Desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels viaCu2O catalyzed photo-oxidation coupled with liquid–liquid extraction

By combining the photochemical reaction and liquid–liquid extraction (PODS), we studied desulfurization of model fuel and FCC gasoline. The effects of air flow, illumination time, extractants, volume ratios of extractant/fuel, and catalyst amounts on the desulfurization process of PODS were analyzed in detail. Under the conditions with the air as oxidant (150ml·min−1), the mixture of DMF–water as extractant (the volume ratio of extractant/oil of 0.5) and photo-irradiation time of 2h, the sulfur removal rate reached only 42.63% and 39.54% for the model and FCC gasoline, respectively. Under the same conditions, the sulfur removal rate increased significantly up to 79% for gasoline in the presence of Cu2O catalyst (2g·L−1). The results suggest that the PODS combined with a Cu2O catalyst seems to be a promising alternative for sulfur removal of gasoline.