sulfur compounds in real gas oil fuels was tested by oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process. The ODS process was carried out in a digital batch reactor that was used in various ranges of agitation speed (25-750 RPM), reaction temperatures (30 − 75◦C) and reaction times (25-70 min). 10%(KOH/AC) was used as a catalyst and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as an oxidizing agent, under a pressure of 1 atm to reach optimum process condition. The addition of baffles in the baffled digital reactor design is to reduce fuel swirling, thus enhancing mixing. The experimental results showed that 94.9% of the sulfur was removed at 75◦C, the reaction time was 70 minutes, and the stirring speed was 750 rpm.. This confirms that the modified activated carbon is effective in treating high sulfur concentration in fuel and obtaining environmentally friendly fuel.

Keywords

• modified ac
• koh
• dbbr
• high sulfur content