Low-Temperature and Low-Pressure Fuel Hydrodesulfurization By Solid Catalyst Coupling With Ionic Liquids

A new hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process for the fuels utilizing a solid catalyst coupled with ionic liquids (ILs) at mild operating conditions is first proposed in this study. A novel Ce-Ni-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃ HDS catalyst with high catalytic activity was developed and coupled with different ILs to investigate the removal of dibenzothiophene (DBT) from model oil at low temperature and low pressure. Results showed that the sulfur removal efficiency follows the order: [BDMIM]BF₄> [BMIM]BF₄>[EMIM]BF₄> [BMIM]Cl. In addition, the highly efficient [BMIM]BF₄ coupled with the solid catalyst was selected to undergo a series of parallel experiments to systematically investigate the effects of temperature, hydrogen pressure and IL/oil mass ratio on DBT removal from model oil. To achieve optimal sulfur removal efficiency, model oil was conducted at the following conditions: reacton temperature, 150℃; hydrogen pressure, 3MPa; reaction time, 3h; rotate speed, 150rpm/min; and IL/oil mass ratio, 1:6. The process and mechanism of HDS were also studied using a molecular simulation software. This study shows that the HDS process using the solid catalyst coupled with ILs provides a new direction for producing cleaner industrial fuels.