Effect of photosensitizer and hydrogen peroxide on desulfurization of light oil by photochemical reaction and liquid-liquid extraction

A desulfurization process for dibenzothiophene (DBT) by a combination of photochemical reaction and liquid-liquid extraction has been investigated. The DBT dissolved in tetradecane was photodecomposed by the use of a high-pressure mercury lamp and removed into the water phase at conditions of room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The addition of benzophenone (BZP), a triplet photosensitizer, enhanced the removal of DBT from tetradecane. This reaction, however, hardly proceeded in the presence of naphthalene (NP), probably because of triplet energy transfer from photoexcited DBT or BZP to ground-state NP. The addition of hydrogen peroxide enhanced the desulfurization of commercial light oil as well as the removal of DBT from tetradecane, since H2O2 acted as a weak oxidizing agent for photoexcited DBT and interrupted the energy transfer from excited DBT to NP to some extent. In the case using a 30% H2O2 solution, the desulfurization yield of commercial light oil was 75% following 24 h of photoirradiation and the sulfur content in the light oil was reduced from 0.2 wt % to less than 0.05 wt %.