Experimental study on the extractive desulfurization of model fuel using hydroxyl ammonium ionic liquids

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis work involves the extraction of sulfur from model fuel using four ionic liquids (ILs) as solvents. For this purpose, a mixture of hexane and xylene (1:1 v/v) was used as model fuel with thiophene (1000 µg/mL). Four hydroxyl ammonium ILs, namely 2‐hydroxyethanaminium formate, 2‐hydroxyethanaminium acetate (HEA), 2‐hydroxyethanaminium propionate and 2‐hydroxyethanaminium lactate, were used and found to be effective for the extraction/removal of sulfur from model fuel. The effect of contact time and the mass ratio of IL to the model fuel were also studied. A maximum of 72% extraction was achieved in single stage, whereas > 99% was achieved in four‐stage cocurrent extraction using HEA as solvent. The regeneration and recycling possibility of the ILs for the extraction has proved their potential application for commercialization. © 2011 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.