Desulfurization using an oxidation/catalysis/adsorption scheme over H3PW12O40/SiO2−Al2O31

A desulfurization experiment was performed with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) as the oxidant in the presence of H3PW12O40/SiO2−Al2O3 as the catalyst prepared by the sol-gel method, by using dibenzothiphene (DBT) in petroleum ether as the model compound. This work presents the results for the desulfurization by an oxidation/catalysis/adsorption scheme. The effects of catalyst amounts, t-BuOOH amounts, reaction temperature, and reaction time on the desulfurization efficiency and regeneration performance of the catalyst were studied. It was found that the H3PW12O40/SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst presented a higher maximum desulfurization conversion than SiO2-Al2O3 solids also prepared by the sol-gel method. In addition, the H3PW12O40/SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst showed a higher desulfurization conversion after regeneration with N,N-dimethylamide. It was also found that the oxidation agent t-BuOOH resulted in a higher desulfurization conversion than hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).