(21e) Deep Desulfurization of Fuels Using Ionic Liquid Based on FeCl3

Six types of Lewis acid ionic liquid, such as [bmim]Cl/FeCl3 (bmim: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium), [omim]Cl/FeCl3 (omim: 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium), T8Cl/FeCl3 (T8Cl: tri-n-octylmethyl ammonium chloride), T4Cl/FeCl3 (T4Cl: tri-butylmethyl ammonium chloride), D10Cl/FeCl3 (D10Cl: didecyl-dimethyl ammonium chloride) and Et3NHCl/FeCl3 (Et3NHCl: hydrochloric acid triethylamine) have been synthesized and characterized. These ionic liquids were used to extraction of dibenzothiophene (DBT) remaining in n-octane. The results demonstrated that ionic liquids based FeCl3 were used as extractant for DBT-containing model oil at the mild condition and the removal of sulfur was good. Especially, Lewis acid ionic liquid with long carbon chains such as [omim]Cl/FeCl3 can obtain 71.5% sulfur removal in 30 minutes. When four steps cycle experiments were carried, [bmim]Cl/FeCl3 ionic liquid can deeply remove DBT from model oil, ledding to 97.9% sulfur removal.