Insight into the oxidative desulfurization of high-sulfur petroleum coke under mild conditions: a journey of vanadium-substituted Dawson-type phosphotungstic acid

• Published in: Petroleum science Vol. 18; no. 3; pp. 983 - 993
• Main Authors: Li, Fu-Min, Hua, Ming-Qing, Wei, Yan-Chen, Liu, Ji-Xing, Gong, Jia-Hong, Wang, Chao, Wu, Pei-Wen, Huang, Yan, Li, Hua-Ming, Zhu, Wen-Shuai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing China University of Petroleum (Beijing) 01.06.2021; KeAi Publishing Communications Ltd
• Subjects: Catalysts; Catalytic oxidation; Coke; Coking; Desulfurization; Desulfurizing; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Economics and Management; Energy Policy; Hydrogen peroxide; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Ionic liquids; Mineral Resources; Original Paper; Oxidation; Oxidizing agents; Petroleum; Petroleum coke; Reaction kinetics; Slag; Sulfur; Sulfur content; Sulphur; Vanadium; Mild conditions; Oxidative desulfurization; Dawson-type phosphotungstic acid; Sulfate; High-sulfur petroleum coke
• ISSN: 1672-5107; 1995-8226
• DOI: 10.1007/s12182-021-00553-2

High-sulfur petroleum coke (HSPC), that is a by-product from slag oil in the coking process of refining, shows versatility values in practical applications and, however, concentrates the majority of organic sulfur. Herein, we design and construct a highly effective CTAB@HPA composites to be explored for the catalytic oxidative desulfurization of HSPC under mild conditions using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid as the extractant. The results demonstrate that the sulfur content of HSPC could be strikingly reduced from 4.46 wt% to 2.48 wt% under 60 °C and atmospheric pressure, and that the organic sulfur in HSPC is mainly oxidized to sulfoxide, sulfone and sulfate, which latter can be directly separated from petroleum coke. Moreover, the effect of reaction conditions on the desulfurization performance of HSPC as well as the catalytic oxidation reaction kinetic of HSPC desulfurization was systematically investigated. Furthermore, a mechanism for the oxidative desulfurization of HSPC over CTAB@HPA catalysts was proposed. Therefore, this work provides new insight into how to construct active catalysts for the desulfurization of HSPC under mild conditions.