Oxidative desulfurization for gas condensate based on chemical oxidation by Fe3O4@SiO2@SO3H core-shell magnetite nanoparticle catalyst

Sulfur components are traditionally considered as undesirable contaminants of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. Sulfur oxidation appears a very promising route for obtaining ultralow-sulfur fuels requested worldwide by the new regulation mandates. This paper describes the oxidation of several kind of S-containing molecules in Gas Condensate with hydrogen peroxide in a two liquid–liquid (L–L) phase system with Fe3O4@SiO2@SO3H Core-Shell Magnetite Nanoparticle Catalyst under atmospheric pressure. The influence of the reaction temperature, the reaction time, the solvent, the volume ratio of the oxidant (H2O2) and the gas condensate were examined. The reaction rates of the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) were found to increase with the temperature, and with the volume ratio of H2O2 and the natural gas condensate. The potential of this methodology is illustrated by the 92.3% S-removal from natural gas condensate at 50°C, under excess of H2O2 oxidant in two hours. In addition, the ODS reaction was strongly enhanced when the water solvent was replaced by methanol, water and soda. The very high ODS reaction rate observed with the methanol solvent could be explained in terms of the much higher solubility of the sulfone reaction product in this solvent and also by its very low surface tension, which facilitates the transfer of products and reagents at the polar–apolar interface.The results revealed that total sulfur decrease from 3397(ppmw) to below 260 (ppmw) are achieved at 50°C upon using a H2O2: condensate volume ratio of 4.0:1 and use water, methanol and soda as solvent in extraction phase.

Oxidative desulfurization for gas condensate based on chemical oxidation by Fe3O4@SiO2@SO3H core-shell magnetite nanoparticle catalyst Keywords:

Oxidative Desulfurization , Core-Shell , H2O2 , Nano-Particle