Oxidative desulfurizing of crude oil via power ultrasound and modeling using response surface methodology

The oxidative desulfurization (ODS) technology has been widely recognized as one of the most effective methods for the removal of sulfur from fuel oils, due to the very mild operation conditions it requires. In this work, the oxidation desulfurization of crude oil with ultrasound has been studied. The oxidation was carried out with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide at 35 wt.%, different acids and promoter that were used to investigate the optimum system for sulfur reduction. The effect of oil/water ratio, time, oxidant content and promoter has been investigated with designing experiments and analyzing data in response surface methodology (RSM). The results show that the optimum system is a mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and FeCl3.6H2O2. At this condition, the efficency can reach to 63% at first step.