Deep oxidative desulfurization of diesel fuels by Lewis acidic ionic liquids based on 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium metal chloride
2012
Chen, Xiaochun | Song, Dandan | Asumana, Charles | Yu, Guangren
A series of Lewis acidic ionic liquids (ILs) based on 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium metal chloride, i.e., [C₄mim]Cl/MCl₂ (M=Zn, Fe, Cu, Mg, Sn, Co), are synthesized and used to investigate the oxidative removal of sulfur compounds (S-compounds) from diesel fuels, with ILs serving as both extractant and catalyst and 30wt% H₂O₂ solution as oxidant. It is observed that metal chloride species affect S-removal, as S-removal efficiency follows the order: [C₄mim]Cl/ZnCl₂>[C₄mim]Cl/FeCl₂>[C₄mim]Cl/CoCl₂>[C₄mim]Cl/MgCl₂>[C₄mim]Cl/CuCl₂>[C₄mim]Cl/SnCl₂. The highly efficient [C₄mim]Cl/ZnCl₂ is selected to investigate the effects of ZnCl₂ content on desulfurization. It is interesting to find out that ZnCl₂ content has a significant influence on desulfurization; specifically, 99.9% S-removal is observed for [C₄mim]Cl/3ZnCl₂ after 3h at 45°C, O/S molar ratio of 8, IL/oil mass ratio of 1/2. [C₄mim]Cl/3ZnCl₂ then undergoes series of parallel experiments to systematically investigate the influence of factors such as temperature, molar ratio of O/S, mass ratio of IL/oil, and ILs recycling. The incorporation of real diesel fuel into this study demonstrates the efficacy of this IL in desulfurization. This work shows that oxidative desulfurization using Lewis acidic ILs may be a new option for producing cleaner diesel fuels.
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