Oxidative desulfurization of petroleum products using decorated cobalt oxide on the surface of modified carbon nanotubes-ICHEC-1887

Abstract

Due to the dangerous effects of sulfur in hydrocarbon compounds and its impact on environmental health, a new formulation based on surface-modified carbon nanotubes and a cobalt oxide has been prepared. Oxidative desulfurization is the main section of this process that is utilized to reduce this impurity. After decorating cobalt oxide on the surface of nanotubes, the TEM images and Thermogravimetric analysis were studied to evaluate the structure of this complex. The results show that the combination of metal oxide and functionalized nanoparticles presents better efficiency in sulfur removal. In addition, the reaction rate raised by increasing the number of functional groups on the surface of nanotubes. Then, the influence of temperature, reaction time and the concentration of the oxidizing agent in the sample was investigated. The results show that the higher temperature and higher number of oxidizing agents could provide better efficiency in the desulfurization process. Due to the presence of CNTs in the synthesized catalyst, it is possible that sulfur compounds adsorbed with CNT. By matching the data with the Pseudo first and second order adsorption kinetic, it was found that the adsorption is done as a Pseudo first order adsorption kinetic. Since the ODS process is performed by a chemical reaction, the reaction kinetics were adapted to the first order equation and calculate the activation energy required for the reaction. This result can be utilized for better desulfurization of hydrocarbon fuels for different applications.