Producing an eco-friendly fuel with the least amount of sulfur compounds has been an ongoing issue for petroleum refineries. In this study, bentonite (which is a cheap material and is locally available in abundance) is employed to prepare a nano-silica catalyst with a high surface area to be used for the oxidative desulfurization of kerosene. Two composite catalysts of Fe/silica were supported on CAT-1 (0% HY-zeolite and 100% nano-silica) and CAT-2 (20% HY-zeolite and 80% nano-silica). The activity of the catalysts was evaluated in a batch ODS (oxidative desulfurization) process at temperatures of 30, 60, 90, and 120 °C, a pressure of 1 atm, and a reaction time of 30, 60, 90, and 120 min using 120 L/h of air as the oxidant. The results revealed that the highest total sulfur removal efficiency was 50% and 87.88% for 100% nano-silica (CAT-1) and 80% nano-silica (CAT-2), respectively. The experimental data were then used to construct and validate an accurate mathematical model of the process. The operational parameters for eliminating more than 99% of sulfur and producing eco-friendly fuel were then achieved by using the model. The testing methods for these characterizing materials included X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric examination (TGA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and surface area (BET). The outcomes indicated that the addition of HY-zeolite increased the activity of the catalyst (CAT-2 > CAT-1).

This work aimed to investigate the removal of sulfur compounds from light kerosene using activated carbon (AC) that was treated with alkali agents (KOH and

Removal of phenol and phenolic compounds from wastewater using various techniques has received considerable attention in recent years. In this work, the removal of phenol from a model solution of phenol via catalytic oxidation is investigated with oxidant H₂O₂. For this purpose, we designed a new nano-catalyst (8% Fe₂O₃/AC) by loading iron oxide nanoparticles over nano-activated carbon via the impregnation process. We modified the recently developed digital basket baffle batch reactor (DBBBR) and used it for the catalytic oxidation process in order to examine the activity of the prepared nano-catalyst. The highest efficiency of phenol removal was found to be 95.35% under the following parameters: oxidation time of 120 min, oxidation temperature at 85 °C, and stirrer speed of 600 rpm. The minimization of the sum of the squared error between the experimental data and predicted results of phenol removal was considered as a base for the optimization technique to estimate the optimal parameters for the kinetic process. The predicted conversion of phenol excellently agreed with the experimental results (absolute average errors < 5%) for a wide range of process parameters.

Graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized from graphite powder by the improved Hammers method and used for the adsorption of organosulfur compound (dibenzothiophene, DBT) from model diesel fuel. FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, SEM, EDX, and BET were used to characterize the GO. Several factors, such as solution pH, initial DBT concentration, adsorption contact time, adsorption temperature, and adsorbent dosage were used to test the DBT removal efficiency. The results show that the maximum removal was 96.4% at pH = 5, initial solution concentration of 200 ppm, adsorption time of 45 min, temperature of 45C and adsorbent dosage of 0.4 g/25 mL.

Currently, the traditional hydrodesulfurisation (HDS) process is extensively utilised in the oil refining industry to remove sulfur compounds from petroleum fractions which have environmental and health impacts in addition to affecting product quality. The HDS process needs high pressure and temperature, uses costly hydrogen gas and has low activity towards extraction of thiophene and its derivatives. Alternative desulfurisation processes like catalytic oxidative desulfurisation (ODS) are possible approaches because of mild process conditions, no need for hydrogen and efficiency in removing thiophene and its derivatives. ODS is developed using various types of catalyst, oxidants and designs of reactors under different operating conditions. In continuation with developing more workable and economical parameters in ODS technology, different types of reactors are considered as alternatives to the traditional batch reactors. This three-part work investigates the most recent developments in reactors for ODS processes and reviews the advantages, limitations and future potential of each reactor.