Catalytic oxidative desulfurization of gasoline using phosphotungstic acid supported on MWW zeolite

Abstract

Catalysts for the desulfurization of gasoline samples were synthesized via the immobilization of well-dispersed phosphotungstic acid (HPW) on Mobil composition of matter-twenty-two (MWW) zeolite. Characterization results indicated that these catalysts possess a mesoporous structure with the retention of the Keggin structure of immobilized HPW. Relevant reaction parameters influencing sulfur removal were systematically investigated, including HPW loading, catalyst dosage, temperature, initial S-concentration, molar ratio of oxidant to sulfide (O/S), volume ratio of MeCN to model oil (Ext./oil), and sulfide species. The 40 wt-% HPW/MWW catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity with 99.6% dibenzothiophene sulfur removal from prepared samples. The 40 wt-% HPW/MWW catalyst was recycled four times and could be easily regenerated. Finally, as an exploratory study, straight-run-gasoline and fluid catalytic cracking gasoline were employed to accurately evaluate the desulfurization performance of 40 wt-% HPW/MWW. Our research provides new insights into the development and application of catalysts for desulfurization of gasoline.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

oxidative desulfurization / phosphotungstic acid / MWW / wet impregnation / adsorption energy

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Nigeria, and the Training Program for Outstanding Young Teachers in Universities in Guangdong Province (Grant No. YQ2015116), and Petrochemical Industry Transformation and Upgrading Technology Innovation Public Service Platform in Maoming City (No. 2016B020211002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21403038), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 2015A030313892).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-019-1842-z and is accessible for authorized users.

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