Ultra-deep catalytic adsorptive desulfurization of diesel fuel using Ti-silica gel adsorbent at low Ti-loading

作者：Dong, Lei; Dai, Xiong; Peng, Chong; Yang, Cuiting; Li, Guoqing; Chen, Shibin; Miao, Guang^*; Xiao, Jing^*

来源：AICHE Journal, 2022, 68(2): e17493.

DOI：10.1002/aic.17493

• catalytic adsorptive desulfurization
• catalytic oxidation
• diesel
• dynamic adsorption
• low Ti-loading

In this work, the effective ultra-deep catalytic adsorptive desulfurization (CADS) using titanium-silica gel (Ti-SG) adsorbent at low Ti loading (<1 wt.%) was investigated. The superior CADS capacity (37.3 mg-S/g-A) and high TOF value (432 h(-1)) for dibenzothiophene (DBT) of Ti-SG adsorbent were achieved at Ti loading of 0.6% with high dispersion and low titanium coordination. The rate equation of catalytic DBT oxidation was described as rDBT=N2kKCHPDBT, where the TiOOR was determined as the intermediate to enable the DBT oxidation to form the corresponding sulfone (DBTO2). The effectiveness of CADS using Ti-SG adsorbents was verified in real diesels with varied sulfur concentrations and O/S ratios in the dynamic adsorption and multicycle regeneration. This work provides insights on using low-cost bifunctional catalytic adsorbents at low Ti loadings for effective CADS to realize ultra-deep desulfurization of transportation fuels.