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Extraction of sulfur from commercial gasoline using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIM] [BF<inf>4</inf>] as the extraction solvent

Abstract:

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of using the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIM] [BF4] ionic liquid (IL) as a green solvent in the extractive desulfurization of commercial gasoline, as a complementary technology to conventional hydrodesulfurization (HDS), which has limitations in the removal of sulfur aromatic compounds. The extractive desulfurization of gasoline was evaluated by means of a factorial design to determine the best extraction conditions, considering temperature (25 and 35 °C), feed/solvent mass ratio (3/1 and 1/1) and number of extraction stages (1 and 3 stages). The results show a maximum sulfur removal efficiency of 40%. In addition, the selectivity of [BMIM] [BF4] in the removal of aromatic sulfur compounds from gasoline, its extraction mechanism and the effects of desulfurization using IL regenerated by means of washing cycles with water and/or diethyl ether was investigated.