Efficient Oxidative Desulfurization (ODS) of commercial diesel with TBHP under mild conditions catalyzed by polymolybdates supported on Al2O3

Abstract

Due to the low specifications for sulfur content in diesel, a lot of research work are been conducted to develop alternative method for desulfurization. Catalytic oxidative desulfurization (Cat-ODS) has been found to be an alternative method to replace a conventional method which is hydrodesulfurization.New catalyst formulation using tert-butyl hydroperoxide polymolybdate based catalyst system was investigated in this research utilizing tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant and dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent for extraction. A series of polymolybdate supported alumina catalysts were prepared using wet impregnation method, ageing at ambient room temperature for 24 hours and followed by calcination process. A commercial diesel with 440 ppmw of total sulfur was employed to evaluate the elimination of sulfur compounds. Besides, the percentage of sulfur removal was measured by gas chromatography-flame photometric detector (GC-FPD). The sulfur content in commercial diesel was successfully reduced from 440 ppmw to 35 ppmw under mild condition followed by solvent extraction. From catalytic testing, Mo-Al2O3 calcined at 500°C was revealed as the most potential catalyst which gave 92% of sulfur removal.